I Missed You!

I’m happy to be back and engaging with you all after a month long study intensive! Each August, I take some time away from my normal responsibilities for a month or so to read — pray — listen — think — experience diverse places — plan the annual teaching calendar at The Life Christian Church — rest a little — and have some fun. 

August is also normally a month when I get to spend dedicated and intentional time focused on Sharon and our marriage, and this year, it was particularly special. On August 16, I met Sharon in Santiago, Spain to walk the final day of her 500-mile Camino de Santiago spiritual pilgrimage at the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. She had begun her journey over 30 days prior, so it was great to be back with her after a long “absence makes the heart grow fonder” season apart. 

We then settled in Spain for a couple of weeks where I spent my time engaging with God and life in new ways. A large portion of this was experienced through the stack of books I read during my study intensive, which I typically send out each year. You can find this year’s list of books below: 

• The New Perspective on Grace: Paul and the Gospel After Paul and the Gift - Edward Adams

• Becoming the Church: God’s People in Purpose and Power - Claude R. Alexander

• Necessary Christianity: What Jesus Shows We Must Be and Do - Claude R. Alexander

• Grace That Breaks the Chains: Freedom from Guilt, Shame, and Trying Too Hard - Neil T. Anderson, Rich Miller, et al.

• Paul & the Power of Grace - John M.G. Barclay

• The Crucibles that Shape Us: Navigating the Defining Challenges of Leadership - Gayle D. Beebe

• The Discipline of Grace - Jerry Bridges

• Transforming Grace - Jerry Bridges

• A Just Passion: A Six-Week Lenten Journey - Cindy Bunch, Ruth Haley Barton, et al.

• Unlimited Grace: The Heart Chemistry That Frees From Sin and Fuels the Christian Life - Bryan Chappell

• Gravitas: The Monastic Rhythms of Healthy Leadership - Jerome Daley

• Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection - Charles Duhigg

• Amazing Grace: God’s Pursuit, Our Response - Timothy George

• Dancing in No Man’s Land: Moving with Peace and Truth in a Hostile World - Brian Jennings

• Generous Justice: How God’s Grace Makes Us Just - Timothy Keller

• Grace: More Than We Deserve, Greater Than We Can Imagine - Max Lucado

• Flood and Fury: Old Testament Violence and the Shalom of God - Matthew J. Lynch

• Embracing Grace: A Gospel for All of Us - Scot McKnight

• Eyes to See: Recognizing God’s Common Grace in an Unsettled World - Tim Muehlhoff

• Sacred Fire: A Vision for a Deeper Human and Christian Maturity - Ronald Rolheiser

• The Creative Act: A Way of Being - Rick Rubin

• Habits of the Mind: Intellectual Life as a Christian Calling - James W. Sire

• The Grace of God: The Gift We Don’t Deserve, The Love We Can’t Believe - Andy Stanley

• Note to Self: The Discipline of Preaching to Yourself - Joe Thorn

If you couldn’t tell, I’ll be teaching all about grace over the next few months at TLCC, and I pray many lives will be impacted by the transformative and redemptive power of God’s grace. 

Let me know if you know of any essential books on this so-complex-yet-so-important topic that I don’t have listed here. I’d love to hear your thoughts. :)