Summer reading

I must confess, I'm a bit of a lazy thinker sometimes. It hasn't always been that way because as a kid I would love to squirrel away with a book but these days I'm usually keener to chill out in front of the TV at the end of a long day. But I've been a bit convicted lately about the things that I fill my mind with so this wont be the laziest summer ever.

So I have about a gazillion books that I've been planning to read all year so here's the list for the next couple of months to hopefully challenge, inform and inspire me for 2009. Good thing I'm a fast reader and I've been able to get through a couple already.

Post SPRTE and listening to and speaking with Lindsay in person, I sort of felt compelled to read this one first... and it's brilliant! If you haven't read it, check this out to get an over-view.

If you have read it, then why not drop a line in the comments and share what encouraged and challenged you the most?

One of the other books that I read last week was The Relationships Revolution which had some challenges that I liked so much I thought I'd share chunks of them with you:

The challenge that faces the church is to be the community that God has called us to be. Hypocrisy and selfishness too readily characterise our life together and our relationships. Too many churches seem to value families over single people, children over the elderly, people who fit in and are easy to get along with over the marginalised and distressed. The subtle tones and harmonies that make up the music of Gods community are muted by every act of thoughtlessness and selfishness. Too many people have come into our churches and have not been welcomed, included or valued. The key question that faces all of us in our church involvement and relationships is whether we are going to be a part of the problem or a part of the solution. It is far easier to point out what is wrong, and to complain from the sidelines, than to work for positive change wherever we have the opportunity. The tragedy is not just that we fall short of God's standards, but that we accept and perpetuate this state of affairs so uncritically.

and

The history of the church is the story of a revolution, starting with a small group of ordinary people, and turning the world upside down. Christians should be the most radical people on the planet! Today, society desperately needs revolutionaries who will take a stand against its norms, who will sacrifice all in the service of their Lord and of the people around them. The cost of the battle is great; hardship is unavoidable. Yet when people's eternal destiny is at stake, to remain silent is betrayal. To walk the path of indifference or self-satisfaction is not to follow in the footsteps of Christ.