Conquered Words: September

This is my monthly post where I tell you what I have read and (ever so briefly) what I thought about each work. If you haven't read these books, then read this blog and pretend that you did!

EMBARRASSING.

This is way late, but I blame getting back to the university and a growing church! So bam.

Here, then, is what I read over that fine month of September.

1) Adam's Return: The Five Promises of Male Initiation by Richard Rohr (Crossroad Publishing Company, 166 pages). I have heard a little too much about this book and had to pick it up. SO GLAD I DID. Raves. Rohr is a Catholic Priest who at the onset of the book swears he's not a scholar, but let's be honest, all priests are scholars. I grew up around them in Catholic school (and no, I didn't) and got to see the life they lead: it is filled with study, something the evangelicals have lost. Anyways, this book is a fascinating look at what every culture has taught their boys before they became men. Five things that every single culture in world history has taught their men…except ours (modern Americanism). Ready for the five? Life is Hard. You are Not Important. Your Life is Not about You. You Are Not in Control. You are Going to Die. Make all the arguments you want, but it's my observation that I was taught the exact opposite before I knew Christ. Rohr goes way beyond his bounds and halfway through I realized this is not a spiritual book, but a gender studies book. Read it.

2) The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer (Crossway, 119 pages). Yes, I've read it before. Too much to say about this book. This blog, my whole ministry and thought life is thanks to C.S. Lewis and A.W. Tozer. They are my intellectual mentors along with the Greeks. Tozer is someone you must read, but someone you don't just read. You drink. Also, please don't read Tozer until you're out of high school. Just trust me. You'll need him sophomore year at university.

I started Radical by David Platt because David Brooks of the New York Times wrote about it but I never really got into it. I'm a little overwhelmed with what God should have me do thanks to Joel's current series and a couple of documentaries I've watched. I'll be leaving to pray for a day at the end of the month…I'll sort things out there and maybe pick up Platt's book again.

Keep reading, friends.