Adam Shields

Welcoming Justice: God’s Movement Toward Beloved Community by Charles Marsh and John Perkins

July 11, 2011 by Adam Shields

Takeaway: Very few topics get more to the heart of Christian love and community more than racial, class and economic reconciliation.

Purchase Links: Paperback, Kindle Edition

I first heard about John Perkins in the spring of 1992 as I was preparing for a summer missions trip with Wheaton College. We read one of his books (cannot remember which one, but according to his Wikipedia page, only A Quiet Revolution was published in 1992, now out of print). Later that year, after working for a summer in Houston with kids in a long term homeless shelter, attended my first Christian Community Development Association meeting. It was there that I first heard John Perkins speak. Since think I think I have read almost everything written by or about him. He truly is one of the modern prophets that has done much to change the direction of the modern Evangelical church. So I am always surprised how many people have not heard of him. A the last Catalyst conference, Perkins was one of the main speakers and I saw dozens of tweets quoting him and many questioning why they had never heard of him.

No new posts until July 15.

July 8, 2011 by Adam Shields

I am heading out of town to go backpacking early tomorrow morning. No computer or phone access, so no new posts until July 15th. Have a good week

Read Again: Scripture and the Authority of God by NT Wright

October 4, 2026July 8, 2011 by Adam Shields

Scripture and the Authority of God: How to Read the Bible Today Takeaway: I do not know any book that takes the reading, study and importance of scripture more seriously than this book.

Normally I do not read a book so quickly after I read it the first time. But I am going backpacking next week, and the group decided to read two books in advance so we can discuss them as we are hiking. This group of guys has been going on a trip together since spring of 1995 (17 trips total). We are all in quite different places since we started, we have all graduated from college, completed 5 masters degrees, a PhD and an MD between the six of us. We are all now married and have 16 children between us. We now live outside of Chicago, Toronto, Paris, Minneapolis, Atlanta and Dallas. We work as a nanny, a family practice doctor, a Hebrew/Old Testament professor, a missionary, a trader and a computer consultant for an HR firm.

Luke by John MacArthur

July 15, 2026July 7, 2011 by Adam Shields

Luke (MacArthur Bible Studies) Takeaway: Learning scripture from a variety of teachers is important.

I have decided I am going to try a different format of scripture reading. The main issue for me is that I read too much and too quickly and that after a while I start reading scripture in the same way as I read everything else. So I am being intentional, repetitive and trying to slow down as I read scripture.

I picked up this bible study a while ago when it was offered for free on kindle. I decided to start with Luke intentionally in part because I had this bible study and wanted to be intentional in reading a diverse group of authors as I read about the book I am actively reading.

From the Garden to the City: The Redeeming and Corrupting Power of Technology by John Dyer

October 4, 2026July 5, 2011 by Adam Shields

From the Garden to the City: The Redeeming and Corrupting Power of Technology Takeaway: Technology is shaped by its human creators, but also in turn shapes its human users. (This is the book I have been searching for on Technology and Christianity.)

I am a geek wannabe. I fix a lot of friends computers and my less techie friends often ask for advice. But my skills pale in comparison to John Dyer, John Saddington, and a bunch of other twitter friends. In spite of the fact that I am a nanny and not a full time tech worker, I have been thinking a lot about technology and how we as Christians should be reacting. Over the past couple months I have read two decent books on Technology and Christianity, Tim Challies’ The Next Story and Adam Thomas’ Digital Disciple. Both have real value, but the book I have been looking for is John Dyer’s From The Garden to the City.

The main theme of the book is that while we as humans create technology (and that is part of our God given role), the resulting technology shapes us in ways that we often ignore. A personal example happened yesterday. My wife and I are heavy users of our phones for social media and texting, but we do not actually use them to make a lot of phone calls. Our smart phones are not neutral devices as many Christians want to say, neither good nor evil. Yes, we can choose to do good things or evil things with the phones, but the very fact we have the phones affects the way we interact in the world. Technology is not deterministic; we can overcome natural tendencies. But without reflection and insight we, often are just unaware of how the technology affects us.

Now You’re Speaking My Language Honest Communication and Deeper Intimacy for a Stronger Marriage by Gary Chapman

July 5, 2011 by Adam Shields

Takeaway: Communication is the center of marriage. Almost everything, both good and bad, is a result of communicating with our spouse.

One of the best things my wife and I have done over the past year is to lead a small group for newly married couples. We have seven couple that were married from 5 weeks to 1 1/2 years when we started. We are wrapping up the group this month and will start a new group in August. Leading the group has really required that my wife and I have serious conversations about what is good and bad in our own marriage and the marriages of those around us and how it is we can encourage new marriages to become strong. I really recommend leading a group like this.

Most Read Book Reviews of June

July 1, 2011 by Adam Shields

These are June’s most read book reviews. Pretty standard, one review from 2009, one about a bible passage, one on economics, one on

The Challenge of Jesus: Rediscovering Who Jesus Was and Is by NT Wright

July 16, 2026June 30, 2011 by Adam Shields

The Challenge of Jesus: Rediscovering Who Jesus Was & Is Takeaway: The search for who Jesus is, is important for every generation, not because Jesus changes, but because we do.

I honestly cannot express how disappointing it is that when listening to the introduction (this was an audiobook) I find that this book is based on a series of lectures that NT Wright gave while in Chicago speaking to seminary students and others for a conference put on by Intervarsity in 1999. Because I was in Chicago, and was a seminary student in 1999, and I had no idea that this conference happened.

Today and 14 years ago today

October 5, 2026June 28, 2011 by Adam Shields

It is summer. Over the next three weeks I am either on vacation or sort of on vaction. Some of this time I will have lots of time to read and post, other times I will have no time to read and post. Today is our 14th anniversery. And I have not have time to … Read more

Digital Disciple: Real Christianity in a Virtual World by Adam Thomas

July 16, 2026June 27, 2011 by Adam Shields

Digital Disciple Takeaway: God is with us, whether we are in the virtual world or the physical world.

Billed as one of the first Episcopal priests of the Millennial generation (a bit too often). I believe this is the first book on technology and Christianity that was written by a digital native. While I appreciate some of the thoughts of Shane Hipps and Tim Challies and others, the reality is that we are still too early in the process to fully see how the digital revolution is going to affect our society and more importantly Christianity.

Adam Thomas is much more positive about God being with us as we are in digital space. He adapts the Psalms 139 “if we are in the valley you are there, if we are in the heights you are there” idea to include “if we are on a quest in World of Warcraft you are there”. This is the overriding message of this short book.