Top Reads: April 2018

After March’s Top Ten, here are ten things I’ve read in April 2018 that I think deserve a wider audience, or just a re-read.

1. The Final Call of John Perkins. He’s 87. He’s starting his 8th career. And it is all about biblical reconciliation.
2. Signs of a Dying Church – Nicholas Okoh, Primate of All Nigeria, reflects on Revelation 3 in a sobering and challenging piece.
3. Understanding Jordan Peterson – a long, but very thoughtful piece which gives some helpful insight into the popularity, problems and potential of Jordan Peterson, who’s 12 Rules for Life is a bestseller.
4. Why I Choose to be a Bivocational Pastor. This is a brilliant article explaining why someone chose something that many look down upon.
5. Pubs in Danger: Six Charts about how the British Drink. A niche but fascinating article showing some changes in our culture. Does this ring true where you are?
6. How the World Lost it’s Story – a great piece by Robert Jenson over at First Things. 8 years old, at least, it bears reading closely.
7. The Art of Rest by Adam Mabry – a superb, honest and mercifully quick book about a topic most people know nothing about, and do even less about.
8. ‘Reclaiming Jesus from the Trump Evangelicals‘ – a great sojourners piece by Jim Wallis, that has some things to teach those of us on the other side of the channel.
9. AE (American Ethnologist) interviews Jon Bialecki – this is an interesting interview with Jon, who wrote a fascinating book on the Vineyard from an outsiders perspective.
10. ‘Wait not for the Bishops’ – an interesting historical lesson from Andrew Atherstone about leadership and church shape.