WHAT’S REDWOOD READING? Twelve Books of Influence
I’m often asked what authors, theologians and perspectives are influencing us in our thinking at Redwood. Like many churches that insist that they are committed to the authority of the Bible, we realize that we all view Scripture through lenses that we believe most accurately reflect what God intended to communicate through his Word.
As a church that is part of the Christian & Missionary Alliance family of churches we recognize that one of the lenses we look through is that of the holiness tradition. Like all traditions is has its strengths and flaws. Bernie Van De Walle’s, “Heart of the Gospel,” is a wonderful overview of that lens. We’re also absolutely committed to the passion of the Protestant Reformers to question all traditions, including our own, in light of Scripture. That has led us to rediscover the “whole” Gospel, that the over arching plan of God is to rescue not only individuals from their sin, but this entire planet: that we are responsible to bring the whole gospel to the whole world. The book list that follows reflects those themes and a little bit more. So here goes …
The Hole in our Gospel
Richard Stearns (Thomas Nelson, 2009)
World Vision’s American president articulates well that the Gospel is far more than announcing how an individual can experience salvation, it’s bringing God’s kingdom wholistically into this word.
Surprised By Hope: Rethinking Heaven, The Resurrection and the Mission of the Church
NT Wright (Haprer Collins, 2008)
A refreshing look at what the Bible teaches about the new heavens and the new earth, and how what we do now will have eternal impact. A call to not stop at just leading individuals to faith but to anticipate the eventual renewal of our world by bringing healing and hope in this present world now
Jesus Creed: Loving God, Loving Others
Scot McKnight (Paraclete Press, 2004)
A clear articulation of Jesus vision statement for his followers, that we are to passionately love God and passionately love our neighbours. Get this right, and you get the Christian faith right.
Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible
Scott McKnight (Zondervan, 2008)
Could be the best book out there to help you make sense of the bible as a whole, and how to approach difficult passages.
Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White: Thoughts on Religion, Morality and Politics
Adam Hamilton (Abingdon Press, 2008)
A call to live in the middle between fundamentalism and liberalism. Whether we agree with Hamilton or not, and I don’t on all issues, he helps us understand where we draw our boundaries, calling us to learn how to see gray in a world of black and white.
Spirited Leadership: Empowering People To Do What Matters
Thomas G. Bandy (Chalice Press, 2007)
A great primer on governance and staff relations, calling us to put the emphasis on empowering others to serve well. Quite profound, it’s not an easy read.
Re Jesus: A Wild Messiah for a Missional Church – The Posture and Practices of Ancient Church Now
Michael Frost & Alan Hirsch (Hendrickson, 2009)
A good read about current thinking on the emergent/missional church movement that passionately wants to see the church be Jesus to the world.
Chosen But Free: A Balanced View of Divine Election
Norman Geisler (Bethany Press, 1999)
A great study on the relationship between divine election and human choice, from a classical evangelical scholar.
The Tangible Kingdom: Creating Incarnational Community
Hugh Halter and Matt Smay (Jossey-Bass, 2008)
Another well articulated call that the church is to reach back to some of it’s ancient roots and become again a community, that is truly the arms and legs of Jesus to a world in need.
A Community Called Atonement
Scot McKnight (Abingdon, 2007)
A wonderful exploration of how robust and multifaceted the doctrine of the atonement is, taking us beyond a traditional focus on penal substitution, helping us to better understand the breadth and depth of the work of Christ through his death and resurrection.
The Heart of the Gospel: A.B. Simpson, The Fourfold Gospel, and Lake Nineteenth Century Evangelical Theology
Bernie A. Van De Walle (Pickwick Publications, 2009)
A compelling read about what theologically shaped the founding vision of the Christian & Missionary Alliance of which Redwood Park is a part. Helps us to better understand what the holiness movement was all about and how it differs from other perspectives like the Reformed viewpoint.
Simply Christian : Why Christianity Makes Sense
NT Wright (Harper Collins: 2006)
Simply a great place to start if you want to understand a summary of what it means to be Christian.
