I am making a fairly concerted effort to read good books while on the World Race, to keep learning and refining my understanding of God and the Christian life. At present, I have completed six books, some of which were pretty short. I already have my nose in several others, and will probably post another update at the end of our time in Europe. So, if you’re interested, here are the books I finished reading while we were in South America:
This book is about the Holy Spirit, and how evangelical churches have both neglected and misapplied truth about him and his role in the church. I appreciated most that regardless of where the author or any of its readers stand on the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, Francis Chan points out that any experience of the Holy Spirit should be for the purpose of loving and building up the church. I certainly grew in my understanding of the ministry of the Holy Spirit, or at least was reminded of a few truths, and I believe as a result I am relying more on him than I was before. I definitely recommend this book to believers on all locations of the spectrum of the doctrine/experience of the Holy Spirit.
The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges
This book has been on my to-read list for a few years, and I am so glad I finally read it! This was the best book I’ve read apart from the Bible in a long time. Jerry Bridges explains what it means to be holy as a Christian and how to grow in holiness, namely by obedience. Christianity has become very experience-oriented in America, and believers are pursuing emotionalism, selfism, and successism more than holiness and obedience. Bridges re-orients us to a biblical view of the Christian pilgrimage, and it was refreshing, encouraging, and challenging to my heart and mind. I plan to read this book at least two more times by the end of the year.
What Do You Think of Me? Why Do I Care? by Ed Welch
This book is a companion to Welch’s previous work, When People Are Big and God is Small. His thesis in both books is about the sin struggle of fear of man. This book is aimed at a younger crowd, mostly high school and college students. I am no longer in those seasons of life, but the truth he wrote about is applicable to me nonetheless. I am a people-pleaser, and I struggle desiring approval and praise from people more than I fear the Lord of Lords. This book helped me in my thinking about how God loves me – I should be seeking to have my need to be loved fulfilled by God, but the greater purpose is to then turn around and love others, thereby glorifying the Father. This book was an easy, simple read, but it cuts into some real heart issues that many if not most of us face. If I have time, I’ll pick up the first book he wrote as I think it might be a bit more in-depth.
Real Love: Better than Unconditional? by David Powlison
This is more of a short publication than an actual book. Longer than a pamphlet, but shorter than a magazine… like a scholarly article, except it was published independently. Anyway! The premise of this book is that the term “unconditional” is an inadequate word to describe God’s love because it conotates a blanket acceptance/tolerance that requires no change. It is a matter of semantics, yes, but the arguments he makes about God’s love are biblical and so worth reading. He proposes the term “contra-conditional love” as a replacement because God’s love works to make us more like Christ. We are accepted as we are, but his love does not leave us as we are. Moreover, his love for us comes at the expense of Christ fulfilling of God’s ‘conditions’ for us to be able to enter into relationship with him. So while God’s love is in a sense unconditional, we can do better in describing/explaining it. This was an excellent read on understanding God’s love, and I was thankful for the reminder that God’s love is a perfecting love, not a pampering love, and encouraged/challenged to have that kind of love for others.
Praying the Bible by Donald Whitney
This too was a short read, but it was so worth the time. Don Whitney writes to believers who feel bored or incompetent at their prayer life. He encourages us that if this is the case for us, the problem is not us, but rather our method. We get bored because we pray the same things over and over. He walks the reader through how to use the “Psalms of the Day” to help guide our prayer each day. Praying through scripture is an area I am striving to grow in this year, and this book was so helpful to that end. I recommend this book whether your prayer life is thriving or flailing – it’s a beneficial resource for believers of all stages.
The Art of Listening Prayer by Seth Barnes
This book was written by the director/founder of Adventures in Missions, the organization who runs the World Race. “Listening prayer” is part of the culture of the World Race, and this book is a 30-day study/devotional on how to grow in hearing the voice of the Lord while praying. I won’t say I agree with everything that was said in the book, but it did encourage me to grow in how I pray and how I seek the Lord. I still wholeheartedly believe that God’s revelation of himself in scripture is sufficient for us, for preaching, teaching, counsel, instruction in doctrine and growth in righteousness, etc. But I also believe our God is living and he communicates in real time by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, who uses scripture to speak to and guide us, which the book advocates. It just also advocates a few other things I’m not so sure about. So, there are parts of the book I gleaned from, and some parts that I’m not sure I’ll carry with me, but it was good for me to read, even if I disagree in some areas.
Books I am in Progress of Reading and Plan to Finish While in Europe:
-Let the Nations be Glad: The Supremacy of God in Missions by John Piper
-Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald Whitney
-Worship by the Book by D.A. Carson
-How to Help People Change by Jay E. Adams
And there are several others on deck! I’m trying to keep a pace of roughly 2 books per country, so we’ll see how it goes. 🙂
PS – Shameless plug: If you would like to invest in my learning/growing, gift cards to the Amazon Kindle store are welcomed. My birthday is even coming up! 😉
