Portable Books This Summer

I can't talk about what I'm reading this summer without mentioning the Amazon Kindle. I have had one for about two months and it is amazing. (This is an unsolicited endorsement) I currently have ten books (including a 1291 page theology book) loaded in it, but it weighs less than a normal paperback. When I want to buy a new book, magazine or newspaper I click on the Amazon Store, make my selection, and normally within two minutes it is loaded onto the Kindle. As an added bonus six of us at Seacoast Church are sharing one account (legitimate use according to Amazon), so we have access to each other's books all the time. If you are a reader you NEED a Kindle.

One of the first books I read on the Kindle was Charlatan- America's Most Dangerous Huckster, the Man Who Pursued Him, and the Age of Flimflam by Pope Brock. (Great first name) Charlatan is the true story of the rise and fall of John Brinkley; a huckster who went from traveling medicine man to one of the most famous "doctors" in the country. Along the way he invented infomercials, popularized country music and almost become the Governor of Kansas. Pope does a great job depicting a time of innocent naivety in America with humor but without condescension.  While Pope doesn't attempt to draw any parallels to similar hucksterism that continues to appear in the American church, the comparisons are obvious and frightening.

A book I am currently reading on the Kindle is Tim Keller's The Reason for God- Belief in an Age of Skepticism. Keller does a great job filling the void in apologetics between Josh McDowell's encyclopedic works and Lee Strobel's more readable but lighter books. Keller takes a philosophic approach to the major questions that every pastor encounters on a regular basis such as "How can God allow suffering?", "How can you believe in only one true God?" and "How can you believe in a God who would send people to hell?" While Keller's answers can be somewhat esoteric and over the common man's head, The Reason for God should be in every pastor's toolkit.

Geoff Surratt
www.geoffsurratt.com

Comments

[Rhett Smith]

awesome.

i got the kindle for father's day and love it...i have three books and a Bible loaded onto it and it gets better and better.

it's a little weird at first not being able to flip through pages, and figuring out how to navigate it quickly...

but i love it...

thanks for the tips..

rhett