Everyone who knows me is not surprised that I think books make enduring and thoughtful gifts. With the holiday season fast approaching, here are three of my top choices.
Up first is my Book of the Year.
1: The book everyone should read and talk about.
Recently, someone asked, "What's the most powerful book you have read this year?" It was an easy choice. I read this book more than six months ago, and I'm still thinking about it.
This book is well-written and I didn't want to stop reading. It stirred my faith with new insights. It is the right book for these times.
The book is:
Live No Lies: Recognize and Resist the Three Enemies That Sabotage Your Peace (Waterbrook Press, 2021).
In recent years, we have witnessed how deception has become normal and acceptable in our culture. This book is a wakeup call to re-align ourselves with truth.
The author reminds us that we are at war. A spiritual war.
John Mark Comer's “working theory” is that we are at war with the world, the flesh, and the devil. And these enemies have a strategy. The strategy is this:
“Deceptive ideas (the Devil) … that play to disordered desires (the Flesh) … that are normalized in a sinful society (the World).”
We often ignore that last part. it seems that deception and violent actions are now accepted as normal. But they are not normal.
Friend, we lose when evil deceptions and desires are acceptable.
In response to evil, John Mark Comer highlights the practices that enable apprentices of Jesus to win against our three enemies and live the Jesus-formed life through God's truth:
- regular prayer, solitude, and fasting
-soaking in Scripture so the Spirit can shape your mind, heart, and actions
-overcome temptation by trusting in God's love and wisdom
Comer reminds us that this is the ancient path that Christians have taken throughout history. These practices help us to redefine what is truly good and right, and to live as apprentices of Jesus.
This book deeply impacted me. I cut not put down this book. Every page was full of insight. It stirred me to be more careful about what I read and listen to. And to be more intentional in my conversations with others.
Friend, I hope you buy this book. Read it slowly. Think about it as you pray, read, and work. Talk about it with your friends and family.
Because this is the right book for our anxious times. I think every Christian should read it. Our future depends upon it. And that is why it is my Book of The Year.
Gift No. 2: Uncharted Mission: Going to the Final Frontiers by DC Keane (Pasadena: Wm Carey Publishing, 2021)
(This is for that special person who wants to read stories of men and women who went to the Muslim world.)
For many years, churches and mission agencies refused to send people to the Muslim world.
It is too dangerous, they said. They are too resistant to the Gospel, they said. It would be a waste of time, money, and manpower.
But there were some who wouldn't accept that message. Jesus died for Muslims also, they said.
One of them was Greg. Forty years ago, he walked along the sea and accepted God’s call to start a movement of "unstoppables;" sending men and women to North Africa and the Middle East, so they could invite Muslims to follow Jesus.
Soon, dozens came to Greg and said “Here am I, Send me!” And he did.
This book tells the stories of those ordinary men and women.
Personally, I know almost every person in this book. It was fun- and stirring- to read their stories and relive the ways in which God uses them. I confess I got teary-eyed as I read them!
I think you will enjoy reading them, too. Buy a copy for someone who wonders if they should be sent!
Gift No. 3: 40 Days Living The Jesus Creed, Updated Edition by Scot McKnight (Brewster, PA: Paraclete Press, 2014)
(This book is perfect for a friend who needs bite-sized helps to follow Jesus more passionately.)
Do you know someone who is confused by all the teaching and books that tell us how to follow Jesus? Or someone new in the faith who needs a ‘travel guide’ to begin their life with Jesus?
40 Days Living The Jesus Creed by Scot McKnight focuses on the two commands that Jesus says sums up what it means to live for God: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. And love your neighbor as yourself.”(Matthew 22:37-39)
There are 40 chapters, one for each day. Each chapter is about 5 pages long. It consists of a scripture focus, a short teaching, a story, and a practical step to take.
Why not get it for yourself? You can use it to prepare for Advent. If you begin on November 1, you can finish on December 10 and have two weeks before Christmas.
This is more than a devotional. I think it is a mini-manual for living the Jesus way. I often begin my year by going through the chapters each morning.
I hope you read all three of these books, and then give more copies to your important people. You will encourage them in their journey with Christ.
But if you choose only one, take the time to read Tell No Lies. I think it will become a classic.