Recommended Reading

Classic Christianity proclaims Bob Georges bold message of grace that has radically changed thousands of lives. Drawing on his own struggles and years of teaching and counseling experience, Bob cuts right to the heart of why many Christians start out as enthusiastic believers but end up merely going through the motions of the Christian life. With understanding and wisdom, he shows us the way back to the life Christ had in mind when He set us free. Readers will discover what it means to have Christ living in them; how to experience the joy of the Lord daily; and why Christians still struggle with sin. Lifes too short to miss the real thing!

Freakonomics is a groundbreaking collaboration between Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, an award-winning author and journalist. They usually begin with a mountain of data and a simple question. Some of these questions concern life-and-death issues; others have an admittedly freakish quality. Thus the new field of study contained in this book: freakonomics.

Through forceful storytelling and wry insight, Levitt and Dubner show that economics is, at root, the study of incentives—how people get what they want, or need, especially when other people want or need the same thing. In Freakonomics, they explore the hidden side of . . . well, everything. The inner workings of a crack gang. The truth about real-estate agents. The myths of campaign finance. The telltale marks of a cheating schoolteacher. The secrets of the Klu Klux Klan.

What unites all these stories is a belief that the modern world, despite a great deal of complexity and downright deceit, is not impenetrable, is not unknowable, and—if the right questions are asked—is even more intriguing than we think. All it takes is a new way of looking.

This book is an amazing challenge to believers to think seriously about how much weight God has placed on humility. The challenge of this book springboards from Isaiah 66:2, "This is the one whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word." As the title hints at, Mahaney has put together a concise and practical book that calls us to seek humility, which is how God defines true greatness.
 

The Christian life is about more than being forgiven, more even than making it to heaven. The heart of Christianity is about transformation about a God who isn't just concerned with our "spiritual lives," but who wants to impact every aspect of living. It's realizing that God meets us not in a monastery but on Main Street, and that all of ordinary, daily life has the potential to be lived as if Jesus himself were the one living it.

John Ortberg calls us back to the dynamic heartbeat of Christianity God's power to bring change and growth and shows us how we can attain it . . . and why we should attain it. Salvation without change was unheard-of to Christians of other days, he says so why has the church today reduced faith to mere spiritual "fire insurance" that omits the best part of being a Christian?

The Life You've Always Wanted offers modern perspectives on the ancient path of the spiritual disciplines. But it's more than just a book about things we should do if we want to be good Christians. It's a road map toward true transformation, compelling because it starts not with ourselves but with the object of our journey Jesus Christ. Ortberg shows us that Christianity isn't a matter of externals, of outer form that gets the church stamp of approval, but of Christ's character becoming etched with ever-increasing depth into our own character.