May 13, 2025

• Book reviews

  Moments of Grace, by Janae Hofer
  The author shares the story of her life, in living with cerebral palsy, going to college and law school, working and starting her own practice, going through various times of depression, etc. She shares how Jesus has helped her and rescued her along the way. She shares how her family and medical assistants have helped her a lot. The final chapter is the deepest, the book is worth reading all the way through. Recommended.

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  The Prayer That Turns The World Upside Down, by Al Mohler
  This book is a short commentary on the Lord's Prayer. Well written, simple, pithy, recommended.

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  The Ex-Muslim's Guide To Christianity, by Kenza Haddock
  The author (a Moroccan-American woman who left Islam to become a Christian) shares her own story, and then discusses several differences between Islam and Christianity. This is an excellent read! Her perspective is quite different - she sees things in a different light and shows many aspects of the God of the Bible that took her a while to grasp (e.g., about His love and patience, not like the exacting, legalistic Allah she grew up learning about). She talks about the promises of God. This would probably be a good book for discipleship for new Muslim-background converts to Christianity, especially women. One caveat is that she talks from a pentacostal/charismatic perspective about the gifts of tongues, healings, miracles, knowledge, etc in one part near the end of the book. But it is not too crazy overall, she has Biblical balance (e.g. need for interpreters before speaking publicly in tongues, need for prophecy to be constrained by agreement with Scripture, etc). Overall this book is worth reading, even for Christians.

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  Daring To Draw Near, by John White
  This book discusses several of the prayers recorded in the Bible. Interesting commentary/devotional. The book is not too bad, but not super recommended either. It's ok.

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  Archaeology and the Bible, by Tom Meyer
  This is a very nice coffeetable-type book that goes through 50 archaeological finds that support the Bible or provide helpful context on the Bible's culture. Some of them are actual artifacts, and others are more like general place settings like cities or mountaintops with excavated ruins on them. So there are probably less than 50 in actuality. This book took plenty of space to summarize what the Bible said about each artifact, so it was designed for an audience of people who are not familiar with the Bible. The actual details and reference citations were not included, which would have made the book better. Overall, it had a good selection and is recommended. I would probably recommend other archaeological books more highly for someone who was familiar with the Bible, but it is still a good read.

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  A Praying Church, by Paul Miller
  This is a book about prayer, primarily corporate prayer, done in groups of Christians. I found the first 3 parts of the book rather boring and judgmental, but Parts 4 and 5 about the practical "how-to" were excellent, and worth reading, even if you disagree with some of his recommendations. He talks about the different types of prayer... praise, request, lament, repentance, etc. He has a nice chart on p. 216 about it.

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  A Short Guide To Islam: A Biblical Response to the Faith of our Muslim Neighbors, by Elizabeth Peltola
  This is a good book. It goes through many aspects of Islam and the Islam-Christianity dialog. It is clear and brief. Each chapter includes discussion questions. It compares views on the Bible and Quran, Jesus, the Trinity, Sin and salvation and the afterlife, etc. It covers the different viewpoints within Islam. Peltola has a unique viewpoint among similar books, in that she recommends not shying away from discussing the Trinity (unlike some who recommend trying to postpone that discussion). She shares anecdotes from many conversations with Muslims (from around the world). Recommended for Christians to read, and probably Muslims too... I'd be interested to hear thoughts from any Muslims who read this book.

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  The Surprising Genius of Jesus, by Peter J. Williams
  Excellent short book, looking at how Jesus was able to teach, at the same time with the same stories, both people who were not familiar with the Old Testament, and people (like the Pharisees) who were familiar with the Old Testament. Looks at the connections between stories like the Prodigal Son, with other OT stories like Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, etc. Williams shows that this provides evidence that all these stories Jesus told were indeed from Jesus, not later editors or redactors. Highly recommended.

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  Changes that Heal, by Henry Cloud
  This book from a counselor talks about psychological things like stages children go through of bonding connecting with parents, then separating/distinguishing themself from parents, and the problems that can result when people fail to successfully do those stages. It talks about the importance of "boundaries" in relationships, especially family relationships. It tries to connect these things to Bible passages, with some success, but some of the connections seem strained. The book has a lot of advice, which may be helpful for some people who are coming out of traumatic backgrounds. I don't necessarily recommend it for everyone, although the basic idea of boundaries seems to make sense.

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  The Time of Jacob's Trouble, by Donna VanLiere
  This is a novel about the Rapture and life after the Rapture, set in cities of the USA and Israel. The writing is 'ok', not necessarily highly recommended though. It presents a premillennial, pre-trib rapture interpretation, and includes extensive footnotes and a section at the end defending this viewpoint.

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  Counterfeit Kingdom, by Holly Pivec and R. Douglas Geivett (2022)
  This book goes through examples of the many problems with the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) movement, including Bill Johnson/Bethel, the Passion Bible, etc. The book has a good tone of somber warning yet accurate and full of concern (not hate) for the people involved. Highly recommended.

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  Sharing the Good News with Mormons, by Eric Johnson and Sean McDowell
  This is an excellent book written by many authors, about sharing the gospel with Mormons. It presents many different "approaches", in each chapter written by a different person who is involved in gospel witness to Mormons. Along the way it provides an excellent explanation of what Mormons believe, and helpful topics to discuss with them. Highly recommended.

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  Learning to Lead at the Feet of Jesus, by Todd Poulter
  This leadership book has lots of little tips about Jesus' leadership style and mentoring practices, especially in training the 12 apostles, and paying attention to the needs of the people around him. It is aimed at those who lead large Christian ministries. Poulter (from Wycliffe) shares stories of insights he has received from talking with many Christian leaders around the world, especially younger leaders who feel that the older leaders are trying to keep them down, and cultural insights. Includes discussion questions. Could be useful for those in leadership positions.

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  Five Lies of our Anti-Christian Age, by Rosaria Butterfield
  The author presents her take on modern myths about sexuality, faith, feminism, gender roles, and modesty. She uses a very strident tone. While her thoughts are overall worth reading, the quality of the prose (in terms of pacing) varies throughout the book, and some parts feel more like a 'rant' or a spoken monologue or chatty conversation wrather than written prose. However, I think her thoughts are still worth reading (though I may not agree with all), and it might be a good discussion starter. She writes out of a lot of experience, and her discussion of LGTBQ issues are especially well-informed.

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  10 Questions Every Teen Should Ask (and answer) about Christianity, by Rebecca McLaughlin
  This is a abridged version of her longer book Confronting Christianity about contemporary apologetics topics, with language simplified for younger teens, and the topics and examples adjusted. It is excellent overall and would be a good discussion book for a group of young Christian teens or a Sunday School class. She touches on many of the most pressing topics... from a CT/IV/LibEvg perspective. It would be nice to pair together with a book from a more conservative group (such as The Creation Answers Book from CMI, or Can We Trust The Gospels, or an AIG book) to have various perspectives on similar topics.

  • 9:36 am
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