The Best Christian-ish Books I've Ever Read

A few weeks ago, I created a list of the best and worst Christian movies ever made. If you love lists, then you'll love this post because I'm going to do it again--but with books. So sorry if you don't like lists.

This list is also to make you aware that DisturbedChristians is starting to review books on an irregular basis; if you are interested in review books, then shoot me an email and I'll see what I can do (like all DC writing jobs, they are non-paying, but you will get free new books on an irregular basis)

I won't be listing my list of worst books, but you can probably gather they are basically any book that become so popular that mugs, t-shirts, and blankets are created to let everyone know how great their message is (i.e. The Prayer of Jabez, Left Behind, Case for Christ just to name a few)...and it's not like those books are a bad thing--I just find that they are usually copying ideas of other writers and aren't very original. Except for Left Behind which is bad on so many different levels.

Keep in mind that the presence of a book on this list does not mean it's a literary classic--it's just a book that changed the way I felt about something and  made me a stronger Christian. Also, I call it "Christian-ish" because some of the books are more about religion or Judaism than Christianity. So without further interruptions, here is my list of top 11 favorite Christian books (in no particular order).

Prayer - by Ole Hallesby
I read this book in college. I had grown of Methodist, and partly because of this was never really taught how to pray; I could recite by hard classic prayers in the Christian canon, but the thought of praying in a group frightened me. Prayer is a classic book that shamefully many people have not only never read, but never heard of.


Grace at Bender Springs - by Vinita Hampton Wright
I stumbled upon this book while writing a thesis paper on contemporary Christian literature. I had been under the impression that Christian fiction could not be good (at least modern fiction); everything I found was either cheesy historical romances or cheesy end times thrillers; then I found this book. This is the first book by Wright. The two books that followed in Velma Still Cooks in Leeway and Dwelling Places are actually better, but I put this one here because it was the one that first introduced me to the author and made me place hope that there were Christian authors writing about real issues in the church--like depression, addiction, and ultimately redemption.You can read a profile of the author here.

Just As I Am - by Billy Graham
Many of you know that I committed my life to Christ when I was young at a Billy Graham crusade in Anaheim; partly because of this, I have always been fascinated by Graham's ministry. It should be no surprise that this book is on this list. The book is not incredibly well written, but what really impressed me with the book was I felt like it gave me an inside look into history. Graham has meant more influential people than probably anyone else alive. This book gives insider stories about basically every President sense Kennedy.

In His Steps - by Charles M. Sheldon
Over 30,000,000 copies of this novel have been sold, which makes it one of the bestselling novels of all time; oddly enough, it's a bit forgotten today. The book coined the phrase "What Would Jesus Do?" (no that didn't start as a bracelet...the bracelets just made it popular again). As you can guess by the phrase, the plot of the book centers around the idea of asking what Jesus would do before doing anything; it's a simple message, but equally a powerful one.

A Handbook of Theological Terms - by Van A. Harvey
Unless you are a theology student, you've probably never read or heard of this book; I am not a theology student, but I love theological words and the history behind them.

J. Hudson Taylor: A Man in Christ - by Roger Steer
I enjoyed this book, but I'd actually recommend any book about J. Hudson Taylor. If you never heard of Taylor he is remember for being one of the greatest missionaries to China; what's more important than this, however, is how he served. During the time, missionaries would enter a country and treat the gossip like it was something you could believe in so you can be more white. Taylor went to China and lived like the Chinese--he dressed like them, ate with them, and immersed himself in their culture in a time when this just was not practiced.

Mere Christianity - by C.S. Lewis
I really don't need to explain this book because almost everyone whose reading this blog knows what the book is, and has probably read it. It almost singlehandedly started modern Apologetics. More people today read The Case for Christ which is a shame, because that book is basically just a copy of what Lewis did, but poorly wrote.

The Literary Structure of the Old Testament - David A Dorsey
If you want to know why this book is so great, read my post last week.

The Other Bible - Willis Barnstone
Dan Brown got one thing right: there were other books around about Jesus; where Brown got it wrong was that this was a new thing. The study of the Bible's so called Other Works got big a little over a 100 years ago. This book is one of the better collections of these books. While the works are not what I'd consider great, they can be appreciated from historical level. Some are ridiculous, but others offer true inside to the what people believed 100 to 200 years after the Jesus rose again.

The Prophets - Abraham J. Heschel
This is one of the best historical books written about what it would have been like to be a prophet.

Battlefield of the Mind: Winning the Battle in Your Mind - Joyce Meyer
I like this book because of it's subject: spiritual warfare. It's a subject that is often not talked about, but it really should be.

You Don't Mess with the Osteen!

One of my favorite bloggers Matthew Paul Turner recently got into some trouble after writing a hilarious parody of the new Joel Osteen book It's Your Time. Normally, I would post a short excerpt, but you really need to read the whole thing yourself. No excerpt can do it justice.

