Stuff I Like
So I thought I’d start off 2008 with a list of stuff I liked in 2007. I’m not an expert on much, but much of what experts like is crap, so here goes. These are my opinions and feel free to share yours.
Books
I read a lot, perhaps compulsively. My goal is to read 52 books this year and I probably read more than that last year. Mostly my reading focused on church and leadership titles, but there was some fiction mixed in as well. My best reads of 2007 were
I don’t think I can recommend this book strongly enough. The author is one of the founders of the 24-7 Prayer movement that started in the south of England in just a few years has swept across the face of the earth. In the midst of that vocational whirlwind Pete Greig’s wife was diagnosed with a brain tumor that caused and continues to cause debilitating Grand Mal Seizures. Now at any given second someone on the planet is praying to God specifically for Sami’s health and healing and yet years later her condition is pretty much the same. Why?
This is the question that Greig wrestles with, and he writes with the authority of the wounded. Anyone who prays will be pushed and helped by this book.
Reversed Thunder – Eugene Peterson
As much as it is possible to be a groupie of a writer and former professor and pastor in his seventies, I am a Eugene Peterson groupie. This is a commentary on the Revelation that isn’t crazy. In the words of the old Marvel Comics letters sections, ‘nuff said.
Confessions of a Reformission Rev. – Mark Driscoll
This is humbling for me because I find Driscoll incredibly frustrating. He sometimes says incredibly stupid things that hurt people, and, as a result I occasionally want to punch him. That said, this is a good book. It encouraged and challenged me as a church planter and pastor and christian, and I actually like quite a bit about how Mars Hill Seattle does things. The moral of the story: read books by people you don’t like. You may find yourself liking them more.
The Search to Belong – Joseph Myers
This book really stretched m thinking on the ways in which people relate to each other. Myers helps me to reexamine small groups andhome groups with an open mind.
Music
I like music. I’m far from and expert but here’s what I liked. Full disclosure, two of these albums are by friends of mine so I’m perhaps biased but they still stand up.
Nathan Carroll – The Tie-in to Dyin’
Nathan’s a friend, but this one is backed up by the Edmonton Journal and See magazine and others who loved this critically acclaimed album. For me, it’s an old style country album and it reminds me of my Dad.
Again someone I know, but I brought this album home and played it for a while, and then Teddi and I went to see Brock play at a place in town and she thought that he was playing covers of the songs she liked. This is a quiet and well written album that goes well with a nice glass of wine.
Rufus Wainwright – Release the Stars
Rufus’ music has accompanied me through some major shifts in my life and this album just adds to his lore in my mind.
Movies
Teddi and I went to see this at the cheap theatre in the West Edmonton Mall and we were the only people in the theatre. In that atmosphere this little Irish musical charmed the pants off me. Believable characters and great music and finally, a movie that knows how to end.
Not, I realized shortly in, a film about the first round wide receiver from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but a lawyer story with George Clooney. Not a story thats going to change your life but a well acted, well told, story that kept me involved for the whole ride. Well worth the rental when out on DVD.
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