The Big 5: Books that Changed Your Mind

You have beliefs, doctrinal convictions, mission convictions, and much more.  Some of those are different than what they used to be.  Maybe someone helped to change your mind.  At times there's a book that challenged us and helped to change our minds.

What are your Big 5 books that changed your mind?

This won't work unless you give us a phrase or two on what actually changed about your thinking, beliefs, doctrines, whatever.  You may not have 5, and that's fine.  Oh, and if you want to cheat and use a book of the Bible, I'll let that slide here.  Please only do that once, though.

Comments

[Chris Meirose]

In no specific order:

1) Robert Heinlein - Stranger in a strange land
-I read this at a time I was seeking, and God was distant in my life. It gave me clarity that there are many competing ideas of who/what God is. While it didn't specifically lead me to the one true God, it brought clarity to my pursuit. Really.

2) Wayne Grudem - Evangelical Feminism
-I have slowly become complimentarian as I have grown in my understanding of Scripture. I grew up in a church pastored by a woman, dated a women who became a pastor, and many other things that should have in theory kept me from being complimentarian. By the time I got my paws on Dr. Grudem's tome, I was already in the camp, but this book brought far greater clarity to my thinking, much deeper understanding, and respect for how Biblical this position is.

3) Ken Sande - The Peacemaker
-Made me deeply examine my thoughts on how to handle conflict in God honoring ways. Really an outstanding book in it's simple yet effective approach.

4) Patrick Lencioni - The Five Dysfunctions of a team
-Not all conflict is bad, how we handle conflict is bad. Lencioni brought clarity to my understanding on how teams work (or don't work) and what can be changed to improve the inter-team dynamics. Not limited to the church, but very relevant to the church.

5) John Piper - Desiring God
-A new paradigm for how to pursue God. Honestly I read it 5-6 years ago and am still working my through the though process on it. I probably need to read it again some time soon.

[Chris Meirose]

...working my way through the thought process...

I need sleep. Quit posting late at night so I can quit responding late at night!

(yeah...like that's the problem...)

:-)

[Mike]

1) Desiring God - Piper
2) Bondage of the Will - Luther
3) Faith Beyond Feelings - Edwards
4) Commentary on Ephesians - Lloyd Jones
5) Future Grace - Piper

[Jim U.]

1. Decision Making and the Will of God by Friesen - Changed my perspective on how God usually directs his people... wisdom.

2. Desiring God by Piper - Delight instead of duty.

3. The Bruised Reed by Sibbes - Along with Romans... that there is no condemnation for those in Christ. Still trying to get it.

4. Sacred Marriage by Thomas - God designed marriage for more than just happiness... holiness.

5. Mere Christianity by Lewis - from an uninformed faith to a smarter faith.

[brad andrews]

1. The Emerging Church - Dan Kimball

Back in 2003, set me on my deconstruction/reconstruction of what the church should be about in the 21st century...

2. SoulTsunami - Leonard Sweet

Providentially led to soon after The Emerging Church. Turned me into a futurist. Never been the same...

3. Tie: The Shaping of Things To Come - Alan Hirsch/Michael Frost & Total Church - Steve Timmis/Tim Chester

Set me on my current spiritual formation and ministry philosophy continuum regarding "missional"...

4. Cheating here, but the entire Ancient-Future series by Robert Webber: Ancient-Future Faith/Evangelism/Time/Worship.

Webber has been deeply influential. Gave me ancient roots and modern wings to my much of ministry philosophy...

5. Desiring God - John Piper

Clarified/still clarifying my life's calling...

[Tyler]

1. Evangelical Feminism: A New Path to Liberalism? by Grudem. My brother bought this for me and the combination of Grudem's gentle admonitions, his clear and straightforward arguments and his love of the authority of scripture really convicted me of the reasons behind my position.
2. Pro-Life Answers to Pro-Choice Arguments by Alcorn. Turned me from an indifferent pro-lifer to a pro-lifer whose stomach curdles and who weeps when he thinks about the atrocities of abortion.
3. God is the Gospel by Piper. My first real introduction to Piper and reformed theology and it really gripped my heart to the centrality of God's glory in the gospel. Really changed my mind on who the focus of Christianity really is (as if there was a question). No turning back after reading this book!
4. Five views of law and gospel. I read this as a teenager and was overwhelmed by the theological arguments. I'd say reading this helped me become a more careful thinking Christian rather than really change my position on law and gospel (although it did that too, but that was secondary).
I'm sure there is a fifth, but I haven't had my morning coffee yet.

[Thom]

1. What Saint Paul Really Said? by N.T. Wright. This changed my views on justification and the necessity of living in community as a Christian.

