Here are some recent book reviews. For more, see http://tim223.xanga.com/category/book-reviews/

Beyond Racial Gridlock, by George Yancey (2006)
This excellent book starts by examining four common "models" of healing racial problems in the USA: (colorblindness, Anglo-conformity, multiculturalism, and white responsibility). Yancey explains strengths and weaknesses of each approach, and strengths and weaknesses of how Christians have implemented them. Then he puts forth an alternative model, "mutual responsibility". He writes in a way that is sensitive to people from ethnic majority culture and minority/BIPOC cultures, and has many good anecdotes, statistics, and historical examples. He talks about racism as both individual and structural, with solid examples of both. He discusses reparations and affirmative action, and when (not) to play the 'race card'. He has a separate chapter talking about how the sin nature affects European Americans versus how the sin nature affects people of color (hint: it affects both, in different ways). He has a really great chapter on how Jesus (the "ultimate reconciler") dealt with racial issues, as both a majority (Jewish man interacting with Samaritan woman) and as a minority (Jew interacting with Roman centurion), as well as other Biblical examples. He talks about the importance of listening to people from other backgrounds. Overall this is an excellent, highly-recommended book, for Christians. I think it would be great for a book discussion group, even one composed of both Christians and nonChristians. My only two caveats are that it is fairly old (2006) and that the first few chapters felt a little wooden and repetitive in writing style. But I think this is well-worth reading, and discussing with others. Neil Shenvi has a longer review (which motivated me to buy and read the book) - https://shenviapologetics.com/a-long-review-of-yanceys-beyond-racial-gridlock-part-1/ https://shenviapologetics.com/a-long-review-of-yanceys-beyond-racial-gridlock-part-2/ https://shenviapologetics.com/a-long-review-of-yanceys-beyond-racial-gridlock-part-3/ https://shenviapologetics.com/a-long-review-of-yanceys-beyond-racial-gridlock-part-4/

Unoffendable, by Brant Hansen
Excellent book that makes a simple case that Christians should be unoffendable, because of the huge grace and forgiveness that God has shown us through Jesus Christ... i.e. He forgave all our sins and gave us eternal life, despite the fact that we do not deserve it. Hansen's chapters discuss how anger is generally not proper for us Christians to hold, especially not holding it inside for a long time. Some people talk about the importance of "righteous anger", but Hansen suggests that this is usually just an excuse... and for real cases where anger is justified, we can trust that God will take care of dealing out vengeance on our behalf. He shares a lot of personal stories, in a humorous, self-deprecating, witty style. In some cases, this book gets a little too simplistic sometimes, in its portrayal of responses to a "sinful person" (e.g. interacting with Christians or churchgoers) as either legalistically-judgmental or lovingly-welcoming... but surely there are more Biblically-nuanced options...? Surely it is possible to love the sinner yet hate the sin? That caveat aside, the book seems useful and worth recommending that others read (especially if you know you have a problem with anger, judgmentalism, or being easily offended). Hansen also talks in several places about his Aspberger's Syndrome.

Another Gospel? by Alisa Childers
Childers shares her story of growing up in Christian circles (including touring as a CCM singer), then later attending a Bible study with a pastor who was a secret agnostic / Progressive Christian. In his faith-deconstruction, she likewise began doubting everything. Then she found apologetics answers to her questions, and now she believes again, more deeply. She shares her story, and also weaves in questions/answers regarding why the Bible is trustworthy and historical including the miracle claims, hell/atonement/justice, sexuality and homosexuality, and more. It is an interesting and informative read. Her answers might be too short to satisfy someone else who had doubts, but it could still be useful as an encouragement for someone doubting, that the deconstruction experience is not too unusual and there are solid answers available for those willing to study. The explanation of the dangers of Progressive Christianity is very helpful.

One To One Bible Reading: a simple guide for every Christian, by David Helm
This book is a simple guide for how to read the Bible with other people, in discipling three types of people: a seeker, a new Christian, and a younger Christian of a few years' experience. The book is short, simple, and extremely practical. It has lots of good ideas. Highly recommended.

Those Who Wait - Finding God in Disappointment, Doubt, and Delay, by Tanya Marlow
This book has four short fictionalized accounts surrounding the Biblical stories of Sarah, Isaiah, John the Baptist, and Mary. It emphasizes their needing to wait, during long years of circumstances that tempted them to doubt and give up on God. The stories help to bring the backgrounds of the stories to life and are helpful in exemplifying to us how to wait in our own circumstances. Each story also has discussion questions afterward, for group studies. The final epilogue chapter has excellent thoughts on waiting for God to act in our lives.

These Are The Generations, by Mr. and Mrs. Bae and Eric Foley
Wow. This book shares the story of Mr and Mrs Bae's family, living as Christians in North Korea for many years until they finally escaped. It is well-written, and shows all of the thoughts and fears that they went through, and how they heard about the gospel through their grandparents and parents, and eventually came to slowly believe and trust in Christ themselves. Then it shares the troubles they faced due to this. This is a very encouraging, very challenging, insightful, book. Everyone should read this book.

