Summer Reading

So here’s my reading list for this summer. Many of these books will be worth checking out regardless of your job, career, or stage in life, so let me encourage you to try and read a few.

(1) Wired For Intimacy: How Pornography Hijacks the Male Brain by William M. Struthers. Struthers is a neuroscientist, researcher, and a Christian. In this book he explores the rewiring that occurs in the male brain as he is exposed to and indulges in pornographic material. He demonstrates through scientific exploration the long-term damage this exposure can have on man’s perception of himself, his culture, and his relationships. He also explores from a Biblical perspective what it means to be masculine and how that can be achieved in our culture without the sinful pursuits of sexual promiscuity.

(2) The Republic of Pirates: Being the True and Surprising Story of the Caribbean Pirates and the Man Who Brought Them Down by Colin Woodard. Writing in what appears to be a beautiful prose this history delieneates the surprising history of the Caribbean pirates who, according to Woodard, are more like social revolutionaries than criminals. He recounts specific groups and their organization, he details their new communities which offered respite and clemency to many different types of individuals during the tumotlous start of the eighteenth century. Finally, he explores the colonial govenors who brought these pirates down.

(3) Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God by Francis Chan. Francis Chan is both a great pastor and a great author. He communicates with passion and challenges with love and from experience. He writes, in this book, about the radical call of God and the love He gives which compels us to pursue that radical life. With biographical inspiration Chan demonstrates how fulfilling this radical call ultimately is. This book may be an easy read, but if it is read rightly it won’t result in an easy take-away.

(4) Scandalous: The Cross and Resurrection of Jesus by D.A Carson. Dr. Carson’s latest contribution to the theological world is a relfection and investigation on the glory of the cross and resurrection of our savior. By examining, with the informed exegesis typical of Carson, five key passages of the Scriptures the professor preaches to us the glory Jesus with clarity and passion. A good devotional or academic study for both pastors and all Christians.

(5) The Institutes of the Christian Religion by John Calvin. As part of a reading group I will be working my way through this massive two volume devotional on the key doctrines of the Christian faith. This work has long been hailed as one of the most formative works in protestant theology, and its influence has shaped the langauge and thought of many Christians (even among those who disagree with him). As a second-time reader I am excited about what depths of uncovered jewels I will find in this work. It is so massive and so deep that there will always be more for me to mine, I am sure of that. Calvin interacts with the Bible’s teaching, at great detail sometimes, on God, man, sin, Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the church. I certainly won’t agree with everthing he writes, I didn’t the first time and won’t my second (I am sure), but nonetheless there is great value here.