Unfortunately Turner ruffled quite a few feathers. The most vocal being a commenter who calls him/herself "Concerned with you being a douche:"

Joel Osteen is bad news. No one who reads the bible is gonna disagree with that.

That being said, what are you trying to accomplish here, or with the christian chirp tirades, or really with anything you do.

You are an embarrassment to the faith that you claim. You are no different than Joel Osteen. You aren't creative. You offer no theological commentary. You offer nothing for someone who desires to follow Christ. In fact, your "humor" looks nothing like Christ. Its degrading. Demeaning. Immature. It does nothing to build up others, to critique in love.

You are a bain on a movement of Christianity that has given my life new purpose. You are an asshole, MPT. I cannot believe that you've made me side with Calvinists, Fundamentalist Christians on Chirp, and now Joel Osteen.

What the fuck is wrong with you?

(Apologies to those who are sensitive to strong language and bad grammar. These aren't my words.)

While I understand this person's concern, it's strange that some one concerned about Turner being a douche would act like one himself. Kind of defeats the purpose, y'know?

I personally saw nothing wrong with Turner's post. It was calling out false teachings in a humorous way, just like here at Disturbed Christians.

Of course now every time I see Osteen, I always think of this hilarious video:



If you get a chance, go check out Turner's blog. And remember, controlling your weaknesses is an important part of controlling your weaknesses!

The Bible is a Myth & Other Things You Will Never Here in Sunday School

Some people will find this statement shocking: The Bible is a myth.

I remember one of the first times I actually heard someone say this was a teacher in college; he said it to get everyone’s attention and to sound controversial. It worked. Several people sat a little straighter and one even raised their hand to object. It was the first time I had heard someone say it, but not the first time I had heard about it—I had read several authors make this same point, which is why I knew nothing about the statement was even remotely controversial. If anything it was a cheap trick.

A myth is not fiction, and yet for some reason the word implies this to many people. A myth is a legend. Out of my own laziness, I’ll skip putting a scholarly definition here and in its place insert one from the Internet which is basically the same definition you will find anywhere:

Myth: A body or collection of myths belonging to a people and addressing their origin, history, deities, ancestors, and heroes. (Source: http://www.answers.com/topic/celtic-mythology)

Simply put, a myth is a legend that is passed down, and that’s essentially what the Bible (at least the Old Testament) is: a passed down legend.

I wish they would teach the Bible as a myth in church, because studying the Bible as a myth will take you down a path that is even more incredible and even life changing: studying the Bible as a literary work.

The Bible is also full of parallels and symmetry. My favorite book is Genesis which has the craziest literary construction of any book ever wrote. What do I mean by parallels? Look at the "Tower of Babel" (Genesis 11:1-9) and match up the letters—see how they link up:

a. introduction: all the Earth had one language (11:1)

b. people settle together in Shinar (11:2)

c. resolution of people "come let us..." (11:3-4)

d. CENTER OF STORY: God discovers the plot (11:5)

c. resolution of God "come let us..." (11:6-7)

b. people disperse from Shinar (11:8)

a. conclusion: all the Earth now has many languages (11:9)

Do you get the feeling that person who wrote the book knew what they were doing? Then there's also the creation account; look at the order of how it says things were created:

a. light

b. sea and sky

c. dry land

a. luminaries

b. fish and birds

c. land animals and humans

d. Sabbath

Here's another...it's the story of Abraham and the promise of a son (Genesis 12:1-21:7):

a. introduction

b. Abram lies about Sarai

c. Lot settles in Sodom

d. Abram intercedes

e. promise of a son

f. Ishmael's birth

g. CENTER: God's covenant

f. Ishmael and Abraham circumcised

e. promise of a son

d. Abraham intercedes

c. Lot flees Sodom

b. Abraham lies abouut Sarah

a. conclusion

Entire books have been written about the literary structure of Genesis alone; if you really wanted to dissect it, it would take years of scholarship--and it's a pretty short book.

It’s just Genesis though, right? Nope. You could do a parallel like that of the ENTIRE Bible. You can even do it of the least read books. Take Deuteronomy…

a.       God’s Awesome acts at Mount Sinai (Deut 4:1-40)

b.      Given of the first tablet (Deut 4:41-5:33)

c.       Lessons from God’s past and future care (Deut 6:1-25)

d.      CENTER OF STORY: Completely destroy the Canaanites (Deut 7:1-26)

c.   Lessons from God’s past and future care (Deut 8:1-20)

b.   Given of second tablets (Deut 9:1-10:11)

a.   God’s Awesome acts in Egypt and wilderness (Deut 10:12-11:32)

There are hundreds of books out there if you want to know just how intelligently constructed the Bible is. I recommend The Literary Structure of the Old Testament: A Commentary on Genesis – Malachi by David A. Dorsey to give you a start. What the Bible says is important, but how it says it is important too—which is why just once I’d love to hear a preacher give a sermon on it.

