A book which has spoken powerfully to my personal experiences is Extreme Righteousness by Tom Hovestol.  Subtitled Seeing Ourselves in the Pharisees, it is a book which challenges many of my long held positions and has facilitated change in my life.  Note this from the chapter titled "When Bible Knowledge blinds and Binds":

"Often we accept specific doctrines because of our association with trusted teachers.  This reliance on experts is common and necessary within religious circles; to ignore the insights of gifted teachers is foolish and arrogant.  However, to place blind trust in others to think for us spiritually is unwise.  Unthinking acceptance is dangerous.  We should personally study and wrestle with the Scriptures."

As I like to say: always asks where is that written in God's word!

SMJ

 John Ortberg writes this in Everybody's Normal Till You Get to Know Them

"one of the most thorough research projects on relationships is called the Alameda County Study....People who had bad health habits (such as smoking, poor eating habits, obesity, or alcohol use) but strong social ties lived significantly longer than people who had great health habits but were isolated.  In other words, it is better to eat Twinkies with good friends than to eat broccoli alone.  Harvard researcher Robert Putnam notes that yif you belong to no groups but decide to join on, 'you cut your risk of dying over the next year in half.'"

I guess a modern day translation of Proverbs 15:17 might be something like this: Better to eat poorly among friends than to eat like a king alone.

SMJ

 "I'd like to buy $3 worth of God, please.  Please, not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep, but just enough to equal a cup of warm milk or a snooze in the sunshine....I want ecstasy, not transformation, I want the warmth of the womb, not a new birth.."  From the book The Lies We Believe written by Dr. Chris Thurman.  

It just seems so like us to want the comfort and security of God without the responsibilities of a transformed life.

SMJ

 One of the books I am reading presently is "Church Unique - How Missional Leaders cast Vision, Capture Culture, and Create Movement" by Will Mancini.  In it he says this:  "On the needs-based slippery slope, leaders are constantly trying to meet people's needs and expectations within the church.  With the leaders' cruise control set to "react," thoughtful leadership becomes unnecessary because there is always a persistent parade of needs to be answered.  The vision of the church is reduced to making people happy." 

Wow.    SMJ