I just finished Simply Christian by N.T. Wright. Pretty good read, especially as a reflection about what it means to be a Christian as we approach Christmas. It offers a pretty reformed perspective, I might add, but not overtly (as in it's not John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion, although those are good too ;) haha)
Here's a good quote from the book:
(I know it's long, but it's an excellent summary! It also gives you a taste of Wright's style and tone.)
"When you see the dawn breaking, you think back to the darkness in a new way. 'Sin' is not simply the breaking of a law. It is the missing of an opportunity. Having heard the echoes of a voice, we are called to come and meet the Speaker. We are invited to be transformed by the voice itself, the word of the gospel--the word which declares that evil has been judged, that the world has been put to rights, that earth and heaven are joined forever, and that new creation has begun. We are called to become people who can speak and live and paint and sing that word so that those who have heard its echos can come and lend a hand in the larger project. That is the opportunity that stands before us, as gift and possibility. Christian holiness is not (as people often imagine) a matter of denying something good. It is about growing up and grasping something even better.
Made for spirituality, we wallow in introspection. Made for joy, we settle for pleasure. Made for justice, we clamor for vengence. Made for relationship, we insist on our own way. Made for beauty, we are satisfied with sentiment. But new creation has already begun. The sun has begun to rise. Christians are called to leave behind, in the tomb of Jesus Christ, all that belongs to the brokenness and incompleteness of the present world. It is time, in the power of the Spirit, to take up our proper role, our fully human role, as agents, heralds, stewards of the new day that is dawning. That, quite simply, is what it means to be Christian: to follow Jesus Christ into the new world, God's new world, which he has thrown open before us."
Two down! Next on my to-read list:
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
If you haven't noticed, I like to read a variety of books. This next one is a New York Times Bestseller, and is a true story about a guy who started schools in Pakistan. :)
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