Live Not By Lies, by Rod Dreher
This book presents evidence that America is sliding into a new leftist totalitarianism (starting with pre-totalitarianism / "soft totalitarianism" / cancel culture / woke capitalism, and aided by people buying their own surveillance devices), and then presents ideas for how individuals, honest citizens, and the Church can survive it. His suggestions are (chapter titles): value nothing more than truth (borrowing from Solzhenitsyn's essays), cultivate cultural memory (the value of maintaining true history despite society's totalitarian brainwashing attempts), families are resistance cells, religion the bedrock of resistance, standing in solidarity, and the gift of suffering. One of the best parts of the book was the many anecdotes taken from interviews with people who survived Soviet communism in the last century, and their stories of principled (and mostly religious) resistance, of people who valued the truth more than convenience and more than their lives... and the stories and examples of strong-principled men and women who were not cowed. This book fits very well with the stories we hear from other communist countries and oppressive regimes. It is a sobering and encouraging book, mostly recommended. There are a few sections that some people might want to skip, about the brutal violence of the communist regimes. Some interesting sections: how the Benda family trained their children to follow the truth, how Silvester Krcmery forgave his captors during his 13 year prison sentence, more info about Solzhenitsyn, etc.

A Shepherd Looks At Psalm 23, by Phillip Keller
This professional shepherd talks about Psalm 23 from his experience with sheep. Very interesting and worth considering.

They Say We Are Infidels, by Mindy Belz
Mindy's account of years of traveling in Iraq and Syria, between 2003 and 2016. She shares stories of Christian families in many parts of Iraq, and how they dealt with persecution. Some stayed, some left. She tells about her friend Insaf, who traveled back to Iraq many times from Canada, bringing financial help and spiritual encouragement to her friends in Iraq. She talks about some things that she learned spiritually. She talks about the many failures of American/Western policy, and the rise and fall of ISIS/Daesh. Overall, good book for understanding the situation better, and encouraging to see the faith of the Iraqi Christians.

Intended for Evil: A Survivor's Story of Love, Faith, and Courage in the Cambodian Killing Fields, by Les Sillars
This is a powerful book. It tells the true story of Radha Manickam, who grew up in Cambodia, then was forced into the rural rice paddies when the Khmer Rouge communists took over in 1975. It is very well written, mixing in little bits of history amidst Radha's personal story and his family's story. It tells of the griefs he experienced, and how he barely held on to faith in Jesus, and how God provided for him in many ways and kept him alive. Eventually, he and his family were able to escape, after about 5 years as hundreds of thousands of Cambodians died. I think this is worth reading because it is good to remember how God sustained His people through very dark times in the past, to help us prepare for whatever upcoming difficulties we will face (Hebrews 11, 1 Peter 3-4).

Here are brief reviews of 3 books I read recently. For more, see http://tim223.xanga.com/category/book-reviews/

Captive in Iran, by Maryam Rostampour and Marzieyeh Amirizadeh
This book tells their story of how these Iranian women came to believe in Jesus and then were imprisoned for about eight months in Iran for sharing about Jesus. It is well written. Most of the book is about their time and experiences in prison. Much of it is about the other women they met there, and those other women's life stories (lots of injustice). Maryam and Marzieyeh were able to hold on to their faith in Jesus despite pressure to recant, and they were able to hold on to their hope and joy in Christ. I recommend that every Christian read this book because of the encouragement of how God sustained them. Even if we face similar things in our future, Jesus will sustain us too as we believe in Him. Highly recommended book.

7 Myths about singleness, by Sam Allberry
Allberry addresses seven myths: Singleness is too hard, Singleness requires a special calling, Singleness means no intimacy, Singleness means no family, Singleness hinders ministry, Singleness wastes your sexuality, and Singleness is easy. He makes great points. We all ought to root our contentment, meaning, and satisfaction in Jesus Christ, not in a spouse. Helpful book to read for both singles and married people, heterosexually-attracted and homosexually-attracted people. The appendix at the end is also great, "Four ways to avoid sexual sin". Excellent and recommended book.

Joni & Ken, by Ken and Joni Earekson Tada
This book tells about the years after Joni's accident (covered by the book "Joni"), and about how she and Ken met and fell in love. It talks about the years of psychological marriage struggles they had, especially related to her disability (she is mostly paralyzed), and how it affected their relationship. It talks about how they eventually were able to come to a more peaceful place in their relationship, by God's help. The writing pace is sometimes slow and stilted but the story is important.

Here are some recent book reviews.  For more, see http://tim223.xanga.com/category/book-reviews/ .

