#2/5 Five Books That Are Mighty Close to Must Reads

OK, this is 2/5. Here's my intro to explain what I'm up to. Of course, you can scroll back through the blogs to pick up preceding installments.

I have participated in a project sponsored by a publisher to name "25 Books Every Christian Should Read." So, I've asked for input, and am grateful to those of you who contributed. This is truly an impossible assignment, but has been surprisingly rich to pursue. My part was to only submit 5 titles to be considered by the editors. I could probably come up with ten more lists of five books that are all equally excellent. I don't expect any of my selections to make the elite 25 simply because there are so many from which to choose. These, however, have made a difference for me.

So, here is my second book of the five, along with the explanation of why I chose it. These are books I think can be especially helpful to those seeking to follow Jesus. I would be glad to hear from you about other titles that are important to you or comments on my own submissions.

CO

Tozer, A.W. The Pursuit of God. Harrisburg, PS: Christian Publications, 1948.
• What is your personal relationship to this book? How has it helped you? Tozer addresses me as a compromised believer and pulls no punches. He delivers a strident call to the Church and Christians to abandon shallow discipleship. His eyes seem to see into my soul. He helps me stop kidding myself.
• Why does it make your list of top formation/discipleship titles? I number him among the very few authors I would describe as prophetic. Amazingly, his prophetic word retains its edge after sixty years.
• What does the book add to your idea of what it means to be a modern-day Christian? Tozer delivers a no frills, back to the basics message relevant for Christians in the age of mass media shtick. He delineates a life of surrender for work-a-day believers. His message is a clarion call to take God for Who He is, rather than what we might get out of Him.
• What does it offer the larger Church? Tozer is a modern day Isaiah calling the Church out of hypocrisy and pathetic imitations of the genuine Gospel.
• What specific advice on content or strategy would you provide to someone reading the book for the first time? This book makes an excellent personal or group study for those who are ready to address the beam in their own eyes and respond in repentance.
• What passage do you feel most exemplifies the message of the book? “Now we have reached a low place of sand and burnt wire grass and, worst of all, we have made the Word of Truth conform to our experience and accepted this low plane as the very pasture of the blessed.” p.70.