Distractions!

Kateland at the Last Amazon has tagged me in the book blog game. I think I am going to scare off a lot of readers by doing this, but here goes:

Number of Books I own: Geez. It's gotta be one hundred, give or take. Not nearly as much as most taking part in this game, but quite a few.

Last Book I bought: It has been a while, actually. I think it was Reckless Disregard by "Buzz" Patterson. I needed something to read on my flight home from Vancouver a couple of months ago. It was a good read. Reminds me that I need to buy some more books!

Last Book I Read: I guess the last books I actually finished reading were Treason and How to Talk to a Liberal by Ann Coulter. I am currently making my way through City of God by Augustine, and Searching for Truth by Joe Boot. At the same time, I am reading Anabaptist History and Theology for the third time, and occasionally I pick up The Holy Spirit and Mission Dynamics, edited by C. Douglas McConnell. It is the fifth in a series of books that came out of the Evangelical Missiological Society, and contains a number of essays written by missiologists (I love that word) of all stripe: Baptists, Anglicans, Reformers, and Charismatics.

Books that mean a lot to me: The Bible, of course (score divine brownie points for Temujin). Preferably the New American Standard Version, but I've got New International, King James, the New Living Translation, and even a New World Translation (the primary function of this edition is collecting dust). I'm not the kind of person to say which translation is best, but my preference has always been the NASB.

The Healing Promise by Richard Mayhue is the very best book out there on healing. He does the Christian community a great service by ripping to shreds the fraudulent claims of Benny Hinn and Kenneth Copeland. It is healers cash-grabbing swindlers like these who give Christianity a bad name, and ruin it for the rest of us who are just trying to share a good thing with others. Too many of my friends have been duped by their ilk, and I'm exceedingly glad to recommend this book. As an added bonus, Mayhue provides a excellent exegesis of those passages in the Bible that these fake faith healers use to dupe their devotees.

For about five years now, I have desperately wanted to travel to Mongolia. I've always been fascinated by Mongolian history and cutural (hence my nick), but in recent years my desire to go has turned into a downright craving. One of the reasons this is so is because of Steppe by Step by Hugh Kemp. Kemp was a missionary to Mongolia in the 1990's who experienced difficulty when trying to make Christianity relevent to the Mongols. He finally found success after pouring over Mongol history. His research shows that Christianity has ties to the Mongols that go further back than even Buddhism. Upon discovering this, he was able to show those around him that Christianity was not just a "white man's religion", but in fact was accepted, and even practiced, by a Mongol Kings, Queens, magistrates, and advisors. Woven throughout his historical data are personal stories of his time in Mongolia. This book has revolutionized the way I think about missions. To say it means a lot to me is a vast understatement.

I read a lot of religious stuff. But an example of a non-Christian books that has impacted me is Years of Glory 1942-1967, edited by Dan Diamond. It is the official NHL book of the six-team era (the years when the NHL had only six teams: Toronto, Montreal, New York, Detroit, Chigaco, and Boston). It's a great read, with plenty of sweet photos from a bygone era.

And I would be remiss if I didn't include Garfield at Large, the first Garfield paperback. It cracks me up everytime I read it.

So there you have it. Now it is my turn to have some fun... who to tag... who to tag...
I know!

Dipnut, consider yourself tagged! You were one of the first of these new fangled "blog" things I discovered, and you were the first I read regularily.

Julie, the MJM Drill Wife. I wanna find out what you like to read. I'm sure to get some great ideas for my next book purchase. You've been tagged.

Asylum, I've only known you for a year, but I think you rock. I wish you could have stayed in B.C. for a little while longer. You've got a great personality and sense of humour. Plus, you're hot (tee hee). You don't post nearly enough at your blog. Tell me what you like to read, you've been tagged.

And Seth... ohhh Seth! I've got a pretty good idea what you're responses will be. Nonetheless, TAG!

Update, 6:35pm- I'm also tagging Colby Cosh. Go big or go home, I always say.

Update 6:45pm - Someone has already tagged Colby. GRRRR! But that's alright, I didn't wanna tag him anyways. Popilop, you've been tagged!