My Brother's Keeper: Christians who risked all to protect Jewish targets of the Nazi Holocaust, by Rod Gragg
This is a powerful, encouraging, beautiful book.  As the subtitle says, it is a series of several short biographies of Christians during World War II who took great risks to help the Jews during WWII.  Some of them survived, some did not.  It is encouraging to see what ordinary people did to uphold justice and mercy and show love and follow Christ during times of war. I think all Christians should read this book!

The Righteous Outlaw, by Brother J (translated from Korean by Sarah Kay Grzech)
This is the story of Brother J as told by his diaries.  He grew up in N. Korea during the 1990's and was a commune work group leader during the great famine in the mid-1990's.  He came to believe in the Lord Jesus through an interesting combination of circumstances.  He then led his work group of ~100 people to follow Christ... however, they only had one Bible, so they split it and J was given only Leviticus and First Samuel. Unfortunately he picked up some very bad doctrine (militaristic, anti-communism, stealing from the rich to feed the poor, etc) by not having the New Testament and thinking that the Old Testament commands given to Israel and Saul were for today.  He later had to escape to a neighboring country to the north, and was able to read the full Bible and understand the Gospel.  He then worked to bring the gospel into NK.  He was captured and executed in 2012.  This book has a lot of vulgar language because that is the translation of what he wrote in his diaries, and it is a very rough, raw, read.  But it presents an informative picture of what life was like 20 years ago in NK, and it is relevant even for today.  It shows Christ's power to change people, and how our discipling others can have powerful effects.  One powerful story was of a 16 year-old girl who escaped to the country to the north, then found Christ, then decided to come back into NK to share about Christ.  She was given the task of teaching brother J.  She taught him for 3 days, before he had to leave.  Shortly afterward, that girl was captured and executed.  Brother J was the only person she was able to disciple.  But her sacrifice of coming back into NK was not in vain... hundreds of people learned of Christ through her, through J.

Hidden In Plain View: Undesigned Coincidences in the Gospels and Acts, by Lydia McGrew
This book is fascinating and matter-of fact.  The author brings out many places in the New Testament where the authors "accidentally confirm" other accounts by mentioning little details in passing which clarify and confirm that they are based on eyewitness accounts.  This is how detectives and lawyers can ascertain in courts whether a witness is telling the truth or not.  Highly recommended book.

Confronting Christianity: 12 hard questions for the world's largest religion, by Rebecca McLaughlin
Excellent book, discussing representative questions from our generation (slightly different than the question of the previous generation).  The 12: Aren't we better-off without religion? Doesn't Christianity crush diversity? How can you say there's only one true faith? Doesn't religion hinder morality? Doesn't religion cause violence? How can you take the Bible literally? Hasn't science disproved Christianity? Doesn't Christianity denigrate women? Isn't Christianity homophobic? Doesn't the Bible condone slavery? How could a loving God allow so much suffering? How could a loving God send people to Hell?
She presents very "balanced" answers, covering all the proper responses, with warmth and both personal and cultural anecdotes (and excellent quotes from many sources).  This is similar to Tim Keller's book "Making Sense of God"... they're both aimed at answering the same questions for the same audience.  McLaughlin had very good answers regarding homophobia, since she herself experiences same-sex attraction.  She also had excellent responses on suffering and Hell and slavery and the other questions (her weakest response was about science and taking the Bible literally, because she takes a 'big tent' approach toward the various views on Genesis, but many people will appreciate this).
One good quote, out of many... from page 101... "We are inclined to assume that we are more sophisticated than a text written thousands of years ago.  But the more we read the Bible, the more we will find we are not.  MIT professor Rosalind Picard discovered this when she was a teenager and a 'proud atheist'.  She thought the Bible would be 'full of fantastical crazy stuff', but she was surprised: 'I started reading the Bible,' she recalls, 'and it started to change me.'"

