Saddleback Church

This book is not about music. It's not even about going to church. It's about living your life as an offering of worship to God. It's about tapping into the source of power to live the Christian life. And it's about discovering the secret to friendship with God.

Through his very practical, engaging, and at times surprising insights, Buddy shares truths from Scripture and from life that will help you understand in a new and deeper way just what it means to be a worshiper.

Though this looks like a short book, it takes a long time to read, not because it is complicated and theoretical, but because it gives you so much to think about. Over and over, you’ll find yourself saying, 'Yes! That's right! Of course! I can do this!' Read this book slowly—a chapter a day is about the right pace. Read it with a pencil in your hand so you can underline the thoughts and phrases that are especially meaningful to you. Pray the prayers at the end of each chapter, and put into practice what Buddy teaches you in this book. Your life will be richer for it, and your friendship with God will grow deeper and stronger.

God is looking for worshipers. His invitation to friendship is open and genuine. Will you take him up on his offer? Will you give yourself to him in worship? Then come walk the way of a worshiper and discover the secret to friendship with God.

A renowned teacher and writer of the acclaimed The Spirit of the Disciplines, Dallas Willard, one of today's most brilliant Christian thinkers now offers a timely and challenging call back to the true meaning of Christian discipleship. In The Divine Conspiracy, Willard gracefully weaves biblical teaching, popular culture, science, scholarship, and spiritual practice into a tour de force that shows the necessity of profound changes in how we view our lives and faith. In an era when many Christians consider Jesus a beloved but remote savior, Willard argues compellingly for the relevance of God to every aspect of our existence. Masterfully capturing the central insights of Christ's teachings in a fresh way for today's seekers, he helps us to explore a revolutionary way to experience God—by knowing Him as an essential part of the here and now, rather than only as a part of the hereafter.

"The most telling thing about the contemporary Christian," Willard writes, "is that he or she has no compelling sense that understanding of and conformity with the clear teachings of Christ is of any vital importance to [their] life, and certainly not that it is in any way essential . . . Such obedience is regarded as just out of the question or impossible." Christians, he says, for the most part consider the primary function of Christianity to be admittance to heaven. But, as Willard clearly shows, a faith that guarantees a satisfactory afterlife, yet has absolutely no impact on life in the here and now, is nothing more than "consumer Christianity" and "bumper-sticker faith."

Willard refutes this "fire escape" mentality by exploring the true nature of the teachings of Jesus, who intended that His followers become His disciples, and taught that we have access now to the life we are only too eager to relegate to the hereafter. The author calls us into a more authentic faith and offers a practical plan by which we can become Christ-like. He challenges us to step aside from the politics and pieties of contemporary Christian practice and inspires us to reject the all too common lukewarm faith of our times by embracing the true meaning of Christian discipleship.

Recommended by Mike Constantz and Todd Olthoff

Jesus swept onto the scene declaring that the Kingdom of God had arrived! He proclaimed that we would experience life at its fullest only when we organize our lives around the Kingdom. E. Stanley Jones suggests that life in any other way is a muddled, maddening, and impossible way to live. Throughout the centuries we have lost the Kingdom as a clearly defined and workable system for order and influence in our daily lives. We have reduced the Kingdom by putting it into narrower molds, a refuge now, a present security, a future hope, anything but the Kingdom as Jesus preached it —"God's total answer to man's total need now." Dr. Jones shows us how to claim our spiritual heritage and the abundant life promised us by embracing the Kingdom and person of Jesus. He suggests how our experience with God and His Kingdom should be taught and shared in the life of the individual, in the life of the church and in the nations of the world.

Recommended by Mike Constantz

No one sins out of duty. We sin because we want to. Sin promises happiness, and we buy the lie. So how can the root of sin be severed in our lives? The penalty of sin must be paid by the righteous blood of Christ. And the power of sin must be broken by banking on the promises of Christ. John Piper's meditations on future grace are rooted in rock-solid biblical reflection. Chapter by chapter—one for each day of the month—he reveals how, by cherishing the promises of God, you can break the power of anxiety, despondency, covetousness, lust, bitterness, impatience, pride, misplaced shame, and more.

People today reject Christianity not because they think it is false but because they believe it is irrelevant. John Stott knows otherwise. In this book, he challenges all of us to move with the times while standing firmly on the truth of God's Word. "To be 'contemporary' is to live in the present," Stott writes. "To be a 'contemporary Christian,' however, is to ensure that our present is enriched both by our knowledge of the past and by our expectation of the future." The challenge, then, is to be both conservative and radical—conservative in guarding God's revelation and radical in applying that revelation to the realities of the contemporary world: space travel, homelessness, genetic engineering, pollution, war, health care, gang violence, education and more.

Opening our eyes to the Word and the world, Stott shows how Christianity can speak effectively and relevantly to the contemporary world. He includes chapters on the human paradox, authentic freedom, mind and emotions, evangelism and social action, the pastoral ideal and dimensions of renewal. For those familiar with Stott, The Contemporary Christian is a "must-read" book. For those who have not yet benefited from his insight and passion, The Contemporary Christian affords the perfect opportunity to get acquainted with one of the most widely read and respected Christian thinkers at work today. Recipient of a Christianity Today 1994 Critics Choice Award.

Recommended by Mike Constantz

Written in response to a friend who wanted spirituality explained to secular people, Nouwen follows the pattern of communion: "Taken," "Blessed," "Broken," and "Given" to spell out God's love. From one of the most popular modern spiritual writers, widely admired for his authenticity.

Do you sometimes lose sight of the core of your ministry? Do you feel overwhelmed by the needs that surround you? Do you wish you had some real encouragement?

Every person experiences feelings of inadequacy or loneliness at some time in ministry. Serving others and serving God is not an easy task. Warren Wiersbe, the "pastor's pastor," knows the struggles and triumphs a life of service brings.

On Being a Servant of God invites you to listen in on thirty short "armchair chats." With candor and sensitivity, Wiersbe shares what he wishes he had known about ministering to others when he began his own Christian pilgrimage. Let his years of experience and wise counsel bring comfort to your soul and energy to your tasks.

Recommended by Debbie Eaton

The last book published by Henri Nouwen before his untimely death in 1996, Can You Drink the Cup? explores the deep spiritual impact of the question Jesus asked his friends James and John. Reflecting upon the metaphor of the cup, Nouwen uses the images of holding, lifting, and drinking to articulate the basics of the spiritual life. The cup, a symbol used to celebrate a wide range of human endeavors, becomes for him an image to illustrate spiritual potential. Written with the profound insight and clarity characteristic of his numerous best-selling books, Nouwen's deeply perceptive exploration of Jesus' challenging question has the power to pierce your heart, expand your spiritual horizons, and radically change your life.

Recommended by Kay Warren