2. The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne. Though I was already changing many of my political views, this book taught me what being a pacifist is all about and how to live a prophetic life.

3. The Prophetic Imagination by Walter Brueggemann. This book showed me the way of the prophet---to be counter-cultural and a citizen of the Kingdom, not the corrupt powers that be.

4. The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. This book rocked my whole way of eating and participating in the agriculture of America. It turned me into an agrarian and local economist.

5. Imagined Communities by Benedict Anderson. This book changed how I view global politics and economics.

[Rob]

1. The Sovereignty of God (Pink) - This one helped change lots of my views on who God is and what salvation is. A real paradigm shifter for me. Read it as an unbeliever.

2. Ministries of Mercy (Keller) - Changed my view on the role of the church (as a corporate body) in social action.

3. How People Change (Lane/Tripp) - Helped change the way I think about my sin and how to deal with it. Helped change my perspective on what it means to be faithful to people who are in need of repentance and faith.

[sdesocio]

1. Jack Miller -Outgrowing the Ingrown Church (showed me conviction out of grace is possible.)
2. Craig Bloomberg Neither Poverty Nor Riches (Radically challenged my understanding of money in the Bible.)
3. Eternal Word and Changing Worlds (All the good missional stuff flows from a few earlier guys, Conn is one of them.)
4. Calvin's Institutes(Ive actually studied it under a Calvin Scholar, and there is a good reason it is still read 400 years later.)

[claytonius]

Desiring God by John Piper

The Life You've Always Wanted by John Ortberg

A Peculiar People by Rodney Clapp

What St. Paul Really Said/The Challenge of Jesus by N. T. Wright

[Jake Meador]

1) The Mark of a Christian by Francis Schaeffer - Read it during my sophomore year of high-school when I was still at the fundamentalist church I grew up in. We thought every other Christian group was wrong, I'd say we even looked down on them. Schaeffer destroyed that idea.
2) Understanding Dispensationalists by Vern Poythress - Turned me on to Covenant theology and helped refute the dispensationalism of my youth. Never been the same since...
3) The Pleasures of God by John Piper - Helped me understand the doctrines of grace.
4) The Last Word and the Word After That by Brian McLaren - Taught me that it was possible to be a Christian without sacrificing your mind and conscience to the "fundamentals of the faith."
5) Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell - Taught me to have a humble epistemology.

Great series, Steve. I've really enjoyed seeing the different books everyone has listed.

[Todd Bumgarner]

1. Desiring God (Piper) - changed how I view God, joy, and life.

2. [CHEAT - not a book] - Piper's sermon series on Romans - completely changed my life and how I view God. Took me from "being baptized" to "being saved" in my heart.

3. Pensees (Pacal) - taught me how to ask hard questions and changed my mind at how I view apologetics.

4. Practice of the Presence of God (Brother Lawrence) - changed my mind on how I view the continual presence of God with me.

5. The Pleasures of God (Piper) - I believe it was in this book (in an appendix, perhaps) that I began to grasp the sovereignty of God - I think this is the one with the appendix on the two wills of God.

[matt]

In order of which they affected me, from age 19 to present (27).

1. Wild at Heart - John Eldredge. Open theism aside, this book really encouraged me to be a man after God's heart and encouraged me that being a husband and father were my highest callings.

2. A New Kind of Christian - Brian McLaren. In a weird way this book allowed me to hope for something different than the seeker friendly fake church culture I grew up around. It did some other things that weren't quite as good.

3. Systematic Theology - Wayne Grudem. I can still remember sitting in the Orlando airport while reading his sections on Providence/Sovereignty and thinking, "I have been using two markers in my Bible: a highlighter for the things I like, a sharpie for the things I don't."

4. Blue Like Jazz - Don Miller. Helped connect what I love about McLaren to what I love about Reformed Theology.

5. The Pleasures of God - John Piper. Glorious, absolutely glorious. Great theological foundation for worshiping God with one's life.

[Steve Rose]

1) Discipleship - Bonhoeffer - Presented grace in such a way that challenged me to my deepest core...a "get off your butt" book

2) Good to Great in God's Eyes - Chip Ingram - another book to challenge the reader to not be a slug

3) The Secret Message of Jesus - Brian McLaren - reminded me that the kingdom is here, in us and that we need to be busy with kingdom work, not denominational/associational/bureaucratic b.s.

