As the year goes on, I find that my to-review pile mounts up. Most of the book on that pile are good, but because of the volume of Christian material that is published each year, it’s hard to know where to invest your time because time is limited. That’s where I come in! Today I’d like to present you with a number of books that have been on my shelf, I’ll keep the reviews short, but hopefully you’ll get a feel for whether a book is for you or not. You’ll find devotional material, books on Christian living, parenting and books for young teens.
Daily Readings from William Wilberforce
William Wilberforce is probably one of the most prominent historical figures who was a prominent evangelical leader and thinker in parliament. In this book, Michael McMullen has compiled a years worth of short devotional readings from Wilberforce (both published reflections and from his diary). Each reflection is based on a verse in the Bible and is a mixture of both great encouragement and thought provoking challenge. It is a little bit pricey, coming in at just under £20, but if you’ll use it for the whole year then it’s not that much in the grand scheme of things.
Reform and Renewal by Luke Davis
These books are great for teenagers to see that church history is both important and fun. In these final editions to this series Davis takes the reader through the birth of Protestantism and then through more recent history of the church as it expends outward. These books contain historical facts and important moments wrapped up in narrative. Personally, I think this whole series would be great for a 11-12 year old to enjoy reading.
A Good Return by John Lennox
Speak to almost anyone who is working and they will tell you that work is busy, it seems that the workload in almost all sectors of a working life are increasing. But there is also a negativity about many workplaces, people are working long hours, with fewer benefits, and the dog-eat-dog competitive nature of work leads to the perfect storm of overworking to impresses and fighting your fellow colleagues. So how can Christians navigate this work environment in a godly way? Lennox gives us biblical principles for work, wealth and wisdom that will help you see your work, not as a means to an end, but as an opportunity to worship! However, it’s not Lennox’s words that grant this great wisdom, it’s the Bible. Each of the seven chapters is full of Bible references or biblical wisdom that will help you rethink your perspective and approach to work.
Valuable by Liz Carter
Have you ever felt useless? Maybe even useless to God? Liz Carter tackles that head on in this encouraging and comforting book to help the reader see that our worth is not defined by how useful we feel! In this book Carter helps every reader see that they are valued and loved by God regardless of how competent or useful they feel. It’s very easy for Christians to feel as if they aren’t valuable if they’re not serving upfront or doing ‘great things for God’. But Carter brings truth into those situations and feeling, through Bible verses, biblical wisdom and relatable stories to help us take our eyes off of ourselves, and to see a little bit of what God sees.
Christ and the culture wars by Ben Chang
There is a myriad of cultural wars going on around us, if we don’t think there are then we’ve probably got our head buried in the sand. But how do we respond? How can Christians respond helpfully, graciously and biblical on topics like feminism, racial justice, gay pride, trans rights and general identity politics? In this book Chang looks at each of those issues in turn in the first part of the book, then in the second part he explains the three common Christian responses and then finally he helps the Christian navigate the minefield of cultural wars. One of the things that I like about this book is that it’s written from UK perspective, not that there’s anything from with similar books from the US, but there are obvious cultural differences which make this more relevant to the UK reader.
Raising Confident Kids in a confusing world by Ed Drew
The world we live in is constantly changing, I was reminded of this recently when I went into a high school near me and got a feel for the world children are growing up in, it’s completely different to the world I grew up in. Things are constantly changing, so how do we raise children to be confident int heir identity in Jesus? It’s easy for children to be pulled into the cultural narrative of choosing your identity or finding your worth in your sexuality or your school grades and a whole host of other things, but it’s not helpful. In this book Ed Drew takes you through 10 chapters to fill your mind, as a parent, of your own identity in Jesus so that you can teach your child/children the same thing. If you’re just starting out as a parent, this will give you a good foundation to build on, if you already have kids, it’s not too late! It would be wonderful to see a generation of children coming out of churches and Christian families who are absolutely confident in Jesus and their identity in Him!
Remade by Paul Tautges
In this book you’ll find 90 practical and theological reflections on what is means to have your identity in Jesus. Tautges helps you do that by releasing that as a Christian you are a saint, a sinner and a sufferer. These are not abstract ideas either, but a saint is someone who is acting upon their position in Jesus, a sinner rests in their provision in Jesus and a sufferer submits to the purification in Jesus. Each reflection has a Bible verse that will focus your mind and after a short reflection there are things for you to do (talk to yourself, talk to God, talk to others). This book is practical and helpful, It could be used as a devotional or as a normal book. I really like it and I’m sure you will too.
The night before Christmas by Oliver Lancaster
This is a fun wee book to read to little ones in the run up to Christmas. Lancaster retells the birth narrative of Matthew in a fun and engaging way for the smallest of people to see the excitement of Christmas that all revolves around Jesus. Based on the classical Christmas poem Lancaster helps little ones learn about that first Christmas, it’s well written, beautifully illustrated and also quite funny.
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