The History of Jihad: From Muhammad to ISIS, by Robert Spencer
This book is exactly what the title implies.  It tells the history of the Islamic wars and conquests, from the ancient historical records, starting in the 7th century and going all the way to the modern era (book published in 2018).  It shows that the Islamic militias have been waging war against the rest of the world since the beginning, with only a few periods of peace, and even then, imposing "dhimmi" second-class citizen status on non-Muslims within their territory and imposing the "jizya" tax on non-Muslims.  The book includes the history of the various European Crusades, both their positive (self-defense) and negative (massacres and atrocities) aspects.  The book is well-written in style, and well-documented (40 pages of endnote citations, 7 pages of bibliography), containing many fascinating historical stories.  Along the way the history of the Islamic religion is documented (including the various splits and sects, and various famous Muslim scholars and leaders).
This book is accurate and enlightening, but I do NOT recommend that most people read it, because of the terrible atrocities documented from the history.  Like Foxe's Book of Martyrs, I read some things here that I wish I had not read.
However, I do recommend the two final chapters, for everyone's reading.  Chapter 9 and 10 are about jihad in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.  They contain fascinating history and historical perspective (about Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Turkey, Egypt, Israel, etc), which are often ignored in modern discussions.
I found it interesting that the author did not have any suggested solution to the problem of jihad.  He points out how jihad is seeping into western media/academia/political avenues, but titles his final chapter "The West loses its will to live: Jihad in the Twenty-First Century".   Of course, those of us who believe in the Bible know that the ultimate solution to jihad is not political, but spiritual: the person of Jesus Christ.  Muslims (whether peaceful or militant) need to hear about the Lord Jesus Christ and experience the peace, joy, love, hope, and eternal life that comes from Him.  As Jesus said, "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’" John 7:38   Best to know him now, before He returns with a sword bringing justice to the nations.
Regarding jihad, it is very likely that it will continue to increase and that the whole world will become subservient to Islam in the political sense (see "Will Islam Be Our Future?" by Joel Richardson, https://www.answering-islam.org/Authors/JR/Future/index.htm ).  But this is not the end... only the prelude setting the stage for the return of the King, the Lord Jesus Christ.  He will bring an end to jihad and bring perfect "shalom"/"salam", peace.
In summary, accurate historical book, but I only recommend that most people read the last two chapters, and understand about the persecution/martyrdom that is coming in the future for non-Muslims, and prepare for it spiritually by getting to know/love/follow/believe-in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Ultimate Guide to Christian Singleness, By Mark Ballenger (https://applygodsword.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-christian-singleness/)
This book seems to be a collection of a series of blog posts.  It covers a huge array of topics, and he is quite opinionated, so there is much to like and dislike here.  Overall there's a lot of good, common-sense, Biblical stuff.  The best parts are when he talks about God's goodness, and finding one's satisfaction in Christ, and how to use the time of singleness for eternal profit.  He has good scriptural advice about not dating non-Christians.  The parts that were less helpful in my opinion were when he tries to get really practical about "how to find a Christian spouse", because there is no advice that works for everyone's situation (though he tries) and God has not promised a spouse for everyone.  He has discussion questions after every chapter, so it might be useful for some groups, but many of his suggestions need to be taken with the proverbial 'grain of salt.'  I would probably recommend Ben Stuart's book ("Single, Dating, Engaged, Married") instead of this one, for most people.
A different resource by a different author has excellent thoughts on how to 'preach to one's own heart' in this area.. https://feetcrymercy.com/2019/02/13/single-ladies-catechism/  It was written for single Christian women but is useful reading for any single person.

Fight Your Way To A Better Marriage: How Healthy Conflict Can Take You To Deeper Levels of Intimacy, by Greg Smalley
In this book, Smalley shares about how conflict can be extremely helpful in marriage, and shares how to have healthy conflict with your spouse.  First, recognize that there are unspoken value-motivations underneath the spoken words, driving why your spouse does/says what they do/say.  Open your heart ('hit the pause button' when an argument starts, identify your emotions, and apply God's truth from the Bible to your emotions) and remove the log from one's own eye first, before arguing. Engage in 'L.U.V.E. tAlk' (Listen, Understand, Validate, Empathize, Apologize) to help keep the spouse's heart open. Seek win-win solutions in every argument (verbalize desire for win-win solution, discover the 'win' for each person, seek the Lord Jesus' opinion, brainstorm different solutions, then pick a solution that satisfies both people), and if you can't find one, then either keep discussing, or let it go if it's not a high-importance item, or let the 'best-qualified' person decide if it is a time-critical decision.  He shares many stories from his own and others' marriages (he is a marriage counselor)
This book has many useful and positive contributions.  There are some drawbacks.  On page 226, he talks about Ephesians 5 ("husbands love your wives... wives submit to your husbands") and says "... guys, please don't pull the submit card.  It's so anti-relational!  Don't forget that the verse right before the infamous submission verse, Ephesians 5:21, says, 'Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.' Paul is telling both spouses to submit."
I think Smalley goes too far here, and misinterprets the passage.  Paul's context about submission there talks about three situations: slaves should submit to their masters, children should submit to their parents, and wives should submit to their husbands.  (Arguably, Paul is not discussing a situation of abuse.)  In telling people in the church to be "submitting to one another in the fear of Christ", Paul is not saying that parents should submit to their children, or masters to their slaves, nor is he saying that husbands should submit to their wives, in general.  Saying that something is "anti-relational" is not a good reason to set aside Scripture's clear commandment.
However, I agree with Smalley that if a husband tells his wife that she must submit to him, it will mostly likely not be the best way to have a friendly, profitable, conversation that keeps their hearts open and growing closer together in relationship.  It is not a 'best practice' in having a healthy marital argument. (Same thing if a wife tells her husband that he ought to love her- not a 'best practice'.)  I agree with this comment Smalley made (also page 226) - "When speaking directly to husbands, Paul instructs, 'Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.' (Ephesians 5:25). Paul is telling us to follow Christ's example and 'lay down our life' for our wife, as Christ did for us on the cross.  Headship doesn't mean you make decisions on your own.  Only a foolish leader would ignore the insights, intuition, and wisdom of his teammate."
Overall, this book has some good insights and is worth reading, especially for people whose marriages are struggling.
The Mystery of Catastrophe: Understanding God's redemptive purposes for the global disasters of the last days, by Joel Richardson and Nathan Graves
This is a fabulous book.  It talks about all the catastrophes (wars, floods, typhoons, earthquakes, etc) taking place around the world and raises the question of why God allows these, and what good purpose He is enacting, according to Scripture, through allowing these tragedies.  It talks about the coming rise of Islam throughout the world (and likely Islamic one-world government of the last days), and how God is using disasters to move people around so that the gospel will reach every people group (e.g. refugees moving to countries where they hear the gospel, etc).  It has a lot of good helpful suggestions on how to respond to the current disasters, and how to prepare for coming persecutions, and how to pray.  I highly recommend this book for every Christian!
Patterns of Evidence, the Moses Controversy (DVD), by Timothy Mahoney
This documentary follows up on his excellent earlier documentary ("Patterns of Evidence: Exodus") and deals with the question of who wrote the first five books of the Bible.  The Bible claims that Moses compiled them, but many modern scholars say he did not, for various reasons (JEDP hypothesis, and the alleged fact that the Hebrew alphabet was not in existence in Moses' time). Mahoney shows that recent archaeological discoveries of proto-Siniatic or proto-Canaanite alphabet is essentially the earliest Hebrew alphabet, and it arose in Egypt at the time of Joseph, so hundreds of years before Moses.  So it is very plausible that Moses did write/compile the Pentateuch.  This documentary was very slow-moving and semi-autobiographical, but the archaeology is very much worth knowing about and the expert interviews presented are good.
Zeal Without Burnout: Seven Keys to a Lifelong Ministry of Sustainable Sacrifice, by Christopher Ash
He discusses burnout in life and ministry, and discusses his own and his friends' experiences of burnout.  He talks about ways to prevent burnout... God designed us to need sleep, friends, sabbaths, and times of inward renewal (activities that refresh us).  Very good book.

