The Resource Center, like everything else at Summit, revolves around our Vision: To form biblically functioning communities that reach lost people, connect in Christ-centered relationships, teach truth, serve others, and worship God. The books we carry relate directly to each one of these five points. We also carry a recommended list of 15 Books Every Christian Should Read, and resources for small group study.
Why Her?
Three years ago, while on a vacation with extended family, Rhonda Hunter, Pastor Isaac’s wife, was talking with her two sisters-in-law and her mother-in-law about the relationship difficulties so many mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law have. They figured at least part of the reason for that could be attributed to the fact that a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law love the same man—one tends to see him as someone she should help protect, and the other perceives him as her protector. Such very different viewpoints are a set up for relationship issues. So, the women wondered out loud, “Why do we all get along so well?”
All four are Christians and that certainly lays a wonderful groundwork for the potential for good relationships, but the Hunter women are not similar in personality or passions. And to say their tastes in music, literature, fashion, politics, or childrearing are varied would be an understatement—but get along, they do! In fact, they truly love each other. So, they did what in hindsight seems impossible—the four women wrote a book! Well, to be more exact, they essentially wrote two books in one.
Their book isn’t a “how to” book, but a “why to” book. They think that when a woman knows why a good relationship matters, she will be able to figure out more easily her role in making a relationship good. The four of them searched Scripture for wisdom on this issue. They interviewed many, many women. They read every article and book they could find on the topic—which didn’t take all that long, because there isn’t much out there that considers this relationship in a positive light. And most important, they prayed. They prayed for each other as they wrote. They prayed for the readers. They prayed for the relationships that they hope to bless with their take on this subject. Rhonda, Lisa, and Lizzy’s side of the book is entitled Why Her? You, Your Mother-In-Law, and The Big Picture. Becky Hunter’s side of the book is entitled Why Her? You, Your Daughter-In-Law, and The Big Picture.
Why Her? is available for $10 in Summit’s Resource Center.
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Good News About Injustice
Founder and president of International Justice Mission (IJM) Gary Haugen shares his personal story of how he became involved in fighting injustices on such a high level and his call to start IJM. It is a reminder that God is against injustice and cares deeply about those trapped in seemingly hopeless situations. He laments the fact that Christians in North America specifically have largely forgotten that we are called to partner with God in combating the injustices we see around the world, and provides insight on how we can become involved no matter how insignificant our efforts might seem.
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Terrify No More
Also by Gary Haugen, Terrify No More tells in detail the story of an International Justice Mission (IJM) team that goes undercover in Cambodia to infiltrate a ring of brothels and rescue girls as young as five who are enslaved there. The outcome is far from certain, and at times the obstacles they face seem impossible to overcome, but Haugen tells of the courage and willingness of the team to trust in God to bring about justice.
Financial Peace University (FPU)
In this 12-week video course, Dave Ramsey pulls back the curtain and reveals how money really works. In his simple, easy-to-understand style, Dave teaches about how to save money, live on a budget, communicate about money, eliminate debt, find bargains, and experience the joy of giving.
The way we offer the FPU Study at Summit is by making the Financial Peace DVD curriculum available to existing Connect groups or groups that would like to form through the study. Groups need to have a designated leader and a time/place to meet before they can begin checking out the DVDs. Each individual/couple in the group must purchase a Membership Kit to participate in the study.
Membership Kits are available at a discounted rate of $75.00 per person/ per couple.
Mere Christianity
This classic work by C.S. Lewis is an attempt to “explain and defend the belief that has been common to nearly all Christians at all times.” In four parts he describes the essence of what it means to be a Christian and the beliefs that are universal to all Christians. With trademark clarity and insight, Lewis does a masterful job of boiling down the essentials while leaving debatable matters to others.
How to Read the Bible for All It’s Worth
This is a must read for all who desire to take the Bible seriously. It provides essential information on how the Bible reached its current form and content and guides readers on how to select a good translation. It also helps readers understand the different writing genres that exist in the Bible so that they can first understand what it meant to the original audience (exegesis) and second, what implications they can draw for their own lives (hermeneutics).
Telling the Truth: The Gospel as Tragedy, Comedy, and Fairy Tale
Originally a series of lectures given at a preacher’s conference, this collection of essays by Frederick Buechner explores the importance of presenting the gospel to the human heart in ways that it can understand the imagery and symbolism of God. And, as the title suggests, the most effective way of doing this is to recognize and point others towards the inherent tragedy, comedy, and fairy tale that is the gospel Jesus brought.