4) UnChristian - David Kinnaman - a great book to remind us of our perception in the world and where we need to reach out and love

5) The Christian Mind - Blamires - written in 1963, the book reminded me that a Christian mind is a terrible thing to waste

[Jason B]

1) Desiring God - John Piper: Such a great new way of thinking about what truly brings God glory.
2) Money, Possessions & Eternity - Randy Alcorn: After reading it I can't think of any weightier challenge for the American church. Who talks about greed anyways? Jesus talked about money/possessions more than any other topic.
3) Missionary Methods: St. Paul's or Ours? - Roland Allen: I read this while a member of a missions organization and have since started to rethink everything.
4) Heaven - Randy Alcorn: Why is it that I knew so little about heaven? Why are there so few books on heaven?

[Jason Allen]

1. Pleasure of God - Piper

It helped me understand reformed theology in a very helpful way. It is in my top 5 books I've read and been helped by.

2. Love God with All Your Mind - Moreland

As a student this helped me integrate my faith with my studies and devotional life. I've read it a ton over the years.

[Steve McCoy]

This is an interesting thread. My list...

1. 2 Timothy - changed my mind about my calling
2. The Sovereignty of God by A.W. Pink - it was where I turned toward Calvinism after seeing it explained with Scripture
3. The Suburban Christian by Al Hsu - convinced me of the strategic need to see the suburbs as part of the urban landscape, not as something sub-urban
4. Unceasing Worship by Harold Best - made me change my whole terminology for gathered worship vs all-of-life worship
5. On Writing by Stephen King - convinced me that adverbs usually suck

[Brian]

1) Decision Making And The Will of God by Friesen and Maxson - Already mentioned above but it brought me a great deal of clarity on how we should normally make decisions as Christians. Also helped break the link I had in my mind between maturity and "hearing God's voice".

2) Free in Christ by Cecil Hook - Helped me take my final steps out of the church of Christ and legalistic Christianity.

3) The Pursuit of God by AW Tozer - Just a great little book on what it means to be a God-follower. Encouraging and challenging and ultimately pointing to Christ.

4) According to Plan by Graeme Goldsowrthy - Haven't finished it yet but this book is a big step on my way to seeing all of scripture through the lens of the Gospel.

[Erik]

#1)The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan
#2)A Call to Prayer by J.C. Ryle
#3)The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
#4)Disciplines of a Godly Man by Kent Hughes
#5)The Supremacy of God in Preaching by John Piper

[Charlie Pharis]

Great stuff, Steve! Thanks!

Just two - among many! - jump out for me right now...

Quantum Spirituality by Leonard Sweet
Desiring God by John Piper

[Matt Foreman]

1. The Book of Romans - made me a Calvinist, which made me a Christian (not because you have to be Calvinist to be Christian, but because it was the first time I understood that God was big rather than God was my sugar daddy)

2. The Forgotten Spurgeon - humbled me and made me worship

3. Desiring God - made me pursue my joy in God

4. Van Til's The Defense of the Faith - though more his epistemology than actual apologetic method...

5. God's Way of Holiness (Horatius Bonar) - opened my eyes to grace-motivated sanctification. Excellent little book!

6. Cramming them in - Lovelace's Dynamics, Keller's articles on Postmodern Preaching, Vos's Pauline Eschatology, CCEF Books - all following in the same line of thought as Bonar...

[Chris Walls]

1. The Prusuit of Holiness, Jerry Bridges--taught me so much on the holiness of God and my need for it early in my walk

2. The Complete Works of Francis Schaffer--led me to look the influence that Christianity has had and can have over a broad specturm of disciplines.

3. Heaven by Randy Alcorn--just read it two years ago, but it made a tremendous impact on the need for us to desire it more.

4. The Reformed Pastor by Baxter--A must read for anyone who desires to pastor.

[limpdance]

Weight of Glory, C.S Lewis

Mystery and Manners, Flannery O'connor

I kissed dating goodbye, Joshua Harris (mainly for the emphasis on pursuing God)

The pleasures of God, John Piper (I shut it and never went back to it while reading the section on election, but it made cry to God to help me know the truth about that, whatever it was; now the truth of election is such a comfort!)

The Great divorce, C.S. Lewis

Reflections on the Psalms, C.S. Lewis (The thought that praise not only expresses, but completes enjoyment.)

[David Cooke]

1. Why revival tarries by Ravenhill was the book that changed my preaching and gave me greater passion and persistence in prayer. It is a firecracker of a book and although he is a little nuts it left me changed.

2. The purpose driven life by Warren I read in combination with Romans while fly-fishing in Chile for 2 months and looking back on that season it changed my life. Don't like the word 'driven' in the title but the content was hugely helpful.

3. Rebuilding your broken world by G. MacDonald is a book about a man being real, reflective, honest and amazingly courageous in the face of his own failure and sin. It was written in the hope it would strengthen others and it has done just that for me

4. C T Studd by Norman Grubb I read on retreat before I was ordained. Showed my that being English, eccentric, adventurous, overflowing with love for Jesus and a cricketer has the capacity to change the world.

5. Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell I read at Oxford while studying with some people who seemed terrified by any new ideas or by people with views differing from their own. It was like a refreshing bath and burst of hopeful and original thinking that I seem to return to often.

[Brian G. Hedges]

1. The Shadow of the Almighty and The Journals of Jim Elliot, Elisabeth Elliot - awakened me to missions and especially gave me a taste for a life consecrated to serving God.

2. Decision Making and the Will of God, Gary Friesen - Freed me from overly subjective, navel-gazing decision making

3. Faith Works: The Gospel According to the Apostles - sorted out my soteriology and settled the Lordship question once and for all

4. Desiring God, John Piper - connected Reformed theology (which I already believed) with Christian hedonism and taught me the importance of being happy in God. Future Grace took it a step further in showing me the sanctifying power of satisfaction in God

5. [Cheat!] Three tools on preaching that made the difference: (1) Preaching and Preachers, Lloyd-Jones (along with the MLJ biographies by Murray) continue to make preaching the gospel the most exciting vocation in the world; (2) Christ-centered Preaching, Bryan Chapell helped me with sermon construction and showed me how to keep the Gospel central (Goldsworthy was also a real help here); (3) Tim Keller's articles, essays, lectures, and sermons took all of this several steps further and have significantly helped my evangelistic preaching.

Sorry so long!

[Tom B]

1) AA Big Book
2) On Being a Theologian of the Cross - Gerhard Forde (Dangerously Amazing)
3) Grace in Practice - Paul Zahl
4) Quest for Holiness (German Title - Justifincation + Sanctification) Koebel
5) The Hammer of God - Bo Goertz

It's a Law-Gospel read that radically changed my former Reformed self's perspective on things....That Forde Book will screw you up good - careful it is dangerously good stuff...

[Rick]

Existence and Attributes of God - Charnock - comprehensive and devotional on the topic of the attributes
The Freedom of the Will - Edwards - the best on the topic imho
The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification - Marshall - formed my thinking on the relationship between gospel, justification and sanctification
The Life, Walk and Triumph of Faith - Romaine - similar to Marshall's work yet focuses on the relationship of Faith to Justification, Sanctification and Glorification.
God's Passion for His Glory - Piper/Edwards - need I say more!

[Noah]

A Modern Exposition of the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith by Sam Waldron -AND- Desiring God by John Piper... those books turned (are turning) me toward Calvinism.

Biblical Preaching by Haddon Robinson... my basic understanding of how to preach a sermon and approach to preaching is defined by this book.

[Todd Pruitt]

Desiring God - Piper

Putting Amazing Back Into Grace - Horton

In The Face of God - Horton

Preaching Christ in all of Scripture - Goldsworthy

Total Church - Timmis & Chester

[cavman]

1. Chosen By God by Sproul- finalized my journey to Calvinism.
2. Christ of the Covenants by O. Palmer Robertson- ended my journey from dispensationalism to coventant theology.
3. The Bible & the Future by Anthony Hoekema and Millenial Maze by Stanley Grenz- finalized my journey to amillenialism.
4. Children of Promise by Randy Booth- I finally go infant baptism from a Reformed understanding.
5. Taking Every Thought Captive by Richard Pratt- crytalized the journey from classical apologetics to presuppositional, Van Til variety, apologetics.

[adam clark]

Another great category Steve. In no particular order:

1. The Gospel According to Jesus - John MacArthur: This was one of the first books I read in my late teens that really pushed me out of the cultural Christianity I had been raised with and into a truer understanding of what it meant to have a faith of my own. It was also the first time I encountered any type of reformed theology.

2. Desiring God - John Piper: This one has been listed by almost everyone and I don't think I can add anything to what's already been said. Literally, life changing.

3. Blue Like Jazz - Don Miller: After spending several years as a reformed jerk, this book brought be back down to earth and helped me realize that just because someone doesn't do things exactly the way my tradition does, there are not automatically a heretic.

4. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Robert Pirsig: I cannot overstate the influence of this book during my junior year in college. This book effectively popped the arrogant Christian subculture bubble I'd been living in my entire life. Read it.

5. Mary and O'Neil - Justin Cronin: OK, this one's a novel, but it was the first novel I read that overwhelmed me with the beauty of its writing. It caused a last minute change of major in college, among other things. But most of all, it showed me how great writing can be so much more than entertainment - it can be life-changing.

