In Trouble and Joy, Sharon James

I picked this book up years ago at a conference and remember starting it but never finished it. Weeks ago, Hannah asked me if she could read it and in the process of checking it over for her, I ended up reading the whole thing!  The book is about 4 women in history who loved and served God wholeheartedly.  My favourite chapters were the ones about Sarah Edwards (wife of theologian Jonathan Edwards) and Frances Ridley Havergal (who wrote “Take My Life and Let it Be”).  I agreed with the author’s conclusion that all four of these women modelled complete submission to God and His will, obedience to Him, and had deep experiences of the love of Christ in their lives.  I found it inspiring to read about their lives and enriching to my own walk with God to read about these women who lived so fully for God in other eras.  Oh, and yes, I am going to let Hannah read the book.

Lit! A Christian Guide to Reading Books, Tony Reinke

Peter told me that I might like this book and he was right, I really did!  This book is for you if you are a voracious reader or even if you hardly ever read.  The author is himself an avid reader and in the book he makes a case for the value of reading, especially versus spending time online or with other forms of entertainment.  I was fascinated by his point that written words are much more powerful and beneficial than visual images.  However, this book is not anti-internet or anti-film/television, it’s just very pro-reading.  The author believes that Christians should read all types of books, including fiction.  He gives lots of practical tips for how to read books and more importantly, how to make the time to read that most people don’t think they have!  There is also a great chapter on how to raise children who love to read.  You’ll find that Lit! is an easy and inspiring read and I would highly recommend it.

UK Cover

I must confess that I’ve never had a huge interest in church history and have even (gasp) considered it to be largely irrelevant.  I didn’t take the Church History class at Bible college, instead choosing the Bible and missions classes – the more “practical” ones!  Encouraged by my wonderful husband, a few months ago, I picked up a book called, “The Unquenchable Flame,” by Michael Reeves and couldn’t put it down!  (Just as an aside, Mike is one of the Cor Deo trustees and Peter regards him highly.)

This book is an introduction to the Reformation and is written in a really engaging way that makes you want to keep reading to find out what happens next.  There are chapters on Martin Luther and John Calvin as well as the lesser known, Ulrich Zwingli.  I felt I got a real sense of what these men were like and what motivated the radical messages they wrote and spoke to a very hostile world around them.  I especially enjoyed the chapters on the English Reformation and Puritanism which fitted in nicely with my study of British history with Hannah and Aliyah.  The book ends with a very important question, “Is the Reformation over?”  Have the Protestant and Catholic faiths finally reached an agreement about justification by faith?  Mike Reeves’ answer is definitely worth reading!

When I closed the book, I was actually feeling quite emotional!  I felt tremendously thankful for the godly men and women who were willing to challenge the unbiblical teaching they saw in the church.  Some of them gave their lives rather than stop spreading the message of the true gospel of Jesus.  Is doctrinal clarity as important to us as it was to them?  Are we making sure our children and our church members understand clearly how to be saved?  Or is the general understanding about salvation so murky that we now believe it doesn’t matter whether we are Protestant or Catholic?

This book stirred me.  It made me want to do something to respond to what I’d read.  It made me want to make sure my children and people at our church truly understand that salvation is a free gift.  So, for our family’s latest memory verse project, I have put together a list of verses from Romans and Ephesians that explain the gospel and justification by faith alone. (Click here for the list) We are working our way through them and talking about what they mean.  It’s so incredibly foundational.  We must get this right or our “faith” is worthless.  I have also suggested to my husband that he preach a series of messages on “What is the Gospel?” at our local church.  Watch this space.

Reading “The Unquenchable Flame” has also helped me to understand how incredibly blessed I am to have the written Word of God freely available to me and the freedom to believe its message.  People died so I could have this privilege. Do I care?  Do I devour the Bible as if it’s the treasure that it is?

Every thinking Christian should read this book.  Oh, I guess if you are a non-thinking Christian, you should read this book too, since it will make you think.

I had a file started of books to review in June.  In the chaos of moving and settling in, I never got the reviews written.  Here are the books I was going to review then and some new books I’ve read more recently.  I’ll start with two children’s books . . .

Jotham’s Journey, by Arnold Ytreeide

We were looking for a book to read as a family during the Advent season and heard about this one.  It has been a fantastic book, a segment to read for each day of Advent.  Not only is it a well-written, keep you on the edge of your seat story, it’s also full of biblical truths and biblical history.  I would think children even into their teens would enjoy it.  Apparently Ytreeide has written two other Advent stories: Bartholomew’s Passage and Tabitha’s Travels.  We will definitely be choosing one for next year.  Also, he has a book for Easter coming out in early 2011: Amon’s Adventure.
(NOTE: Probably not suitable for very young children unless you edit – we did – as there is a lot of suspense and some violence.)

Little Pilgrim’s Progress, by Helen L. Taylor

We read this book as a family during the autumn.  Wow, what a book – a lovely adaptation of the classic by John Bunyan.  We’ll be reading it again, every few years as I’m sure the children (and we!) will get more and more out of it as they grow and mature spiritually.  We were actually surprised though, how much of the symbolism they (even Mariah) already grasped.