Reading List 2018
A list of every book I read last year, and some notes on my favorites.
My first post of each new year always contains the list of books I read the previous year (2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017). I do it for personal accountability. Knowing I have to post my list helps me stay on track.
The goal in previous years had been to read 1 book per week, but this year I tried to up it to 2 per week.
I didn’t make it. I only read 87, with 17 of them being audiobooks. I was on my 2-per-week pace until the fall. Because of other projects, my time for extra reading all but disappeared.
My favorite books were The Imperfect Pastor by Zack Eswine, which was a re-read for me, and The Art of Rest by Adam Mabry, which I wrote a review of here.
One surprising change this year is that I had the privilege of reading almost 20 books before they were published, with 15 of them being books I did design work on (for example, all the “How-To” books with Sojourn Network). That was fun, and the tiny bit of extra income got reinvested right back into my own writing projects, mostly in editing and cover design.
Speaking of my own projects, when counting up the number of books, you’ll see below that I counted the reading of my own soon-to-be-published books a few times. I felt this was at least sort of legit because I probably read them 5 more times than I’m taking credit for reading them! Editing and proofreading is—apparently—demanding work!
Because of all the extra writing, design work, and helping a friend with his seminary coursework, much of my reading was dictated to me this year. I’m hoping next year I’ll have more time to explore things I’m interested in, such as the dozen Eugene Peterson books I recently bought and hope to work through slowly this spring.
Let me know in the comments what was your favorite book of the year.
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Books per Year
Selected Blog Posts on the Topic of Pornography (55,000 Words), Part 1 by Various (200 pages)
Selected Blog Posts on the Topic of Pornography (55,000 Words), Part 2 by Various (200 pages)
White Fang by Jack London (160 pages)
Life in the Wild: Fighting for Faith in a Fallen World by Dan DeWitt (128 pages)
Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson (480 pages)
Real Artists Don’t Starve: Timeless Strategies for Thriving in the New Creative Age by Jeff Goins (240 pages)
Crazy Busy: A (Mercifully) Short Book about a (Really) Big Problem by Kevin DeYoung (128 pages)
The Bible: Romans to Revelation, Part 6 of 6 by God (300 pages)
Father Fiction: Chapters for a Fatherless Generation by Donald Miller (2224 pages)
In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin by Erik Larson (448 pages)
On Pastoring: A Short Guide to Living, Leading, and Ministering as a Pastor by H. B. Charles Jr. (208 pages)
Thunderstruck by Erik Larson (480 pages)
On Preaching: Personal & Pastoral Insights for the Preparation & Practice of Preaching by H. B. Charles Jr. (160 pages)
The Pastor’s Ministry: Biblical Priorities for Faithful Shepherds by Brian Croft (192 pages)
12 Ways Your Phone Is Changing You by Tony Reinke (224 pages)
The Pastor’s Family: Shepherding Your Family through the Challenges of Pastoral Ministry by Brian and Cara Croft (171 pages)
Struck: One Christian’s Reflections on Encountering Death by Russ Ramsey (176 pages)
Openness Unhindered: Further Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert on Sexual Identity and Union with Christ by Rosaria Champagne Butterfield (206 pages)
Charting the Course: How-To Navigate the Legal Side of a Church Plant by Tim Beltz (112 pages)
Journals about blogging (3 issues) by ConvertKit (120 pages)
Reset: Living a Grace-Paced Life in a Burnout Culture by David Murray (208 pages)
Gaining By Losing: Why the Future Belongs to Churches that Send by J.D. Greear (256 pages)
Chasing Contentment: Trusting God in a Discontented Age by Erik Raymond (176 pages)
The Bible: Genesis to Deuteronomy, Part 1 of 6 by God (300 pages)
Unstoppable Force: Daring to Become the Church God Had in Mind by Erwin Raphael McManus (352 pages)
