Which book influenced you?

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Outside of the Bible, which book had the most influence in your life, thinking,etc. (I might use this list as my next read.)
So far in my life I would say"What So Amazing About Grace" by Philip Yancey. Read it after leaving my old IFB church and realized this grace was never taught or preached about in that church....really turned my world upside down.
 
Books that had a lot to do with my being a Christian at all (in no particular order):

Cloud-hidden, Whereabouts Unknown by Alan Watts
The Tao Te Ching by Lao-tzu
Surprised by Joy by C.S. Lewis
Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
Who Moved the Stone? by Frank Morison
 
John Maxwell has a ton of books..............one of my favorites is" Developing the Leader within"..

 
Books that formed my mind in childhood:

The Bible (children's versions, I forget exactly which ones)

Grimm's Fairy Tales, some of which were very grim indeed

Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass, by Lewis Carroll. Only for children on the surface. Full of logic puzzles and paradoxes.

Robert A. Heinlein's juvenile SF novels: Podkayne of Mars, Rocket Ship Galileo, etc. Didn't need an adult library card to get them! And I came to love both SF in general and this author in particular.

Poul Anderson's Polesotechnic League stories. Nicholas van Rijn taught me economics before I ever cracked an econ book.

 
I read the Horatio Hornblower series too, and loved it!  :D

Also, all of the Three Musketeers series, which is like 10 volumes IIRC. Ten unabridged volumes, which make it clear that authors of the period were paid by the word.  They were padded with unnecessarily verbose descriptions... which was ok with me. It made me feel more like I was there, actually seeing it all happen.
 
With respect to Christianity, lots of books influenced me.

Mere Christianity (C.S. Lewis) was instrumental in my rejection of atheism.  Ironically, I now disagree with most of what he has to say about free will, and what comes after the initial logical arguments. 

Knowing God (J.I. Packer) is a powerful book.  Everyone should read it. 

Bondage of the Will (Martin Luther) confirmed what I was already thinking about predestination and the will.  Everyone should read this one, too, even if you disagree with Luther.  It's a masterpiece of sarcasm. 

Sovereignty of God (A. W. Pink) - I didn't learn anything new in this book, but it was very inspiring and reaffirming.
 
aleshanee said:
pilgrims progress.. .  by john bunyan .... i began reading it a couple of years after i joined this family... . i read it again while i was in high school.. . . my dad has a really old copy of it printed in 1860....  almost falling apart and smells like the attic of a museum...  but that;s the one i read ... twice.. ...  and it;s the book i think had the most effect on me outside the Bible ...

other books i read that had a significant effect on me were.. . beowulf... . translated into modern english by a guy named seamus heaney .... . 2 years before the mast by dana...  another really old book in my dads collection.. . not quite as old as pilgrims progress... .  plud i read all the horatio hornblower books... which everybody says are boys books..  but whatever... ..  can;t say they had a big effect on me but they were really kewl. ..  my dad has a huge collection of books and i started reading most of them.. .  most of the ones i started i only got about halfway through... or less... before i lost interest.. :-\ . . but i use to do a lot of reading as a teenager.. ..
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I had to read Beowulf for a class in college. Most of my classmates hated it, but I loved it. Michael Chrichton wrote a similar story called "Eaters of the Dead." It was made into a movie called "The 13th Warrior."
 
No particular order, but here are a few that I have enjoyed:

Biblical Preaching by Haddon Robinson
Pastoral Graces by Lee Eclov
The Shadow of the Broad Brim by Richard Ellsworth Day (Biography of Charles Spurgeon)
Living With the Giants by Warren Wiersbe
Invitation to Biblical Preaching by Don Sunukjian


I am currently reading and gleaning blessings from The Trellis and the Vine by Tony Pike, The Counsel of Heaven on Earth by Ian F. Jones, and Christ Centered Preaching by Bryan Chapell.
 
[quote author=Boomer]I am currently reading and gleaning blessings from...Christ Centered Preaching by Bryan Chapell.[/quote]

Excellent book on this topic. Are you aware that you can download his seminary classroom lectures on this topic?
 
In the past ten years these books have greatly influenced me for good:

Understanding and Applying the Bible, Robertson McQuilkin - changed my preaching from me/thought based to textually based
Heaven, Randy Alcorn - changed my concept of it, and made it much more real, and much more a part of my daily life
Church Still Works, Paul Chappell - expanded my ability/vision/approach to pastoring
Can We Rock the Gospel?, John Blanchard and Dan Lucarini - the best of over 20 books I've read about music, a subject about which I care deeply, and think is hugely influential in the average person/church's life

...but far and away, the one book that changed my life the most (outside the Bible, of course) is The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah by Alfred Edersheim. It was the centerpiece of hundreds of hours I spent studying the life of Christ, and it changed so much of how I view the Bible, and of how I view Jesus Christ, and what He said and did.
 