The Confessions of St. Augustine
Augustine, a member of the religious sect the Maniches before he became a Christian, recounts his life and journey to faith in Christ in this spiritual autobiography. Among the many objections he had to Christianity which he overcame through seeking for truth after becoming disillusioned with the Maniches: recognizing God as a spiritual being; the presence of evil in the world; the call to chastity outside of marriage; and the nature of who Jesus was. Though written over 1700 years ago, the doubts and struggles he overcame are remarkably similar to today’s.
The Jesus I Never Knew
Our impressions and thoughts about Jesus were likely formed early in life regardless of what type of household we grew up in, or if we went to church or not. But how much of our impression is based on what is put forth in the Gospels? Philip Yancey came to the question in his adult life and realized the answer for him was “not that much”. In The Jesus I Never Knew, Yancey walks through the depictions of Jesus found in the four Gospels and what he found “rocked my own preconceptions and has made me ask hard questions about why those of us who bear his name don’t do a better job of following him.”
The Great Divorce
One of C.S. Lewis’ fictional accounts of the spiritual realm (see also The Screwtape Letters), The Great Divorce catalogues a journey that begins in hell, but most of the time is spent in heaven. While fictional (and at times necessarily imaginative), the tale portrays what will be the ultimate reality when time passes away: an infinite and eternal God.
The Screwtape Letters
A fictional collection of letters from Screwtape, a high-ranking demon, to his nephew, Wormwood. The Screwtape Letters are brilliant in their ability to shed light on the spiritual warfare raging around us. The seemingly obvious yet easy-to-overlook tactics of the Enemy are brought forth so that we might recognize them for what they are and be relentless in our battle against them.
Orthodoxy
Orthodoxy is considered to be G.K. Chesterton’s masterpiece. In it, he chronicles his own personal journey to faith, and in so doing, he describes his objections to Christianity and how they were overcome by correct Christian doctrine, or orthodoxy. While his purpose in writing the book was not, as he states in the preface, to convert others to Christianity, but rather to describe his own personal journey to faith, this book has served as a reliable source for explanation and defense of Christian doctrine.
How Now Shall We Live?
Authors Charles Colson and Nancy Pearcey argue that what has been missing in recent decades of Christianity and its approach to evangelism is a lack of understanding and teaching about Christianity as a worldview and a way of life that is all encompassing. In laymen’s terms, they comprehensively lay out the basic tenets of Christianity – Creation, The Fall, and Redemption – not only to educate believers, but so that knowledge and understanding can be used to effectively proclaim it to a largely unbelieving society.
Celebration of Discipline
So much of our lives are dominated by materialism and superficiality that seems at times impossible to avoid. Richard Foster gives a guide to path of spiritual growth and explains what it is and how it can be implemented in our daily lives. The Spiritual Disciplines he discusses have been practiced by people since the beginning of time, and are broken into inward, outward, and corporate disciplines, which in turn help us reflect on God, ourselves, and the world around us.
The Chronicles of Narnia
This seven book series has enriched audiences for over 50 years. As a whole, the series alludes to biblical themes such as creation, sin, redemption, and spiritual worlds that are beyond the perception of our five senses. Loved by children and adults alike, each book stands up to multiple readings, and helps introduce us to (or remind us of) the larger story taking place around us.
Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places
This first work in a five-volume series by Eugene Peterson (author of The Message) lays the foundation for what he terms “spiritual theology.” Aware of the ambiguity in what spirituality has come to represent (and the over-thinking that often accompanies theology), Peterson strikes a balance between the two by writing about truths that are grounded in Scripture in a way that is easily accessible. His intent is “to fairly and clearly represent what the Christian church has for two thousand years now has been living out in and for the world.”
The Hungering Dark
In a mix of writing styles, Frederick Buechner describes the path to true faith that the human mind takes – often through the darkness of doubt. Using vivid and sometimes surprising imagery, he traces human thought and reaction to the idea of salvation from seeking out our true self to the realization and freedom that comes in recognizing how sought after we are. “I believe that by God’s grace it is our destiny, in this life or whatever life awaits us, to discover the face of our inmost being, to become at last and at great cost who we truly are.”
Religious Affections
Used by Jonathan Edwards, the term religious affections refers to the emotions, thoughts, and behaviors that are distinctly Christian and which are indicators of true religion as laid out in the Scriptures. Published in 1746, it is as useful now as it was then not only in pointing out authentic Christianity, but also in calling out that which is not useful to or representative of such a pursuit.
Paradise Lost
Milton’s epic poem takes the reader on a journey unbound by space and time through the fall of man, and all the great scenes that were entailed in it: the warnings by God and the temptation by the serpent; the great war between God and Satan; the begetting of the Son of God; and His eventual triumph over evil and the Second Coming.
Additional books available for purchase from our Resource Center Guidebook.
To reserve a book not listed above, please e-mail the Resource Center.
