Of the many religious books I’ve read over the years, these ones stand out.

• Blue Like Jazz (Donald Miller). Reshaped a lot of my religious thinking.
• Celebration of Discipline (Richard Foster). Wow, deep stuff.
• Mere Christianity (CS Lewis). Of course I liked it.
• Jesus: a Pilgrimage (James Martin). A Jesuit priest traves Jesus’ footsteps, and gives meditations on different event in Christ’s life.
• The Pursuit of Holiness (Jerry Bridges). Simple and direct. For serious Christians.
• Decision-Making and the Will of God (Garry Friesen). Hugely influential on my life. Hugely.
• Peculiar Treasures (Frederick Buechner). Delightful snippets about Bible characters.
• The Singer (Calvin Miller). A masterpiece of allegory.
• A Severe Mercy (Sheldon Van Auken). An amazing story of fireproofing marriage and finding Christ.
• A Tale of Three Kings (Gene Edwards). Lyrical story of Saul, David, and Solomon.
• Wonder O the Wind (Philip Keller). Keller’s autobiography.
• What do You Say to a Hungry World? (Stanley Mooneyham). Opened my eyes to the world of hunger and poverty.
• The Practice of the Presence of God (Brother Lawrence).
• The Irresistible Revolution (Shane Claiborne). He shatters my Western-based religious paradigms. This book really affected me.
• Jesus is Better than You Think (Jonathan Merritt). Merritt, a talented writer and deep thinker, tackles a variety of subjects and provides fresh insights.
• Out of the Saltshaker (Rebecca Manley Pippert). Good stuff about personal evangelism.
• Your Work Matters to God (Doug Sherman and William Hendricks). Made me view work, and the role of laypersons, differently.
• Exit Interviews (William Hendricks). The stories of people who left the church, but not necessarily Christianity. Very thought-provoking.
• Where is God When it Hurts? (Philip Yancey). Finding God when things are going badly.
• Yes (Ann Kiemel). Her early books really spoke to me.
• Well-Intentioned Dragons (Marshall Shelley). About the troublesome laypersons who infest most churches.
• Following Francis (Susan Pitchford). A lay Tertiary’s comments on applying the teachings of St. Francis to modern-day life.