Halloween Christian Style

Halloween has long been a controversial subject among Christians. Some say there's nothing wrong with dressing up and trick-or-treating, while others think it's evil because it started as a Druid holiday (although Christians took the holiday and turned into All Hallow's Eve, the day before the Day of the Dead). Many churches have come up with an alternative that preserves all the fun of costumes and candy, but without the spooky undertones: the Fall Festival.

I went to my first Fall Festival this past Sunday. It was just like the Halloween parties I went to when I was a boy; they had pumpkin carving, a pinata, a costume contest, and "trunk-or-treating" where the grown ups handed out candy from the trunks of their cars (it's much more innocent than it sounds). The only difference from my old childhood Halloween parties is there were no kids dressed as either devils or witches.

Here are few pictures:

Here's me and my pastor. Yes, folks, that's the same man I take spiritual guidance from!

Many families decorated their trunks.

The classic candid youth group shot.

Of course if the Fall Festival isn't scary enough, there's always The Tribulation Trail.

Located near Atlanta, GA, the Tribulation Trail is "an outdoor walk through drama. It portrays the end of times as recorded by John in the book of Revelation. Each scene tells the story of truth and will ultimately lead you to a time of decision. It takes approximately 90 minutes to walk through." Ah yes, nothing says Halloween than scaring people into believing in Jesus!

Or you could do what Kimberly Daniels did and write about the evils of Halloween on CBN's blog. The original article is no longer online, but according to Huffington Post, Daniels said that "most of the candy sold during this season has been dedicated and prayed over by witches." Maybe that's why Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are so addictive.

However you celebrate Halloween, may it be a happy and safe one!

Can You Fart in Church?

If you’re reading this because of the title, then let me put your mind at ease: yes, you can fart in church. It’s the way God wants you to relieve gas, and it would offend him if you held it in—that’s unnatural and not using your body, his temple, as it was made. Holding in your fart might even cause you great discomfort that causes you to miss the message of the sermon.

Really, however, the point of this post isn’t so much farting as it is about the comfortable nature that this thing called worship has gotten too. California is the laid back nation of the world and it’s not uncommon for people to where shorts and flip flops to church—heck, it’s almost expected. But what happens as we progressively make church more casual and comfortable?

I don’t really prepare for church; I drag myself out of bed and into a pew. Why bother dressing up and getting ready when no one else does? It’s nice being able to go somewhere where no one is bothered by how you look. But at the same time, this nature of dragging myself out of bed and into the pew also makes me unprepared spiritually. And that’s why, as much as I like the casual nature of churches today, I’m also becoming just a little bothered by them.

Few pastors talk about the importance of preparing ourselves spiritually to receive God’s message; I often wonder if they themselves have ever considered the notion. But it’s an important notion. It’s important to be ready for church because if we aren’t then half the message will probably be lost on us.

Making church casual seems to make it too easy to come to church with grudges; to be angry at people; to have things that need to be confessed, but that aren’t. Catholics, at one time at least, would have to confess their sins before going to church (it’s a bit more relaxed today); I don’t believe in the ritual of confession, but I’m highly in favor of the idea of it. I wish more churches would have a room aside for prayer, and I wish more would encourage congregates to go make use of it before entering the church for worship—to get it right with God before going to church to worship him—in this way you’ll be more open to receive anything the message that Sunday says.

The Perks of Being a Christian Hipster

Several months ago Brett McCracken got the blogosphere talking when he identified a new subculture within the Church: the Christian Hipster. According to McCracken, the Christian Hipster prefers Sufjan Stevens over Michael W. Smith, Donald Miller over Joel Olsteen, and Wes Anderson over The Passion of the Christ. They are also attracted to Catholicism and liturgy, "even if they are thoroughly Protestant." Christian hipster are also wary of "weird and awkward evangelistic methods including (but not limited to): sock puppets, ventriloquism, mimes, sign language, 'beach evangelism,' and modern dance."

I know the #1 rule of being a hipster is not admitting to being a hipster, but McCracken describes me down to a T!

I think since we grew up during the age of the Religious Right and Megachurches, many of my Christian peers are dissatisfied with mainstream Christian culture. We feel like Jesus' radical message is too often watered down for the comfortable suburban lifestyle, far away from the cries of the poor and suffering--the very same people Jesus came for. Besides, even Rich Mullins hated "Awesome God!"

Of course this is probably just another church fad. Remember the Jesus People in the '70s?

Either way, I think I'm going to go to my local coffee shop, read Rob Bell, and listen to the Wagon Wheel.

another banned book? seriously?

(This was posted on my own personal blog, but considering the conservative Christians parents denying the book, I thought it was perfect for Disturbed Christian)


OC parents need to get over themselves. I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings is an important piece of American literature and because one paragraph the conservative parents are not in agreement with, they want it banned. This is Maya Angelou's story and sadly, because she didn't grow up in their sheltered homes and gated communities, they think this attested biography can't be shared. I hope my children experience life-changing books, but if this is allowed, they most likely won't be able to.
Watch the story here. It made me a little sick to my stomach.