The Kindness Challenge: Thirty Days to Improve Any Relationship, by Shaunti Feldhahn
She proposes that kindness is a miraculous thing that can help any relationship (workplace, marriage, etc), and proposes a kindness challenge: for thirty days, do these three things every day in a particular relationship: (1) Don't say anything negative, (2) Find something about the other person to praise, (3) Do some small act of kindness to the other person.  Good book.
When People Are Big And God Is Small, by Ed Welch
The point of this book is that we are often "controlled by" other people, and do not have a sufficiently large view of God.  The point is a very good and important one.  He talks about how important God is, etc.  The content of the book is "ok", but for me the title was the best part of the book.

Here are some recent book reviews.  For more, see http://tim223.xanga.com/category/book-reviews/ .

One by One, Welcoming the singles in your church, by Gina Dalfonzo
I was hoping this would be a book about how to do singles ministry.  However, it was 90% a book about the difficulties of being single, and the sociological reasons why there are so many Christians who have never been married in the modern American church (e.g. due to the courtship movement, "I Kissed Dating Goodbye", etc), and how the church often treats single people insensitively.  As such, the book might be useful for married people and pastors who want to understand how to be more inclusive of singles, but there is only a little that is directly useful for single people themselves.  Chapters 11 and 12, about how the church does and can help single people in their lives and walk with Christ, are excellent, and worth reading for everyone.
Here are two interesting excerpts:
From the chapter "What the Church Gets Right":
"And there is nothing that gives a person a stronger self-image than knowing he or she is God's beloved creation, made in His image, redeemed by His sacrifice.  This knowledge is one of the most precious, most valuable gifts my faith has given me.  I'm not talking just in terms of my sexuality now; this is a knowledge that applies to and enhances every aspect of life.  It came originally from the pages of God's Word, but this belief would not be nearly so strong - it might not even have lasted this long - had it not been reinforced in me all my life by Christian pastors and teachers and friends and the Christian community in general.  In other words, by the church."
From the chapter "We Need Each Other", an anecdote by one of her friends:
"I personally have dealt with my never being married.  After years of asking why and crying or getting angry, I have felt pretty content.  I have accepted the way the church is toward me.  I had no issues at all... until I went to lunch with a single lady - never married - no kids.  She broke into tears and I saw myself all over again.  It broke my heart. I knew and she knew she had no support from the church, no one that genuinely wanted to hear her struggles.  At that point, I knew I had to start speaking up."

