What book would you recommend to someone eager to learn more about Christianity, someone who is just coming alive to the faith and to the power of the community of faith—the church—and who is full of questions about these matters?
The problem with Matthew 15:21-28 lies in the portrait of Jesus as neither the Jesus we have come to know and love nor, if we are honest, a Jesus we particularly like. The optional verses in the lectionary (Matt. 15:10-20) may elicit Peter’s reaction: “Explain yourself, Jesus!”
At a recent wedding, I watched a mother try to lure her little boy onto the dance floor. She invited him to dance to a slow song, and then tried again when a fast song was played. She winked and cajoled; she pretended to be sad dancing alone; she pretended she was dancing while he stood on her feet. But he wouldn’t dance.
Books
Dissident Discipleship: A Spirituality of Self-Surrender, Love of God and Love of Neighbor
David Augsburger
The Great Omission: Reclaiming Jesus's Essential Teachings on Discipleship
Dallas Willard
Traveling Together: A Guide for Disciple-Forming Congregations
Jeffrey D. Jones
Simple Church: Returning to God's Process for Making Disciples
Thom S. Rainer and Eric Geiger
Why Church Matters: Worship, Ministry and Mission in Practice
