“Readers are leaders.”

Dr. Warren Mattox

Part 1: MY SIX BEST READS FROM LAST YEAR THAT WILL WHET YOUR WHISTLE

Christmas and the New Year is upon us, so I offer you last minute gift ideas as well as some reading suggestions to start your resolutions of the mind right. These books really challenged me last year. So I warn you, these readings may make you a better person too.

THE WHOLE CHRIST: Sinclair Ferguson

This is the best book I have ever read that deals with the legalism / antinomianism conundrum. Why are some people hard and cold legalists? Why do some Christians sin willy-nilly? Sinclair Ferguson makes it simple, “People don’t think God is for them.” You will love this book!

MARTIN LUTHER: Eric Metaxas

Some men and some women are meant to turn the world upside down. Martin Luther was one such man. This book shows the heart of true belief, and how faith lights a fire that can’t be quenched. If you want a book to challenge your convictions, this is it!

THE DIVINE DRAMATIST: Harry Stout

Have you ever heard of George Whitefield? You haven’t? He is the greatest American preacher who ever lived, even if he was British. He would speak outside in streets, fields and town squares before thousands of people who would weep with tears of joy and sorrow at his word. He was a true evangelist, and if you want to see what made him so special, give this old preacher a chance!

INSIDE THE ATHEIST MIND: Anthony DeStefano

Why do we cower to those who like to mock our belief? I know, I know, they make us feel as silly as children believing in fairy tales. But who really believes in fairy tales? Who is hoping against hope? The atheist mind, that’s who! Read why, this book will truly warm your heart.

NARRATIVE OF THE LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS: Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass was a slave, but before he was a slave he was a man. A living, breathing, feeling, thinking man. This man has angered hundreds of thousands of men of every color. He frustrated whites and challenged blacks. He worked hard for pay, and felt the constant pain of oppression and prejudice. So what kept him going? Belief that the real God will bring him justice.

FRANCIS SCHAEFFER: Colin Duriez

This is the story of a man. A small strange man who lived up in the Swiss Alps talking to lost people about another man named Jesus. He loved to love lost people. If you want to read how you can mix heavy truth with outrageous love, this is the book you need!

PART 2: THREE OLD FRIENDS I WAS REUNITED WITH LAST YEAR

Sometimes you need to read for fun and refreshment. A chance to remember back to better days. I offer three…

SCAPEGOAT: Daphne DuMaurier

An Englishman who meets his double, a French aristocrat, while visiting France, and is forced into changing places with him. The Englishman is a single, rather lonely academic, and he finds himself caught up in all the intrigues and passions of his double’s complex family. You’ll love it!

THE MAGICIAN’S NEPHEW: C.S. Lewis

The story is set in England and features two children ensnared in experimental travel via “the wood between the worlds”. Thus, the novel shows Narnia and our middle-age world to be only two of many in a multiverse, which changes as some worlds begin and others end. It also explains the origin of foreign elements in Narnia, not only the lamp-post but also the White Witch and a human king and queen.

GOD IN THE DOCK: C. S. Lewis

Yes, another C. S. Lewis book. I can’t help it if I like his writing! This is a collection of previously unpublished essays and speeches from C. S. Lewis, collected from many sources after his death. Its title implies “God on Trial” and the title is based on an analogy made by Lewis suggesting that modern human beings, rather than seeing themselves as standing before God in judgement, prefer to place God on trial while acting as his judge. So relevant for today.

PART 3: THE WORST READ OF THE YEAR

GIRL, WASH YOUR FACE: Rachel Hollis

Sometimes we die on the altar of popularity. This is a popular book, but it is trash. This is less about Jesus than Rachel Hollis. Boy is she real, funny, ambitious, courageous, affirming, and quirky cool. Not much is said about the wonder of Christ. The more I read the more tired I got. I feel sorry for women who have to compete with this lady, she is almost impossible to keep up with.

BONUS! BONUS! BONUS! I offer you one final suggestion…

2085: THE RISE AND FALL OF THE SISTERS: Christopher Weeks

You will love it! All that needs to be said! So enjoy 2020 and now you have no excuses for good reading.