Simply Christian

N.T. Wright's Simply Christian is one of the best books I've read this year. This book is written on a level that makes it much easier to read and grasp when compared to his others. It's also a book where I found the content very refreshing when looking at what a suggested life for a Christian looks like. It's one that I wish my heritage had been influenced by in order to have shaped my thinking two decades when I made the decision to be baptized.

Wright quickly takes a look at how Christianity was and should still be influenced from Old Testament scriptures and then he includes the story of Christ into a broader and larger story of God's intention to restore a fallen world and put things in order. He then breaks down our roles as individuals and shows how we are to be a part of that larger story.

Wright portrays the essence of Christianity at a macro level in a way that doesn't resemble apologetics of any sort. The book is not a defense of Christianity. It's simply a refreshing observation. In many ways this book is compared to Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis. It's that good.

I'm not good at reviews, but if you are looking for a book in the religion genre, this one is worth adding to your list.

What defines you?

Becky Blanton, a Tennessean, realized she was a writer. What she had to overcome was the idea that she was not homeless.

In a talk she gave at TED, Blanton discusses her experience of living in a van for a year with her cat and dog. She talks about her struggle with depression and the conditions she lived in.

I appreciated her talk because it made me stop and think about what defines me. Who are you? What are you? Don't just answer "what's your story?" without answering "what do you want your story to be?"