Book Launch Blueprint: The Step-by-Step Guide to a Bestselling Launch by Tim Grahl (76 pages)
Ephesians For You: For reading, for feeding, for leading (God’s Word for You) by Richard Coekin (224 pages)
Brothers, We Are Not Professionals: A Plea to Pastors for Radical Ministry, Updated and Expanded Edition by John Piper (320 pages)
Redemptive Participation: A “How-To” Guide for Pastors in Culture by Mike Cosper (104 pages)
The Art of Rest by Adam Mabry (144 pages)
Gospel Fluency: Speaking the Truths of Jesus into the Everyday Stuff of Life by Jeff Vanderstelt (224 pages)
Fierce Grace: 30 Days With King David by Stephen R. Morefield (212 pages)
Eating You Way Through Luke’s Gospel by Robert J. Karris (112 pages)
Supernatural Power for Everyday People: Experiencing God’s Extraordinary Spirit in Your Ordinary Life by Jared C. Wilson (224 pages)
The Preacher’s Catechism by Lewis Allan (224 pages)
Why Pray? by John F. DeVries (240 pages)
Saturate: Being Disciples of Jesus in the Everyday Stuff of Life by Jeff Vanderstelt (256 pages)
Immeasurable: Reflections on the Soul of Ministry in the Age of Church, Inc. by Skye Jethani (224 pages)
The Solace of Water: A Novel by Elizabeth Byler Younts (368 pages)
Family Ministry (Gospel-Centered Discipleship) by Greg Gibson and Patrick Weikle (128 pages)
The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work by Shawn Anchor (256 pages)
Before the Lord, Before the Church: “How-To” Plan a Child Dedication by Jared Kennedy (108 pages)
The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari: A Fable About Fulfilling Your Dreams & Reaching Your Destiny by Robin Sharma (198 pages)
A Peculiar Glory: How the Christian Scriptures Reveal Their Complete Truthfulness by John Piper (304 pages)
The Nightingale: A Novel by Kristen Hannah (608 pages)
Healthy Plurality = Durable Church: “How-To” Build and Maintain a Healthy Plurality of Elders by Dave Harvey (108 pages)
The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable? by F. F. Bruce (149 pages)
Finding a Pastor: A Handbook for Ministerial Search Committees by Joel Hathaway (128 pages)
The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferriss (416 pages)
The Supremacy of God in Preaching by John Piper (176 pages)
The Bible: Joshua to Esther, Part 2 of 6 by God (300 pages)
Jesus, My Father, the CIA, and Me: A Memoir... Of Sorts by Ian Morgan Cron (257 pages)
Walk with Me: Learning to Love and Follow Jesus by Jenny McGill (303 pages)
Reading the Bible Supernaturally: Seeing and Savoring the Glory of God in Scripture by John Piper (432 pages)
John Piper: The Making of a Christian Hedonist (a PhD Dissertation) by Justin Taylor (311 pages)
Sabbaticals: “How-To” Take a Break from Ministry before Ministry Breaks You by Rusty McKie (122 pages)
Expository Exultation: Christian Preaching as Worship by John Piper (336 pages)
Don’t Just Send a Resume: How to Find the Right Job in a Local Church by Benjamin Vrbicek (204 pages)
Struggle Against Porn: 29 Diagnostic Tests for Your Head and Heart by Benjamin Vrbicek (171 pages)
Leading from Your Strengths: Building Close-Knit Ministry Teams by Eric Tooker, John Trent, Rodney Cox (112 pages)
The Lemming Dilemma: Living with Purpose, Leading with Vision by David Hutchens (68 pages)
A Gentleman in Moscow: A Novel by Amor Towles (480 pages)
The Imperfect Pastor: Discovering Joy in Our Limitations through a Daily Apprenticeship with Jesus by Zack Eswine (272 pages)
Grounded in the Faith: A Guide for New Disciples Based on the Apostles’ Creed by Todd A. Scacewater (62 pages)
Leadership through Relationship: “How-To” Develop Leaders in the Local Church by Kevin Galloway (106 pages)
Raised By Grace: A Family Discipleship Guide by Michael R. Morefield (73 pages)
The Bible: Psalms to Song of Solomon, Part 3 of 6 by God (300 pages)
The Life of Pi by Yann Martel (326 pages)
Who is Jesus by Greg Gilbert (144 pages)
The Cross and Christian Ministry: Leadership Lessons from 1 Corinthians by D. A. Carson (160 pages)
The Prodigal Prophet: Jonah and the Mystery of God’s Mercy by Timothy Keller (272 pages)
Spiritual Leadership: Principles of Excellence for Every Believer by J. Oswald Sanders (256 pages)
