Cultivate - A Life of Grace + Growth
A Guide For Following
On Sunday I (Brian) promised some resources that I've found helpful in my journey as a Christ-follower. Below you will find some books, blogs and twitter handles that molded and shaped me through the years. I hope you will find them useful, as well, but I must first warn you:
YOU ARE NOT GOING TO AGREE WITH EVERYTHING YOU READ, AND THAT'S OKAY. In fact, it is often with resistance (or friction) that we find growth; remember, in order to learn we must first acknowledge we don't know anything. If you find yourself agreeing with everything you read in the books or blogs I've listed below, you should find something else to read! (by the way, I don't agree with everything every person I've listed below has written) If you find yourself disagreeing here and there, keep reading, but don't just read alone - read with others and allow others to speak in to your life (and your life in to theirs). Okay, enough chatter, let's get down to business.
*For the first time on our RESOURCES page we're allowing comments. Please keep it positive. If it descends in to something divisive we'll shut it down. That being said, we'd love to hear from you: What books, blogs & other resources have helped you get to know Jesus?
Books of the Bible
The Gospel of John is the most exhaustive telling of the life of Christ in the Gospels. Start here if you're new at reading the Scriptures.
The letter of Ephesians and Colossians are amazing - read them!
The letter to the Romans can be both amazing and confusing - read with others, and read with a commentary. I've found this one particularly helpful.
Books about the life of Jesus
Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard. There is no other book I would recommend as highly as this one. I would strongly suggest doing this with a group and getting the participant's guide.
Invitation to the Jesus Life by Jan Johnson. This book shaped me like no other just a few years ago. It comes with "experiments" at the end of each chapter, keeping the knowledge you found about Jesus from just sitting in your head; it gets to your heart and in your every day life.
The Jesus I Never Knew by Philip Yancey. 7 years ago our small group was blown away by the findings Yancey reveals. You need to read this book!
Simply Jesus by NT Wright. In fact, any book by NT Wright is a great choice.
The Jesus Legend: A Case for the Historical Reliability of the Synoptic Jesus by Greg Boyd
Blogs worth reading
Not every person I list below blogs about Jesus directly, but each person below is a Christ-follower, and I believe you'll be challenged by reading his/her work.
Red Letter Christians, Rob Bell, Brian Zahnd, Christena Cleveland, Rachel Held Evans, Jan Johnson, ReKnew, Eugene Cho
Some People I Follow on Twitter
Twitter is fun. Twitter can be profound. Twitter can be found distracting and divisive. I follow people of all varieties on Twitter - some for fun, some for knowledge, some because I can't stop following them, even though I wish I could (like this guy, for instance!).
With that, here are some people I follow on Twitter that help me laugh and learn about the life of Jesus and how it makes sense in the every day world of life.
@brianzahnd, @theliturgists, @micahinstitute, @jeskastkeat, @jonathanmerritt, @bethanyjenkins, @justininspires, @petescazzero, @beckystraw, @michaeljkimpan, @bruxy, @michaelfrost6, @annelamott, and last but not least - the person we should ALL follow: @ryan_phipps