[Eliza]

1) Chosen by God by Sproul
2) Hinds Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnand
3) Phyllis Schlafly: Sweetheart of the Silent Majority
4) Hearts of Fire by Voice of the Martyrs
5) The Reformed Pastor by Baxter

[Marc]

1. Knowing God -- J.I. Packer
2. Bondage of the Will -- Martin Luther
3. Native Son -- Richard Wright
4. Race Matters -- Cornel West
5. Romans -- Paul

[David Reimer]

Funny ... I can't think of many books which made me do a 180-degree change ... or even 90-degree for that matter. Rather, there were books that served as midwives, delivering something new that had been gestating away.

Still, these come to mind:

1. Little Pilgrim's Progress. Don't really know how many times I read this book as a kid -- quite a few, anyway! It didn't so much change my mind as help to shape it (as did the Narnia series which I read in the '60s when I was about 8-10 years old).

2. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers from Prison, which I must have read when I was around 18-20. Theology and life ... they really do go together.

3. Robert Farrar Capon, The Supper of the Lamb: A Culinary Reflection, again didn't so much change my mind as give me a new set of eyes to see the world that God made, and my place in it.

4. Iain Murray, The Puritan Hope: Revival and the Interpretation of Prophecy, did change my mind! Well, I'm not sure I had a "mind" when it came to eschatology ... but this spelled the end of my nominal pre-trib, pre-mill inheritance.

5. [CHEAT] Another one for Piper's Romans sermon series. Like Todd Bumgarner (above), I can't leave this out, even though it's not a book. Picked up, chewed up, and spat out both me and whole family with a deeper understanding of and greater passion for the gospel of Christ.

[Jason B]

I have to add the last chapter of Let the Nations Be Glad by John Piper. The title is "The Inner Simplicity and Outer Freedom of Worldwide Worship". I now understand the word worship in the bible very differently. Sort of akin to when people say the word "church" and they mean the building rather than what the bible means by church.

[Scott M.]

1 - The Divine Conspiracy, Dallas Willard. Gave me hope that I could change and that making disciples was something worth doing. Gave me an actual Christian vision.

2 - Escape from Reason, Francis Schaeffer. Taught me to see and pay attention to broader cultural and philosophical currents.

3 - Let Your Life Speak, Parker Palmer. Helped me see inside myself.

4 - Glamorous Powers, Susan Howatch. A novel that introduced me to the whole Starbridge series and a psychological and theological way of seeing ministry.

5 - The Return of the Prodigal Son, Henri Nouwen. Found my story.

[Amanda]

How to Live Like a Jesus Freak, D.C. Talk Laugh as much as you want! I read this in the days leading up to and directly following giving my life to Christ (long story, but God had been preparing my heart through a small group, and then a Christian from my high school died and I picked up this book; days later, gave my life to Jesus at his funeral), and it gave me a clearer picture of what it meant to live for the Lord.

The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis Another book I read right after I started following Jesus, so I guess it comes as no big surprise that it shaped me. It just elucidates the reality of our enemies and their schemes. Very thought-provoking for me.

The Pursuit of God, A.W. Tozer This book lights a fire in my soul. Each time I read it, I find myself pushed forward to thirsting for God alone. The chapter on "the blessedness of possessing nothing" especially changed my thinking about how we live and surrender.

[Paul Wilkinson]

Gotta agree with Jim on Decision Making and the Will of God by Friesen. It was published a while ago but showed how radical new thinking on doctrine could shake us up without touching the basic doctrinal foundations.

Also Thom's pick of Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne. That one is still changing lots of people, as is Shane himself.

A Is For Abductive by McLaren, Sweet & Hasslemeyer; an encyclopedic collection of various entries to cause us to rethink everything.

Reckless Abandon by Larry Tomczak; though I didn't read every page, he questions using the world's business strategies to do church. One of only a few charismatic treatments on apostolic church planting I'm familiar with.

More Ready Than You Realize by McLaren. I liked New Kind of Christian but if I had to recommend one to somebody, this makes the point.

90 Days of Heaven by Alcorn. I thought I knew about Heaven 'til I started this. (Oops, that's six.)

[Joel Burdeaux]

1. The Catcher in the Rye (fiction) - taught me that just because the world thinks you are crazy, it doesn't mean that you are... maybe it is. Also, the vision of the "catcher" is a beautiful picture of a pastor...

2. Desiring God

3. The Celtic Way of Evangelism - taught me that contextualization is always necessary...

4. Surprised by the Power of the Spirit - didn't turn me into a charismatic, but I hold my views much looser, and with more grace than before reading this book...

5. Life After God (fiction)- taught me that non-believers have more of the image of God in them that I had previously believed (or wanted to believe)...