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway (128 pages)
The Elements of Style by William Strunk (86 pages)
Struggle Against Porn: 29 Diagnostic Tests for Your Head and Heart by Benjamin Vrbicek (171 pages)
The Writer’s Diet: A Guide to Fit Prose by Helen Sword (88 pages)
The Hospitality Commands: Building Loving Christian Community: Building Bridges to Friends and Neighbors by Alexander Strauch (64 pages)
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (224 pages)
Studies in Words by C.S. Lewis (352 pages)
Wisdom of Our Fathers: Lessons and Letters from Daughters and Sons by Tim Russert (320 pages)
The Pastor and Pornography (9Marks Journal, Fall 2018) by 9Marks (88 pages)
The Art of Rest by Adam Mabry (144 pages)
The Bible: Isaiah to Malachi, Part 4 of 6 by God (300 pages)
1 Peter for You by Juan Sanchez (192 pages)
Don’t Just Send a Resume: How to Find the Right Job in a Local Church by Benjamin Vrbicek (204 pages)
Struggle Against Porn: 29 Diagnostic Tests for Your Head and Heart by Benjamin Vrbicek (171 pages)
The Bible: Matthew to Acts, Part 5 of 6 by God (300 pages)
THE ART OF REST by Adam Mabry (FAN AND FLAME Book Reviews)
A great book about rest and Sabbath from a guy who didn’t used to be any good at it.
I can’t say whether you’ll love The Art of Rest by Adam Mabry as much as I love it. You might not need his book as much as I do. Throughout the last year I have especially felt the need to practice better rhythms of work and rest. God made us to experience both, not just one or the other. But until this last summer, being vaguely aware of my inability to rest had not coincided with the ability to change. The Art of Rest helped me turn the corner.
Mabry is a local church pastor in the busy city of Boston with a young family, which means he doesn’t write about rest from a hammock on the beach with a Corona in hand. He knows what it’s like to slam doors too hard when his young children dilly-dally instead of getting ready for school. He knows the pressures of pastoral ministry that seep into home life. He knows what it’s like to buy a house and renovate it while living there. Oh, and besides church planting, loving his family, and renovating a home, Mabry is a PhD student. In other words, he’ll see your busy and raise you ten.
This is part of the reason I like The Art of Rest so much. Mabry writes as a fellow pilgrim. He, too, is searching for asylum from a common but often ignored idol: busyness. “In the West,” Mabry writes, “we’ve managed to take something that has in every culture until recently been a vice and, through the magic of repeating a bad idea long enough, have turned it into a virtue!” (p. 29).
A strength of the book is the way Mabry connects our busyness problem to our hearts. Our refusal to rest, Mabry argues, betrays our lack of trust in God and our propensity to rebel against our humanness. It’s patterns of biblical Sabbath that remind us we are neither little gods nor beasts of burden but dearly-loved image bearers of God.
Another strength of the book is the way Mabry avoids binding prescriptions for how the principle of Sabbath should look in your life. In the final chapter he offers suggestions, not rules, for practicing Sabbath.
One might say a weakness of the book is that it’s not an extensive treatment of Sabbath. Because his book is short and written so breezy, it could come across as simple. But to say that would be to criticize the book for being something it wasn’t supposed to be. We don’t fault marathon runners for not being linebackers. Additionally, the simplicity, brevity, and punchiness of Mabry’s writing shouldn’t be misconstrued as the same as shallow. By way of example, consider one section where he connects our understanding of God to our understanding of rest. He writes,
If God is a hurried taskmaster constantly turning knobs and pushing buttons, frenetically refining his work, it’s hard to imagine resting with him. But if God the Father, Son, and Spirit are the very definition of love, and fundamentally relational, then the idea of resting with him becomes more than imaginable. It becomes desirable. (p. 25)
I certainly wouldn’t call this trinitarian observation simplistic.
