What I've Read in January (so far)
One of my resolutions for 2008 is to read 50 books. Most of those will probably be geeky theology books, but I hope to read some good books on leadership, some good novels, and also some good biographic materials. Here are my reviews from the books finished so far in January. I hope the list is not too shocking.
Scot McKnight, A Community Called Atonement (Abingdon, 2007). I picked up the book after hearing Scot speak about his role in the emerging church movement. He has written one of the best articles on the movement published in Christianity Today on the "Five Streams of the Emerging Church." The strength of the book on atonement is the focus on the idea that atonement in its essence is about forming a community of the atoned in the world. I especially liked his later chapters on the praxis (or practice) of atonement together as a community. Scot also does a nice job of arguing that the church needs all of the different metaphors for atonement that we find in the scriputre. Although I don't share his need to defend substitutionary models of atonement I think his basic focus is correct and I think people who are unfamiliar with the various models or metaphors for atonement will benefit from this book. My one concern is that I could not find a place where he takes seriously human culpability for the death of Jesus. None of the metaphors he describes regarding the atonement really address the fact that in the end humankind rejected the incarnate one and put him to death.
Steve Martin, Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life (Scribner, 2007). This was a book I read for fun over the holidays. I'm part of the Saturday Night Live generation and so have always been fascinated by the lives of the early SNL folk. Three things stood out to me in Steve's reflections about his early career. 1. I loved to read about him riding his bike to work at Disneyland. He got his start in comedy and magic by working in the Magic Shop on Main Street. Being a regular at the Mouse Kingdom, I was enthralled with his early descriptions of D-Land. 2. He moved from Disneyland to become an actor in small theater at Knotts Berry Farm. There he fell in love with Stormie Omartian. I was intrigued with his remaining sense of care and respect for her even though it was clear that he doesn't really understand the life of Christian faith that she found later on. 3. As someone who cares a lot for the art of communication, I really enjoyed reading about the hard work he put in to becoming a better communicator/comedian. He certainly had natural gifts for commuicating, but he also worked extremely hard at becoming great. We pastor/preachers could use the inspiration to work harder at being effective communicators.
Joseph Michelli, The Starbucks Experience: 5 Principles for Turning Ordinary into Extraordinary (McGraw Hill, 2006). I'm always looking for help becoming a better organizational leader. I picked this book up while waiting in line for coffee at Barnes and Noble. It is a fun read about one of my favorite places. My favorite new idea was Starbucks' "art of surprises." Once a year the Starbuck's executives plan a surprise ice-cream day at their stores. Because they have no refrigeration at the stores for ice-cream they have to fed-ex the ice cream in to all of their stores. They love as a company to find ways to surprise their regular customers with un-announced surprises. It made me start to think about ways to create an atmosphere of surprise at the church and even with my family. I'd love to have congregation members not want to miss a Sunday because they never know what (good thing) is going to happen from week to week.