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About
Doug has just recently accepted the position of Lead Pastor of the Fort McMurray Alliance Church in the bustling Oil Sands region of Wood Buffalo in northern Alberta. Fort Mac Alliance is a church with a passion to tangibly make Jesus visible to our municipality and world, serving as a grace filled community that is welcoming and sensitive to people whatever their faith background and wherever they may or may not be at in their faith journey. It’s an adventurous community that is willing to think outside the norm while prayerfully wrestling with what it means to be involved in ministry both within and beyond the walls of the church facility. This results in a passion to see individual lives and the city as a whole touched and transformed by the love of Christ. Being in a city with global influence, Fort McMurray Alliance is seeking to be a unique global influence for Christ in partnership with it’s denominational family, the Christian & Missionary Alliance.
Doug is also involved with Briercrest College and Seminary in Caronport, Saskatchewan, where he teaches two courses a year as an Assistant Professor of Pastoral Theology. From his home base in Fort McMurray, Doug serves as the Program Coordinator for Briercrest’s MDiv (Master of Divinity) program, with an urgency to see the next generation of ministry leaders raised up up to serve effectively within our ever evolving Canadian culture, as well as our vastly changing world.
Previously Doug served for 20 years as the Lead Pastor of Redwood Park Church, a multi-site missional community that is committed to seeing the message and life of Jesus impact Thunder Bay, Barrie and beyond. LIFE, PASSION and ADVENTURE are three words that both Doug and Redwood uses to describe the nature of Christian spirituality.
Doug is married to Jane, who possesses an amazing gift of hospitality and the ability to cook for hundreds! They have three young-adult children. Meagan is a pediatric resident at the Alberta Children’s Hospital in Calgary. Susan who is married to Chris Groenheide, among other things supply teaches at Dennis Franklin Cromarty First Nations High School and promotes “eating local” through a variety of greens and specialty vegetables from her market garden. Graeme who has been involved in an eclectic mix of insurance and financial planning, working for a highway line painting company, and ushering at Thunder Bay’s Community Auditorium is heading off with a generous scholarship to the Vancouver Film School. Each of them in their distinct way has a yearning to be difference makers in this world.
Meal times at the Doyle household tend to be a bit of a party, but you might want to ask what it is you’re eating – as sometimes Doug enjoys a hike with a good friend and a gun in the beauty of our rugged Canadian outdoors, or maybe a paddle on a remote lake with rod in hand. He’s thinking that with the move for Fort McMurray, he might have to break down and add an ATV to his toys.
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I just heard Donald Miller in Victoria speaking about his new book/journey “A Million Miles in A Thousand Years.” I’m about half way through the book and finding it very helpful. His big question in the book is “when the credits roll at the end of your life will people like your movie or say it sucks.” He shares helpful advice on how to live a good story by following the guidelines used in creating story. BTW – the background to his book is what he learned about his life while editing a movie about his life. Very orignal and thought provoking.
Rob Bell’s “Jesus wants to save Christians” is pretty good…if you like Rob.
As far as classics, I just read Paul Tillich’s “My Search for Absolutes.” Excellent. But then, I’m a liberal so….maybe read it under the cover of night.
Hope all is well Doug.
Great list! Agree with all…haven’t read the first one though…so I’m ordering that today and putting it on your credit card! sEriously bud, great list! I just finished plowing through Tangible Kingdom on my blog…great read! Aaron and I are praying for some $$ to come for a visit…I’ll keep you in the loop. We pray for you and Redwood all the time! Keep Aaron in prayer though…he needs to get out of BMW and get back into ministry!
In Jesus,
your Idaho pal,
Robin
The forum is a brigethr place thanks to your posts. Thanks!
Hello Doug,
I use to go to Redwood, so good to hear about Redwood happenings from the MacMasters and your blog. Yes, have read Don’s latest book, lucky you that you got to see him live. Is he as good in person as on the written page? Great book so far, only do we sometime focus too much on making our own story for our own vain glory? Should our stories not be a patch in a large patchwork quilt of all of our stories? But he does address that in his book, about inviting people into our stories and vice versa. Anyhow, hope all is well!