The Art of Rest is just one of several books I’ve read this year circling around the theme of rest. The others include Crazy Busy by Kevin DeYoung (2013), Reset by David Murray (2017), Chasing Contentment by Eric Raymond (2017), and Sabbaticals by Rusty McKie (2018). All of these complimented each other, but I felt the most helped by Mabry’s book.
When I was given The Art of Rest back in April, I read it, and after reading it, I immediately bought five copies and gave them away to friends. Then I bought and listened to the audiobook. Then six months passed before I re-read his book and wrote this review. When I read the book this second time around, I still loved it. But I was encouraged that I needed the book less than I did the first time around, which is a good thing. It’s the reason Mabry wrote his book. He tells readers that he writes to “sell Sabbath rest” to us. He wants us to know the how of Sabbath, the why of Sabbath, and the look-how-wonderful-this-is of Sabbath.
I get no kickbacks for writing this review, but I do confess that just as Mabry wants to sell us Sabbath, I want to sell you The Art of Rest.
* Photo by Drew Coffman on Unsplash
8 Sojourn Network “How-To” Books in 30-Seconds Each
A video about 8 helpful “How-To” books from Sojourn Network for local church ministry.
I love writing book reviews, which I know makes me weird to many of you—like, Didn’t you get enough of that in High School? But over the last year Sojourn Network has released so many helpful books in their “How-To” series that I don’t have time to write about each of them. So, I thought I’d just get in front of a camera for a few minutes and tell you a bit about each book.
If you don’t know anything about Sojourn Network, it’s a group of pastors and churches banded together for encouragement, training, and church planting. I think they are doing a lot of good things.
Full disclosure: I was privileged to help these books come into print, so I have a vested interest in their success. But I wouldn’t be telling you about them like this if I didn’t actually think they were helpful. I’d love for you to check them out. There are more coming in 2019.
Let me know in the comments which book sounds most interesting to you.
Healthy Plurality = Durable Church: “How-To” Build and Maintain a Healthy Plurality of Elders by Dave Harvey
Life-Giving-Groups: “How-To” Grow Healthy, Multiplying Community Groups by Jeremy Linneman [Listen to my interview with the author here.]
Charting the Course: “How-To” Navigate the Legal Side of a Church Plant by Tim Beltz
Redemptive Participation: A “How-To” Guide for Pastors in Culture by Mike Cosper
Filling Blank Spaces: “How-To” Work with Visual Artists in Your Church by Michael Winters
Before the Lord, Before the Church: “How-To” Plan a Child Dedication Service by Jared Kennedy with Megan Kennedy
Sabbaticals: “How-To” Take a Break from Ministry before Ministry Breaks You by Rusty McKie
Leaders through Relationship: “How-To” Develop Leaders in the Local Church by Kevin Galloway
God Loves a Cheerful Preacher
A book review of Lewis Allen’s new book The Preacher’s Catechism.
Just the other day, I walked through my front door, thinking about church stuff, when the question “What is God?” randomly popped into my head. Without any effort or hesitation, my mind rattled off: God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth.
Don’t be too impressed, though. Of the 107 questions and answers in the Westminster Shorter Catechism, I think I can only recite two—that one and the famous first question (Q: What is the chief end of man? A: Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.). Although my memory can’t capture the entire catechism, my automatic mental response is proof that catechisms unite two important things: clarity and memorability.
Lewis Allen, in his new book, The Preacher’s Catechism (Crossway 2018), seeks to capitalize on the doctrinal clarity of catechisms and their memorability. Allen also focuses on a third element that he believes catechisms offer: the ability to probe the heart. He writes, “The Westminster Shorter Catechism is an outstanding resource for the heart needs of every preacher” (p. 21). I might not have believed that sentence when I first read it, but now I’m a believer.
The Preacher’s Catechism has 43 mini-chapters, each beginning with a reprise of a question from the Westminster Shorter Catechism that aims to edify both preaching and the preacher himself. A good example of this tailoring is in the first chapter. “What is the chief end in preaching?” he asks. “God’s chief end in preaching is to glorify His name,” he answers.