Out of a far country, by Christopher Yuan and Angela Yuan
This tells the story of Christopher's walk away from God, into a life of drugs and gay sex... and also his mother's story, struggling in her own marriage and life.  They alternate chapters back and forth, telling the story from their points of view.  They tell how they eventually found Jesus.  His mother came to know Jesus first, and then prayed for her son for many years, and eventually he became a believer in Jesus too.  He went to prison for several years, and God used that time to open his eyes to the truth.  After coming out of prison, he studied at Moody Bible Institute and eventually became a professor there.   This is a great book.   The writing is fast-moving and interesting, and there is a good balance of facts and emotions.  Perhaps a good book for any parents with a prodigal child to read... ?

The Devil's Delusion - Atheism and its scientific pretensions, by David Berlinski
Berlinski asks whether atheism, Darwinism, materialism, etc, have any reasonable ideas for the origins of life, species, information, the uniqueness of man, etc.  This is an enjoyable book, but the underlying content is quite simple... it is his beautiful, sarcastic, hilarious prose that is amazing.  His prose ranks up with C.S.Lewis as some of the most beautiful prose I have ever read.  Berlinski has an amazing way with words. The content, again, is ok and reasonably up-to-date (in its criticisms of evolution), but not the best I've read.   Berlinski also has a lot of great quotes from Dawkins, Hitchins, Dennett, Harris, and many other evolutionists.  Berlinski is a secular Jew, so while he shows a lot of respect for God, it is missing the warmth that a theist (like C.S.Lewis) brings to the discussion.  This might be an interesting book for a philosophically-inclined atheist to ponder.

101 Secrets for your twenties, by Paul Angone
This is a collection of funny sayings trying to express truths about the decade of our twenties.  It had some nice and helpful ones, about the fact that people from this generation have overly-high expectations, compare themselves to others too much, etc.  It had some good advice for how to choose a spouse.  But overall, this book was lacking the eternal perspective.  It seemed very much an Ecclesiastes-type secular perspective book.  As such, there is some usefulness, but little truly deep advice.

What if... Jesus meant what He said?  ,  by Nate Bramsen
This book asks a bunch of questions about the implications of Jesus' radical call to discipleship, interspersed with scriptures, and illustrations from Nate Bramsen's missions experiences in Africa and around the world.  It is a little scattered, but has excellent questions, worth thinking about.  It might be good for a discussion group or devotional, where each chapter does not need to build on the previous one.  He also has some great thoughts about singleness in chapter 12.

When a Jew rules the world, by Joel Richardson
This book is about the Bible's prophecies about the end times, when Jesus will rule over the whole world, from Jerusalem.  It describes the two main theological positions Christians have taken: restorationism, and supersessionism.  Restorationism is based on a literal reading of the prophecies, and takes most of the prophecies about the Kingdom of God to be in the future, yet to be fulfilled, to the Jews, as God will fulfill His promises to the chosen nation of Israel (with the Church being a mixture of Gentiles who have been grafted in, to the Jewish tree).  Supersessionism is the view that the Church has replaced Israel, and God has abandoned his promises to the nation of Israel.  Supersessionism takes allegorical views of most of the prophecies, saying that they have already been fulfilled in the church, or will be fulfilled in the church.
Richardson shows the history of anti-Jewish persecution from supersessionists like Luther, Calvin, and many others (going back to ~300AD), culminating in the Russian pogroms and Nazi Holocaust.  He also shows that the Bible strongly supports restorationism (God always keeps His promises) and denies supersessionism.
It is an excellent book, worth reading... not only if you enjoy prophecy, but if you care about where the (Gentile, evangelical, millennial) church is headed in the future.

Here are some recent books read, with short reviews.  For more reviews, see here: http://tim223.xanga.com/category/book-reviews/

Discipling, by Mark Dever
This is an excellent book, about "why" and "how" to "disciple" someone (teach/train them to follow Jesus in faith and action, as the Bible describes, by way of spending time with them). Part 3 "How" is especially valuable: "Choose someone"(excellent chapter), "Have Clear Aims" (excellent chapter), "Pay the Cost" (discipleship is often difficult and messy), and "Raising up Leaders" (i.e. putting younger Christians into ministry, giving them the freedom to make mistakes and learn and grow, delegate ministry to them, encourage them to disciple others, etc).

Hidden Christmas, by Tim Keller
This book goes through the Bible passages about the birth of Jesus, and expounds on the meaning of each one, from the points of view of Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, the magi, etc. Keller explains the gospel in a very clear, relevant, way. Excellent.

