Category: Books

  • Learning about community from the Didache

    I’ve got bad news for Tony Jones haters. There’s nothing to hate about his latest book, The Teaching of the Twelve. In fact, you may love it. Last week, I finished reading his little book about the little book, the Didache. The didache is a book that dates back to the ancient church but didn’t…

  • College Ministry 101

    Today, I am driving up to Los Angeles to meet with fellow YS blogger and YS author, Chuck Bomar. Chuck’s new book, College Ministry 101, is an important read for the church today. While church leaders have known of a significant drop-off of kids from high school into college few church are doing anything serious…

  • Youth Worker Book of Hope ON SALE NOW!

    At work today Mandy handed me an envelope from Zondervan. Holding it, I could feel a lump in it. As I opened it I joked to myself, “Geez, are they paying me in cash these days?” To my delight it was not a bundle of cash, it was my copy of The Youth Worker Book…

  • The Blue Sweater

    Over the past month or so I’ve been working my way through The Blue Sweater by Acumen Fund CEO Jacqueline Novogratz. I think this is a book worth reading for a number of reasons. Here are some high points. – Novogratz carries a general principle with her that makes a ton of sense: To change…

  • Mark Riddle Interview

    I’ve had fun finally getting to know Mark Riddle. He and I have interacted on forums and blogs for several years, but we only met face to face for the first time back in February. He has a new book out which is near and dear to my heart… Inside the Mind of Youth Pastors.…

  • Youth Worker Book of Hope

    Back in January 2008 I was asked to participate in something out of character. Tim Baker, a well-established youth ministry author, emailed me and asked if I’d be interested in submitting a chapter to a book he was working on. My first few reactions were simple… – I don’t want to write a book. (Kind…

  • Andrew Marin goes to Washington

    I probably seem like a total fanboy for Andrew Marin. Thing is, I think he’s one of those few prophetic voices within Evangelicalism. Here’s a message he presented as part of the Inauguration Weekend in Washington, DC. I’m really digging his book, Love is an Orientation. It comes out soon, you can get yours today…

  • The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb

    Few books require comparison to a Fyodor Dostoyevsky novel. Yet both the length of the story and the depth of the primary character does resemble works like The Brothers Karamazov. While Dostoyevsky wrote in serials and was therefore paid by the word for his work which in turn paid for his gambling addiction, about 500…

  • Love is an Orientation

    I’ve been so impressed with Andrew Marin and his work to help bridge the church to the homosexual community. Check out Andy’s promo video. If you want to buy his book, you can join me in pre-ordering it from Amazon.

  • The Longest Trip Home by John Grogan

    I’m not sure where I first heard this phrase but, as a parent, I think about it all the time. “It’s a parents job to mess a kid up, it’s their life’s work to put it all back together.” That could be the byline for John Grogan’s book, The Longest Trip Home. This memoir picks…