Allen is a gifted writer and a church pastor in England. I appreciated his occasional clever tweaking of a familiar Bible passage. On page 31, he writes, “God loves a cheerful preacher.” And when discussing the struggles associated with retirement from the preaching vocation, he reminds us, “Naked [we] came to preaching, and naked [we leave] it. Blessed be the name of the Lord” (p. 105). . . .
* This Review was originally published by the Evangelical Free Church of America. To read the rest of the review, click here.
Is the Engine of Your Team Healthy?
Author and pastor Dave Harvey offers thoughtful questions to evaluate the health of an elder team.
Local churches mentioned in the New Testament always had more than one pastor. They always had a plurality of pastor-elders. Numerous passages in the Bible indicate this. For example, see Acts 20:28; Ephesians 4:11; 1 Timothy 4:14; 5:17; Titus 1:5; and 1 Peter 5:1–5. This is why the leadership of our church is carried out, not by one leader, but by a team of spiritually qualified men.
The pastor-elder team at our church includes two “staff pastors” and six “non-staff pastors.” We typically meet every other Wednesday night for 3–4 hours. We share a meal, pray for each other and our church, and discuss things related to the health and direction of our congregation.
During the meal at our pastor-elder meetings, we often discuss a book we’re reading together. We spent significant time at our last three meetings discussing Dave Harvey’s latest book Healthy Plurality = Durable Church. The book is short, sweet, and full of thought-provoking questions and ideas. It’s the kind of book you’re thankful for even if you do not see every point the same way.
Harvey begins his book with a thesis: “The quality of your elder plurality determines the health of your church.” In my own experience, although far less extensive than Harvey’s, I’ve found his thesis to be true, especially over the long-haul of a church. This means working on the health of your elders is a nearly constant priority. As with healthy eating, you can take a break for a meal or two, or even a week or two, but bad things happen if you eat hot dogs and Cheetos and sticky buns and drink Mountain Dew and IPAs for a year.
In an appendix of the book, Harvey lists several questions he finds helpful for an elder team to consider as they evaluate the health of their team. I’ve included these questions below. But you don’t have to be an elder board to find these questions helpful. I suppose with only slight modifications here and there, they could apply to most teams that are committed together in Christian ministry.
If you’re a pastor, I encourage you to grab this book and discuss it with your team because “the quality of your elder plurality determines the health of your church.”
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Four Indicators for Inspecting the Healthy of a Plurality
1. Agreement: Do We Agree with Each Other?
- Is the doctrinal basis of our unity as a team well-defined?
- Do we have a statement of faith, and if so, do we all affirm our statement of faith?
- Are we growing together theologically through study and discussion?
- Is it clear to me that you have worked hard to understand my positions and can represent them without exaggeration or misrepresentation?
- Is dissent sufficiently principled and coming from a heart that honestly believes this decision may contradict our values or harm the church?
- Will you wisely represent the position of the plurality to others, whether you agree or disagree?
2. Trust: Do We Trust One Another?
- Will you be loyal to God’s Word by being completely honest with me?
- Will you judge me or exploit me when I show weakness?
- Will you be patient with me in areas I need to grow?
- Can you be discreet once you really know my temptations?
- Am I confident that you will not share what I confide with anyone who should not know?
- Do you have my back?
- Will you be humble if I risk correcting you?
3. Care: Do We Care for Each Other?
- Is it clear to each of us that our state of soul matters to each other as much as (or more than!) our performance?
- Are conversations more likely to encourage or critique?
- Can we point out specific times where we talk about our lives, families, struggles and/or temptations (something apart from ministry!)?
- Does my feedback on your performance include encouragement?
- Does someone on this team know where I am vulnerable to temptation?
- Would my wife feel free to call you if I was tanking? Why or why not?
4. Fit: Do We Enjoy Each Other and Know Where We Fit?
- Does my personality appear to mesh with these men?
- Are we able to work together in ways that deepen our relationships rather than strain them?
- Do I know my role and what is expected of me?
