Recommended

Since I have some time on my hands - I've been reading. And since I'm such a sharing person I wanted to add a Recommended List to the blog with links to the books I think were good plus we can link to movies, games, videos, video games, etc. In other words - please feel free to add more.

I start with three books:

Lamb; The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal.

Okay, perhaps most of you have already read this. Hattle recommended it to me a couple of years ago but it wasn't until Audrey, my daughter, did her major high school integrated learning paper on it, that I got serious about reading it. Its funny. very funny. And it makes the cultural setting of roman occupation very real. And I got back in touch with just how devistating the cruxification must have been to the followers of Christ at the time. Did I mention funny?

Congregational Leadership in Anxious Times; Being Calm and Courageous No Matter What

Steinke works with congregations (and pastoral leadership) in crisis. His view of church is a bit focused on the bad times and behaviors that can take off in the church but I thought the book worth reading not only as I see some friends in the middle of some huge crap at the moment but also good for anticipating and thinking through how to manage crap before it gets anywhere near the fan. Easy read, fast. Good framework to use to get out of panic mode.

The Practice of Pastoral Care; A Postmodern Approach

An encouraging and supportive framework for short term, focused pastoral care in the congregational setting. Builds on Christie Cozad Neuger's book Counseling Women: A Narrative, Pastoral Approach.