Guidance from Overlooked Men and Women of the Bible

Category: Books (Page 11 of 15)

A Wind in the House of Islam

One of the most encouraging books on missions that I have read for several years is this one, A Wind in the House of Islam, by David Garrison. Garrison has done extensive research on movements of Muslims turning toward Jesus over the centuries. Remarkably, this current century has seen more of these types of movements than the previous thirteen centuries combined.

Garrison’s book is filled with stories about Muslims from all over the world, or as he describes it, the nine “rooms” in the house of Islam, each representing a different geographical area where Islam in prevalent. Muslims are moving towards Jesus in every one of these “rooms” and Garrison shares stories from each.

The books closes with Garrison suggesting why God is drawing Muslims to himself today, and he shares ten bridges that God is using. He also shares suggestions for how the Christian world should respond. Especially interesting was his insight that many Muslims are turning to Jesus because they are frustrated and frightened by the violence they see in radical Islam. Jesus, the Prince of Peace and a prophet in Islam, is seen as a better alternative. What follows is that we as Christians need to continue to offer peace towards Muslims in our midst, as opposed to fear.

A Wind in the House of Islam is a great book, especially if you are interested in missions and the Muslim world.

Books I read in 2015

A someone who loves to read and loves to hear what others are reading, I share my list of books I spent time in this past year. I liked some books more than others (and some not so much), but the ones I particularly enjoyed I’ve highlighted. I reviewed a few in past blog posts, so you can check those out as well. I hope this helps you settle into a good book in 2016!

Here’s my list with Title and Author:

* Wheelmen – Albergotti & O’Connell
Leadership is an Art – DePree
20,000 Days and Counting – Smith
* All the Light We Cannot See – Doerr
The One Thing – Keller & Papasan
Work Simply – Tate
The 5 Levels of Leadership – Maxwell
Outliers – Gladwell
The Death of Ivan Ilyich – Tolstoy
Confession – Tolstoy
The Eleventh Draft – Conroy
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks – Skloot
The Faithful Executioner – Harrington
* Gone Girl – Flynn
* They Shall Not Have Me – Helion
* Mission at Nuremberg – Townsend
The Heart of Everything That Is – Drury & Clavin
The Question That Never Goes Away – Yancey
Giving Up Control – DeJonge
* Amazing Grace – Metaxas
Pirate Latitudes – Crichton
* Essentialism – Greg McKeown
American Lightning – Blum
American Sniper – Kyle
Divergent – Roth
* Sensing Jesus – Eswine
Insurgent – Roth
Thou Shall Prosper – Lapin
Allegiant – Roth
Start with Why – Sinek
Risk is Right – Piper
* The Keepers of the House – Grau
Ignore Everybody – MacLeod
The Girl on the Train – Hawkins
Dancing with Cinderella – Harlow
The Innocent Man – Grisham
Darkly Dreaming Dexter – Lindsay
13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do – Morin
* King’s Cross – Keller
Abundance – Sena Jeter Naslund
* The Great Santini – Conroy
The Road to Character – Brooks
What To Do When It’s Your Turn – Godin
Brain Rules – Medina
All Marketers Are Liars – Godin
The Burning Tigris – Balakian
With – Jethani
Guerrilla Marketing – Levinson
* An Army at Dawn – Atkinson
Making Ideas Happen – Belsky
Leaders Who Last – Kraft
Sophie’s Choice – Styron
* Life Together – Bonhoeffer
* Road to Valor – McConnon
Auschwitz, A Doctor’s Eyewitness Account – Nyiszli
The Art Forger – Shapiro
The Exorcist – Blatty
* A Wind in the House of Islam – Garrison
* A Man Called Intrepid – Stevenson
* The Spirituality of Gratitude – Kang
A Sailor of Austria – Biggins

 

 

Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

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Life Together, one of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s best known works, focuses on living in Christian community. Today we talk a lot about community and our need to experience the life of faith with others, like it’s a truth we’ve discovered only recently. But Bonhoeffer reminds us that this discussion has been going on for a long time.

This book is short, powerful and packed with truths to ponder. It’s deep. The fact that Bonhoeffer wrote from experience, as he helped lead an underground seminary in Germany before his arrest, adds gravitas. Throw in the fact that he was executed by the Nazis for his knowledge of a plot to kill Hitler and you get a stronger than normal ethos when it comes to an author.

I especially appreciated his thoughts on the work of ministry and the actions of the minister, be they professional or not. I’d benefit from reading it again, which I will surely do. I wholeheartedly recommend this to your time and  to your library.

 

The Road to Character

IMG_0208 (1)I picked up The Road to Character, by David Brooks,  because I liked his thoughts when I’ve listened to him on PBS and Meet the Press, and I’ve read some of his stuff in the past. In this book he takes on our current narcissistic culture that he names “The Big Me,” offering a response consisting of deeper values, like kindness, bravery, self-sacrifice, struggle and self-control.

Brooks shares biographical studies from history to bring his points to life. These are interesting, but the reason to buy this book comes in the final chapter where he gives the qualities necessary to live a life of character and thereby maturity and significance.  A more biblically solid list you won’t find elsewhere. It’s like the man has gotten religion. It’s refreshing to see the same values echoed in the book that the wisdom of scripture has brought us for centuries and it’s engaging to see a thinker like Brooks take on the selfie-obsessed world in which we swim daily.

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