- Have we clearly defined how we will evaluate one another and what determines success?
- Am I aware of the specific and regular contexts where we will evaluate our fruitfulness as a team?
THE JOY PROJECT by Tony Reinke: Updated and Expanded
A new edition of The Joy Project by Tony Reinke is now available.
Last fall I wrote about how much I liked Tony Reinke’s book The Joy Project. The book tells the story of what God has done to bring us joy—forever.
The Joy Project was recently re-released. Tony Reinke, Desiring God, and Cruciform Press teamed up to improve the book. It now has a new subtitle (“An Introduction to Calvinism”), a foreword by John Piper, expanded and clarified content, and a new study guide.
And because The Joy Project now has its own study guide, I retired the study guide that I wrote for the book. It’s no longer available for purchase. Thank you to everyone who bought a copy and found it helpful.
I feel prividgled that Reinke included my endorsement with the new print version, which goes like this:
The Joy Project is a celebration of reformed theology, and in this way it’s more in keeping with the Bible’s treatment of the subject—behold the beauty before bemoaning the controversies. We cover this topic briefly in our church membership class, and for those who want to pursue it further, this book, for its accessibility and warmth, is the one I’ll recommend first.
If you’d like to pick up the book, you can do so on Amazon.
RELATED POSTS
Two Books from Two Friends
Two friends of mine have recently published books. Love to tell you about them . . .
Over the last four years, I’ve reviewed over 50 books on my website and for other organizations. Today, I’m not necessarily writing “reviews” because I’m too close to the authors. But I am excited to tell you about these new releases.
Fierce Grace: 30 Days with King David
by Stephen Morefield
Stephen is a local church pastor in Kansas and a friend of mine. He recently published a 30-day devotional on the life of King David based on 1 & 2 Samuel.
I had the privilege of reading the book before it was released, as well as helping with the layout and design of the book’s interior. Here’s the endorsement I wrote for his book Fierce Grace:
“For two consecutive summers our church lived in the books of 1 and 2 Samuel as we preached through them each Sunday. They were rich sermons, but in many ways they were also jarring sermons, for both the one in the pulpit and those in the pews. We saw heroes with warts as big as their noses and a king whose relationship with God was a rollercoaster—faithful now unfaithful, rejoicing now crushed, wise now foolish. Yet behind these ups and downs, we also saw what God wants us to see: the constancy of his grace. I wish Stephen’s book—with his relentless focus on the true Hero—were published sooner so I could have shared it with our congregation.”
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The Solace of Water: A Novel
by Elizabeth Byler Younts
Last year, Elizabeth and her family began attending our church. After they had been here a few months, a friend of mine in the church came up to me and said, “Have you talked much with Elizabeth? She’s like . . . a real author . . . with a bunch of books!”
As it turns out, Elizabeth is indeed a real author with a bunch of published books—and published with real publishers.
The Solace of Water, her latest book, is about two women from very different backgrounds: an Amish woman from central Pennsylvania and an African-American woman from the south. But for all their differences—and the differences of their families—they each have hidden struggles with grief. As the novel progresses, their stories collide and brokenness comes to light. The book is written in short chapters from the perspective of each woman, as well as one of the daughters.
Elizabeth was kind enough to give me an advanced copy, which releases today from Thomas Nelson. I’d love for you to check it out. I thought it was great.
STRUCK by Russ Ramsey (FAN AND FLAME Book Reviews)
An honest book about the collision of affliction and faith.
It’s not often that after reading a book, I buy eight more copies. But such was the case after reading Russ Ramsey’s book Struck: One Christian’s Reflections on Encountering Death. It’s a great book about a terrible experience. Ramsey got an infection in his bloodstream, which traveled to his heart, and proceeded to wreak havoc.
First, he got really sick.
Then, he got worse.
Then, he had a major heart surgery.
After all this came the two-year recovery process.
He opens the book with these words,
When my doctor told me I was dying, I came alive.
Three days before my fortieth birthday I was admitted to the emergency room. A bacterial infection had destroyed my mitral valve and I was in the early stages of heart failure.