Izdaari said:
Also, all of the Three Musketeers series, which is like 10 volumes IIRC. Ten unabridged volumes, which make it clear that authors of the period were paid by the word.  They were padded with unnecessarily verbose descriptions... which was ok with me. It made me feel more like I was there, actually seeing it all happen.
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...read all of those as a teenager, and really, really enjoyed them. Following those characters through thousands of pages you developed a great affection for them, and I can remember distinctly crying as Porthos died. Anyway, haven't thought of those in a long time; thanks for the wonderful reminder.
 
I don't think they've influenced me in any way, but I love Mark Tufo's "Zombie Fallout" series of books.  Yeah, they could really use a good editor to clean them up, but they're so much fun.  The guy thinks the way I do.  Right in the middle of a dramatic scene where they're preparing to lure zombies into a house and then burn it, he notices that the gasoline almost masks the disgusting smell of the zombies.  Then he starts to wonder what an AirWick commercial would sound like for gasoline-scented deodorizers for people who want to cover up the smell of their rotting grandmother, etc.  You'd have to read how he worded it to enjoy the humor.  He does these sort of weird tangents all the time, so I cracked up through the whole series. 
 
Tom Brennan said:
In the past ten years these books have greatly influenced me for good:

Understanding and Applying the Bible, Robertson McQuilkin - changed my preaching from me/thought based to textually based
Heaven, Randy Alcorn - changed my concept of it, and made it much more real, and much more a part of my daily life
Church Still Works, Paul Chappell - expanded my ability/vision/approach to pastoring
Can We Rock the Gospel?, John Blanchard and Dan Lucarini - the best of over 20 books I've read about music, a subject about which I care deeply, and think is hugely influential in the average person/church's life

...but far and away, the one book that changed my life the most (outside the Bible, of course) is The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah by Alfred Edersheim. It was the centerpiece of hundreds of hours I spent studying the life of Christ, and it changed so much of how I view the Bible, and of how I view Jesus Christ, and what He said and did.
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I can second the Randy Alcorn selection. I read through that with a group of friends and it really took us back to the realization that this life is a small piece of eternity and to never lose sight of that.
 
Foxe's Book of Martyrs
'Final Authority' by William P. Grady
'A History of the Baptists ' by Thomas Armitage
'Red Horizons' by Ion Pacepa
Aesop's fables.
Anishinabe

 
I absolutely love threads like this.  Sometimes there are books that I have overlooked that I learn of while reading what others say.  My top five would be:

1.) "Morning and Evening" by Charles Spurgeon (If I was stuck on a desert island and could have only the Bible and one other book this would be the one.)
2.) "Gleanings in the Godhead" by A. W. Pink
3.) "The Normal Christian Life" by Watchman Nee
4.) "Blessed Child" by Ted Dekker and Bill Bright
5.) "The Works of Jonathan Edwards, Vol. 2" (Banner of Truth Edition)
 
Too Many to List! 

However, Here's what I'm reading right now:
* The Christian Atheist - Craig Groeschel
* Disciplines of a Godly Man - R Kent Hughes
* Genesis and the Decay of the Nations - Ken Ham
* Bonhofer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy - Eric Metaxas

And here are a few of my favorites:

Spiritually focused:
* The Complete Works of John Bunyan (includes Pilgrim's Progress which I read between Christmas and New Years every year)
* My Utmost for His Highest - Oswald Chambers
* Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret  - Dr & Mrs. Howard Taylor
* Journey with David Brainard - Richard Hasler
* Heaven - Randy Alcorn
* When Heaven Weeps - Ted Dekker
* The Burden Bearer - Paul Chappell
* The Fundamentals - Edited by R.A. Torrey, et al
* The Works of John Owen (Puritan author in the 1600's)
* Through the Gates of Splendor - Elisabeth Elliott
* Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire - Jim Cymbala
* Dante's Inferno
* The Soul Winner - C.H. Spurgeon
* Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
* Mere Christianity - CS Lewis
* The Great Divorce - CS Lewis

History:
* The Pilgrim Fathers - John Brown
* Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer - James Swanson
* Killing Lincoln - Bill O'Reilly
* Lincoln's Greatest Speech - Ronald White
* Foxe's Book of Martyrs - John Foxe
* By Their Blood - James & Marti Hefley
* Christ in the Camp - J. William Jones
* Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery - Eric Mataxas


Just Because:
* They Shoot Canoes Don't They? (Patrick McManus - and all his other titles, too!)
* Ender Series - Orson Scott Card
* Pathfinder Series - Orson Scott Card
* Lord of the Rings Series - J.R. Tolkien
* The Testament - John Grisham

 
Edwards said:
I absolutely love threads like this.  Sometimes there are books that I have overlooked that I learn of while reading what others say.  My top five would be:

1.) "Morning and Evening" by Charles Spurgeon (If I was stuck on a desert island and could have only the Bible and one other book this would be the one.)
2.) "Gleanings in the Godhead" by A. W. Pink
3.) "The Normal Christian Life" by Watchman Nee
4.) "Blessed Child" by Ted Dekker and Bill Bright
5.) "The Works of Jonathan Edwards, Vol. 2" (Banner of Truth Edition)
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All of these should be on my list too!  Too many good titles!
 
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