In the meantime

Blogging for God Glory in a Clickbait World by Benjamin Vrbicek and John Beeson was the one and only book I finished during 2020. (And yes, writing those words makes me so sad.) Back in 2019, I read over forty books. It was so fantastic. I absolutely loved reading and learning so much just from reading. Throughout 2019, the books I read ranged from On Reading Well that discussed a handful of classics, to theological books like Assured that covered the subject of the assurance of salvation, to fiction, to biographies. I felt like my brain was always being prodded along towards growth in a variety of areas. And then I came to a screeching halt in 2020.  As much as I really, really wanted to read more, I didn't. So Blogging for God's Glory in a Clickbait World is all I've got to show for 2020. (I did start a handful of other books--maybe 3?--but I have yet to finish them.) Anyways...let's leave the past in the past and move on. Blogging for God's Glory was a good re...

Struggling with doubts about one's salvation is quite commonplace among believers. Indeed, if we are honest, I think many of us would agree that we have asked ourselves the question: "Am I truly saved?"  As a teenager, I had several conversations with my mom about my assurance of salvation. While I don't remember all the details of those often-late-night conversations, I do remember my mom pointing me back to Scripture and reminding me of what God says. Even now as an adult, there are still occasional moments of doubt.   Assured: Discover Grace, Let Go of Guilt, and Rest in Your Salvation by Greg Gilbert is a helpful little discussion about how to deal with these moments of doubt. Its goal is to drive us back to Scripture and remind us of what our salvation truly rests on. Four Sources of Assurance  The majority of the book centers around a discussion of four sources for our assurance: the Gospel of Jesus Christ, God's promises, the Holy Sp...

Here are twenty more books marked off that ol' reading challenge . I've now read just over forty books this year. ( Here are the first twenty books that I read this year.) I was hoping to accomplish the Committed  level (a total of fifty-two books), but with the number of weeks left in the year (December is just around the corner, yikes!) and the number of books I still have to read (about ten), that leaves me with needing to read roughly two books a week. As much as it originally looked like I was on track to successfully reading fifty-two books this year, I think I'm going to be a few books shy when December 31st comes around. *sigh* On a brighter note, I've absolutely loved using a reading challenge, for it has forced me to step out of my comfort zone and read a whole variety of books! So here's how I'm rating them: 5+ Stars - Incredibly encouraging & edifying; absolutely loved it! 5 Stars - Fantastic and edifying read! 4 Stars - A g...

Click on image for link The sub-title says it all: The Greater Journey focuses on Americans in Paris from 1830 to 1900 and how Paris influenced them and how they, in turn, left their mark on Paris. McCullough uses a chronological timeline to organize his book, however, he does not give equal weight to all individuals. For example, individuals like Samuel Morse, George Healy, Elihu Washbourne, and Augustus Saint-Gaudens have large sections dedicated to unpacking the time they spent in Paris, as well as their overall character as a person. For others, McCullough gives much less space: some are given a few pages, others only a paragraph or two, and still others are given barely more than a brief mention. Despite the primary focus being on Americans, McCullough skillfully weaves significant events in Parisian history into the story-line: there was the cholera outbreak in the early 1830s, the rise of the Second Republic in 1852 with Napoleon III as Emperor, and then the Franco-Prussian...

Click on image for link W hat is a Healthy Church Member  by Thabiti Anyabwile is the second book about church membership that I've read recently. The first book is  I am a Church Member  by Thom Rainer, and I wrote about it here .   Similar to  I am a Church Member , Anyabwile also outlines some specific attitudes and habits a healthy church member should strive to cultivate. Several of these attitudes overlap with and expand on the ones mentioned in I am a Church Member .   This entire book is solidly Biblical in how it argues from Scripture why church membership is important. After I finished reading it, I couldn't help but feel like I had just had a spiritual battery recharge concerning my understanding of my role within the local church and why I should want to serve and be involved with the other believers who attend the same local church. Combine this book with  I am a Church Member  and you have two outstanding books...

In case you haven't figured it out already from all the book reviews I been posting lately, I've been doing a bit of reading these days! This year, I decided to do Tim Challies' 2019 Reading Challenge. I originally set out to read a total of twenty-six books this year. However, I think I am on track to actually complete the first three levels of reading--Light, Avid, and Committed (a total of fifty-two books.) So for something fun and different, here's a list of the first twenty books I've read this year, as well a brief statement about it and a 1-5 star rating  to help you know which ones are actually worth reading! (And yes, I had to add a "5+ Star" rating...just because!) Rating 5+ Stars - Incredibly encouraging & edifying; absolutely loved it! 5 Stars - Fantastic and edifying read! 4 Stars - A great read!  3 Stars - An okay book overall. 2 Stars - Left much to be desired.  1 Stars - Don't waste your time reading it.  The ...

God's Glory Alone: The Majestic Heart of Christian Faith and Life , by David Vandrunen (Zondervan, 2015).  Published around the 500-year anniversary mark of Martin Luther's famous nailing of his 95 Theses , this book is a part of "The 5 Solas Series" that covers the five solas of the Reformation: God's Word Alone, Christ Alone, Grace Alone, Faith Alone, and God's Glory Alone. I cannot begin to express what a blessing it was to read God's Glory Alone . I really did not know what to anticipate from this book, except that it would probably be a bit more theologically in-depth than many of the books I tend to read. However, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that, while it was indeed a theologically-rich book, it was also easily understandable for me, a lay-person, if I simply took the time to read it slowly and carefully.  Soli Deo gloria is a familiar phrase to many of us; we are also familiar with what is often called "the doxologica...