That day and the two years that followed are the setting of this book. They are the setting, but they are not the subject. This is a book about what happens when affliction and faith collide. (p. 17)
It might sound like a strange statement, but hear me out: not everyone who authors a book is also a writer. There are some authors who not only get published but also love the craft and excel at it. Ramsey is one of those types, and it made the book both enjoyable to read and all the more raw. It’s not surprising to me that Struck is currently a finalist in the 2018 Evangelical Christian Publishing Book Awards in the category of biography and memoir.
In an interview last year, Ramsey said,
I think there are two kinds of books on suffering and affliction. There are books that you give to people who are interested in the subject, but not necessarily afflicted or suffering in the moment. And then there are books for people who are in the middle of suffering. They are not the same voice. I wanted to write something that you’d be able to hand to someone who is suffering. (HomeRow: Episode 15, 4/6/17, around the 50-min mark)
And he sure did. That’s why I bought eight copies—eight life-preserving, faith-preserving copies to give to friends I know who are struggling to keep afloat in the deep end of adversity. If you are currently suffering, or if you know people who are, pick up a copy.
BLESSED ARE THE MISFITS by Brant Hansen (FAN AND FLAME Book Reviews)
An appreciative review of the humorous and serious book Blessed are the Misfits by Brant Hansen.
When author and radio host Brant Hansen does a thirty-second radio commercial, I enjoy it.
When Hansen does a three-minute monologue between songs on a Christian radio station, I enjoy it.
When our mutual friend invited both of us on a road trip last summer to Philadelphia to watch the final Lord of the Rings movie, which was accompanied by a live orchestra, I really enjoyed it.
And when he writes a book, I enjoy that too.
In fact, because I enjoyed his last book Unoffendable so much (reviewed here), when I learned he was writing a new one, I asked if I could be on the book’s launch team. That new book is called Blessed are the Misfits, with the long and misfit-like subtitle of Great News for Believers who are Introverts, Spiritual Strugglers, or Just Feel Like They're Missing Something.
The book, he would say, is born out of personal struggles. You wouldn’t necessarily know this from listening to a couple of radio clips, but Hansen has Asperger’s, and on top of that he also has nystagmus, which causes his eyes to shake and his head to move involuntarily. All this invariably leads him into both amusing and very frustrating experiences. Some of these he shares in his book. Perhaps you have parts of your life that are awkward and difficult to share. Everyone does.
But, I must confess, I’ve been a misfit member of his book-launch team. His book released in the fall, and this is the first time I’ve written about it! Because the central theme of the book is that the love of Jesus is not for those who see themselves as upwardly mobile—an unfortunate, but common misconception—but rather that the love of Jesus is for those who recognize their great need, perhaps Brant will overlook my misfit-launch-team participation.
I did loan the book to a friend, which is some promotion. My friend enjoyed the book very much. However, I now realize in loaning the book, it probably didn’t help the book sales. Again, sorry, Brant.
I could share several funny sections from the book, but I’d rather share one of the more serious ones. It’s the story of Brant‘s father, who was a Christian preacher while Brant grew up. But his father was a different person at church than he was at home, which made things very difficult for Brant and the rest of the family. He writes,
People really liked my dad’s preaching and singing. My brother and I were often told what a wonderful man he was.
We were also absolutely petrified of him.
Honestly, I still don’t know what happened to him, or when. There are a lot of things I don’t want to remember. I recall bits and pieces, like being four years old, in a fast-moving car late at night, while my mom drove my preacher dad to the hospital. He was in the back seat, breathing into a paper bag.
I remember late-night yelling matches. I remember my mom yelling, “Who is she? Tell me who she is!” over and over.
I remember visiting Dad over the years, through grade school and middle school, in psychiatric wards and mental institutions. When you visit your dad in these places, it makes an impression on you. When you see him preaching days later, you remember that too.
I remember our bathroom floors. Very well. I’d sit there, sometimes for hours. I’d make up stories to distract myself from the arguing. Sometimes I would bring my favorite puppet, a little furry green monster, with me (I was big on puppets), and I’d sit and act out little sketches.