Changed, edited by Ken Williams and Elizabeth Woning
Wow... this is a powerful, beautiful, collection of short biographies, of people who came out of a gay, lesbian, or transgender life. Each brief life story is beautiful, well-told, clearly and gently presented. It is gentle, yet powerful. Highly recommended for everyone! changedmovement.com

Evolution and the Christian Faith: Theistic evolution in the light of Scripture, by Philip Bell
This book critiques "theistic evolution" from a theological and Scriptural perspective. It focuses on the Biblical discussion, not the scientific discussion. Sometimes the argumentation got a little weak, and appealed to old-fashioned cultural argumentation assuming cultural attitues that are not shared by some readers. But some of the points were very strong, and some arguments were presented more strongly than usual. The book highlighted well TE's problematic view of how Christ and His apostles were "mistaken" in their view of Genesis... and also TE's issues with suffering and death before sin, and how that affects the gospel, our view of the future new heaven/earth, and evangelism. Overall this is a good book, worth reading.

The Quest, by Todd Wood
This is a discussion of the 'quest' for truth, and in particular, how to understand science in light of faith, and vice-versa. Its author has a unique perspective, as a young-earth creationist who does scientific research on fossil hominins and ancient DNA. He talks about being criticized from both secular and YEC sides. He emphasizes that we should avoid trying to have "pat" answers and wrapping up the "hard questions" too quickly, but should instead be comfortable pondering the questions over years. For example, "transitional" fossils between ape and human, distant starlight, radiometric dating, patterns of genetic similarity between species, and certain interpretive aspects of Genesis. He says that the Quest requires Faith, Humility, Persistence, and Love. (He has a whole chapter on the importance of love, which will probably be appreciated by young people who have heard too many arguments on the topic of creation/evolution.)
While his book is decently written and has many thought-provoking statements (helpful for people from either YEC or TE/OEC or evolutionist backgrounds), his tone occasionally moved into a bit of a 'rant'. I liked many of his comments and observations. He had an excellent chapter on the Galileo situation. He had great points about how the church fathers interpreted Genesis (not simply 'literal' vs 'metaphorical', but 'layers' of meaning which were simultaneously accepted as true). He had nice "Adoremus" transition sections between chapters, focusing on various nifty natural wonders and animals.
I also noticed something which felt inconsistent: while insisting that we must not force our "hard questions" into settled easy answers, he also insisted that faith must precede our quest (based on Hebrews 11:6, "without faith, it is impossible to please God, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him"). He talked many times about his "firm commitment to young-earth creationism", which is apparently never shaken by various discoveries (I wonder if he talks so much about this because other people keep questioning whether he really is a YEC... this is a constantly recurring theme in his writing). In my opinion, he should not push so hard on this fideist presuppositionalist stuff, and instead adopt Paul's attitude (1 Corinthians 15) - if Christ is not raised, our faith is worthless. In other words, follow the evidence wherever it leads, whether toward or away from YEC, evolution, or Christianity itself, and don't worry about whether other people think you're a YEC or not. Wood rejects the label of fideism (p. 41), but very weakly.
Overall, I think this book is worth reading, and especially worth discussing in a small group or class.

Blessed are the Misfits, by Brant Hansen
Excellent book describing his experience of church and Christianity from the point of view of someone to whom "it doesn't make sense"... "why do Christians do the things they do?" But also, from humility, "Why would God show mercy to evil and pathetic and sinful people like us?" He talks about his Asperger's and about his faith journey. Somewhat scattered, but very witty and fun to read. He also weaves in various stories from the Bible.

Heretic: One scientist's journey from Darwin to Design, by Matti Leisola and Jonathan Witt
Excellent book. Leisola shares a bit of his own story of changing from a Darwinist to a believer in Intelligent Design, and lots about the aftermath - the persecutions he faced from journals, fellow scientists at conferences and university meetings, etc. Each chapter shares a little about the reasons why ID is more reasonable than evolution in view of today's modern scientific knowledge (very up-to-date and also accessibly-written for a layperson), along with some anecdotes from Leisola's career. The semi-autographical style might not be for everyone, but I think it is a good book, worth reading.

Love Thy Body, by Nancy Pearcey
Excellent book. She makes the point that today's postmodern society (like the Graeco-Roman gnostics of NT times) tries to separate the "facts"/physical-body from the "values"/mental-identity/gender/personhood, and this attempt to say the body doesn't matter directly ties into the progressive views on abortion, euthanasia, promiscuity/hookup-culture, homosexuality, transgender issues, and more. She writes very well, with plenty of stories, quotes, cultural allusions, statistics, etc. She makes the point that the Christian view of the body is more 'inclusive' and 'holistic', etc, and so she uses progressives'/liberals' own language subversively and powerfully, showing that their view ultimately leads them to a place they don't want to go. Well worth reading, and probably well worth discussing among secular circles too.

