Michlaude Discipleship Project

Vol VI: When Salt Loses Its Savor

Appendix C: Key Resources for the Disciple

On the Church's Failures and the Response

  • The Ragamuffin Gospel - Brennan Manning. The most powerful treatment of grace for the person who has encountered the church's gatekeeping.
  • Messy Grace - Caleb Kaltenbach. Written by a pastor raised by gay parents who came to faith. On engaging LGBTQ+ people with conviction and love.
  • The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert - Rosaria Butterfield. Former lesbian professor's account of a decade-long friendship that led to faith.
  • Is God Anti-Gay? - Sam Allberry. A gay Christian's engagement with the biblical teaching on sexuality.
  • Washed and Waiting - Wesley Hill. A celibate gay Christian's theological reflection on sexuality and the church.
  • Our Hands Are Stained with Blood - Michael Brown. The history of Christian antisemitism and its continuing effects.

On Science and Faith

  • The Language of God - Francis Collins. The Human Genome Project director's account of science and Christian faith.
  • God's Undertaker - John Lennox. The philosophy of science and its relationship to faith.
  • The Lost World of Genesis One - John Walton. An Old Testament scholar's reading of Genesis that takes both the text and science seriously.

On Salt and Light in the Culture

  • Culture Making - Andy Crouch. On creating rather than condemning or consuming culture.
  • To Change the World - James Davison Hunter. On faithful presence in the culture.
  • The Benedict Option - Rod Dreher. The case for Christian community formation (read alongside Hunter for a productive tension).
  • Mere Christianity - C.S. Lewis. Still the most accessible case for Christianity for the culturally engaged secular person.

On Misplaced Compassion and Genuine Grace

  • Boundaries - Henry Cloud and John Townsend. The practical theology of appropriate limits in relationships.
  • Caring Enough to Confront - David Augsburger. On speaking the truth in love.
  • When Helping Hurts - Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert. On the difference between help that transforms and help that entrenches.

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