That was the coping plan. Go somewhere and lock the door and sit on the floor and rock back and forth and make up a puppet story or just try not to exist. . .
I remember my brother heroically intervening in my parents’ room when Dad was beginning to physically attack my mom. . . (pp. 90–91)
This section goes on for another page or two, only getting more difficult to read. I share this part of the book, and not one of Hansen’s many goofy stories, in the hope that you might check out the book. But more importantly—and I believe Brant would say this himself—I share this section in the hope that you won’t dismiss Christianity as a religion for the put-together, the good-doers, the never-need-help. Instead, I want you to know that the hope of Christianity is for misfits who only have their need to bring to God.
* Photo by Ian Parker on Unsplash.
LIFE IN THE WILD by Dan DeWitt (FAN AND FLAME Book Reviews)
A great book to explain what is wrong with the world and what God is doing about it.
For several years, I lived in Tucson, Arizona. The longer I was there, and the more familiar I became with the plants that survive in the desert, the more I noticed this: every plant wants to fight you. Whether by needles or poison or spikes or by some other inventive means, all flora has weaponized itself. I got a taste of this one day when I crashed my mountain bike into a growth of cacti. It was a bad accident. I broke a rib and everything. I also had over 150 needles stuck in my right arm and shoulder.
This led me to wonder if, perhaps, there was a prickly pear cactus in the garden of Eden, and if there was, did it have needles? And not only in the garden of Eden, but will there be needles on plants in the new heavens and new earth?
I’m not sure of the answer. But I do know the world we live in now—the world between the old Eden and the new one—is wild. This is one of the themes in Dan DeWitt’s new book Life in the Wild: Fighting for Faith in a Fallen World. And when DeWitt writes about the wild world, he means the fallen world, the world affected by Genesis 3, the world where even creation seems to be weaponized against us. As he writes, “We’re surrounded by things that would love to maul us” (p. 77).
DeWitt is the founding director of the Center for Biblical Apologetics & Public Christianity at Cedarville University. He’s written several books, including Jesus or Nothing (Crossway 2014) and Christ or Chaos (Crossway 2016). He also wrote a series of worldview books for younger readers called The Owlings, which I read to my family and reviewed here. He blogs regularly at Theolatte.com.
In Life in the Wild, DeWitt helps readers think deeply about the consequences of Adam’s sin, the effects of our self-rule, and the “bloody battle waged over the souls of men” (p. 15). There are eight chapters, each addressing an aspect of how the Christian worldview is shaped by the fall (but of course shaped by Jesus’s redemption too). He writes about topics such as guilt and shame, men’s and women’s roles, and care for creation.
The book is accessible, short, written to engage someone skeptical or new to Christianity, and full of hope. Like the Bible, it’s book-ended with a discussion of Eden, as it was and as it will be when God restores this world. In the final chapter, which is on death, he writes, “God’s final enemy, death itself, has to die. . . . [T]he Bible makes it certain: one day death will be placed in a coffin. In the last act of human history, we will read death’s obituary” (p. 111)
Once I heard an author say there are two kinds of books on suffering: There are books you give to those in the midst of suffering, and there are books you read to prepare for it. Life in the Wild could do double duty, though I think DeWitt’s book leans slightly toward the latter, helping us understand why suffering happens and what God is doing about it.
WIN A FREE COPY
Life in the Wild is released on February 1, 2018. To promote the book, DeWitt is giving away a copy to one reader of my blog. To be eligible to win, you must do one of two things:
- Leave a comment on this post with your name on it.
- Share this post on social media (FB, Twitter, Blog, Pinterest, etc.). Make sure you either tag me in the post (FB or Twitter) or send me an email with the link to your post (benjamin@fanandflame.com).
Each time you share this post, I’ll add your name to the hat (limit of 5 chances). You have until Tuesday, January 30 at 12:00pm EST when I’ll email the winner and update this post.
[*Update: The winner of the book give away (chosen randomly), is Liz who shared the post on Twitter.***]
OTHER BOOKS BY DAN DEWITT
* Photo by Denisse Leon on Unsplash.
A reminder that Christian ministry must always be about Christ.