What I'm reading...

Those who know me know that reading will be an important, and enjoyable, part of this sabbatical season.  As I progress in my reading, I'll be posting any recommendations I have.  I just finished a short book in the 9 Marks series, Church Membership: How the World Knows Who Represents Jesus  by Jonathan Leeman.  It's one of those books that you read and say, "I've thought some of this for a long time, but never could have said it better!"  Leeman makes a strong case for a strong, and high, view of church membership.  He argues that the church does not have membership, like a social club, but rather that a church is its membership.

His descriptions of membership are powerful, and in some areas he challenges my own thinking by taking contrary positions--I want to think about these things well, and Leeman's book makes me do so.  But it is a great little read on an important subject.

And for fun?  Well, my friend Jim Leightenheimer got me started reading the history of our region during the pre-Revolutionary times and onward in the works of Allan Eckert, a local historian/author who passed away recently.  He loaned me The Frontiersman  (the story of the settlement of Ohio by men like Simon Kenton) right after my arrival in Cedarville.  I loved it, but it takes a while and some uninterrupted time to read these compelling, well-written, and engrossing histories.  Kathy recently got me the next two books in the series, and I am a third of the way into Wilderness Empire, the record of the intrigues and schemes of the French and British beginning in the 1740s as they sought to out-maneuver the other through gaining the trust of the various Indian tribes.  There is so much of this history most of us don't know, and Eckert's non-fiction reads like the best novels.  It is a great beach chair and poolside reading experience.
UPDATE:  FINISHED IT.  LOVED IT!

I'm reading some articles, journals, and magazines I want to catch up on as well.  But that's for another day.