Summer Reading

With the summer months upon us, there is nothing like taking a good book outside to enjoy. In light of that we wanted to give you some book recommendations for your "Summer Reading List." Jonathan reads about 5 books at a time and is a much quicker reader than I, but it is a very important discipline for both of us. There are a lot of books dealing with church planting and theology on the list--for an obvious reason for us. Please don't be intimidated by the titles. Why not stretch your mind and challenge your thinking with some very powerful books?!

Top picks for books that we have read this year or are currently reading:

• The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Scepticism by Tim Keller
• The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith by Tim Keller
• Total Church: A Radical Reshaping Around Gospel and Community by Tim Chester and Steve Timmis
• Gomorrah: Italy's Other Mafia by Roberto Saviano (Hard read that gives a true, disturbing picture of the Italian Mafia. You WILL be more burdened to pray for this corrupt and dark country!)
• Breaking the Missional Code: Your Church Can Become a Missionary in Your Community by Ed Stetzer & David Putman
• Christ, Our Righteousness: Paul's Theology of Justification by Mark Seifrid
• Dominion and Dynasty: A Biblical Theology of the Hebrew Bible
  by Stephen Dempster
• Preaching Christ in a Postmodern World by Tim Keller and Edmund Clowney
• The Institutes of Christian Religion by John Calvin
• The Cross and Christian Ministry: Leadership Lessons from 1 Corinthians by D.A. Carson
• Death by Love: Letters from the Cross by Mark Driscoll
• God's Power to Save: One Gospel for a Complex World? by Chris Green

The Kleises 2009 Summer Reading List:

• The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien
• Big Truths for Young Hearts: Teaching and Learning the Greatness of God by Bruce Ware
• New Testament Theology: Magnifying God in Christ by Thomas Schreiner
• Jesus and the Logic of History by Paul Barnett
• Jesus according to Scripture: Restoring the Portrait from the Gospels by Darrell Bock
• The Gospel According to Mark by William Lane
• The Rise of Christianity by Rodney Stark
• Fire in the City: Savonarola and the Struggle for Renaissance Florence by Lauro Martines