Here are some recent reviews.  For more, see this link: http://tim223.xanga.com/category/book-reviews/

Spacecraft Earth, by Henry Richter and David Coppedge
This book summarizes information from many different domains of science, related to how Earth is optimized for life and how living creatures display optimal design. It discusses cosmology, including the Big Bang theory, multiverses, etc. It discusses biology, including the complexity of life and the difficulties with the commonly-accepted theories of evolution and abiogenesis. It discusses the evidence both for and against evolution. At the end, Dr. Richter shares his own life story, including his career of developing Explorer I (USA's first satellite) and how he became a Christian in his 40s.
The book has a perfect balance of concise information and readability, with a few stories and pictures thrown in too. It might be slightly too science-oriented for some, but it is perfect for anyone interested in science/engineering/tech/biology. It is great to read for learning more information, and great to give away to others.

God's Crime Scene, by J. Warner Wallace
Wallace, former detective, takes a "crime scene" approach to looking at the evidence for God's existence, such as the fine tuning of the universe and the existence of objective morality. The book is very easy to read, and has great clear lay explanations of the latest quantum physics arguments and how they relate to the debate (e.g. can things pop into existence spontaneously out of 'quantum vacuum'? Did Stephen Hawking's imaginary time remove the need for the universe to have a beginning?) He agrees with William Lane Craig's explanations. On the down side, he accepts a multi-billion-year-old universe and evolution, like Craig. Possibly useful (with caveats) for some people (e.g. atheists).

Escape from North Korea, by Melanie Kirkpatrick
This book tells about the underground railroad of people helping North Koreans escape their country. It is very well researched and documented, and very well written. It presents many facets of the issues and is very informative. It has many testimonials from North Korean refugees. It is a bit dated now, since it was published in 2012, but is still very worth reading.

Hope Heals, by Katherine and Jay Wolf
This is the true story of a couple who experienced a terrible medical tragedy, a brain stroke. They together (back and forth) write about their experience, and how God and their family/friends sustained them through it. It is powerful and beautiful - well worth reading.

Mideast Beast, by Joel Richardson
This book presents more of the Biblical side of the prophecies about the Antichrist and the end times. As presented in his old article "Will Islam be our future?" (http://www.answering-islam.org/Authors/JR/Future/index.htm ), Richardson believes that the end-times government described in the Bible will be a Muslim government, a renewed Caliphate/Ottoman empire. This book answers objections that people have presented to his view (i.e. from people who believe in a renewed Roman empire as the end-times government) He presents many interesting and persuasive interpretations of the relevant Bible passages, including Daniel, Revelation, Ezekiel, Zechariah, Isaiah, etc. His conclusion is that we should love Muslims, by seeking to bring the gospel of Christ to them and show them the way out of the darkness of Islam.

The Great Omission, by Steve Saint
The main point of this book is that western missionaries should seek to help the people with whom they are ministering become self-sufficient in terms of financing, leadership (especially church leadership), missions-sending, and technological skills. Missionaries should 'work themselves out of a job' in a particular place, empowering the indigenous church and local community to become self-sufficient and sending out other missionaries. It presents excellent points, although it gets a little like a 'rant' occasionally. Worth reading.

Here are a couple reviews of books read over the past few months.  For more, see here.

Single, Dating, Engaged, Married: Navigating Life and Love in the Modern Age, by Ben Stuart

I've read a lot of books about dating and marriage, and I'd say this is the best "overall" book I've read on these topics. There are other books that might be more applicable for people in particular situations, like "Courtship in Crisis" for those coming out of conservative homeschool backgrounds trying to figure out how to date, or "For Men Only/For Women Only" for trying to understand the other sex better, or books by the Smalleys or the Eggerichs or the Holcombs for those in difficult marriage situations, or books by Piper, Keller, or Chan for 'theory-of-marriage' type discussions. But this one by Ben Stuart is like 4 books in one, and it is accessible for Christian or nonChristian, and for those coming from a "romantically conservative" or "romantically liberal" background. These are two very different audiences, and it is hard to write to both of them. But I think Stuart succeeds. For example, he writes on page 61 that it is important to have both "character and chemistry", when deciding who to date. The importance of "chemistry" is very important to hear for the "romantically conservative" single Christians who are typically being told by other older married Christians that they must be being too picky, and should just go date and marry some particular godly person in their sphere regardless of whether they're attracted or not. The importance of "character" is important for the "romantically liberal" singles who too quickly/easily fall into romantic attachment with someone who is not sufficiently mature/godly.

In the chapter on singleness, Stuart hits all the same points which these books usually hit, regarding the purpose of singleness in the life of a Christian (ministry)... but he goes deeper, more thoroughly and more Biblically. He goes through the example of the life of Paul, in discussing how to leverage singleness for the glory of God. Some points: 1. Never stop (e.g. Paul even at the end of his life was still active in ministry), 3. invest in the next generation (e.g. Paul mentoring Timothy and others), 3. Cultivate deep friendships (e.g. Luke, etc), 4. Keep learning ("bring the parchments"), 5. Make enemies (! Most books on singleness would not go this far, but I think he is right... following Jesus will typically cause one to make enemies...), 6. Forgive (2 Timothy 4:14, etc), 7. Be courageous, 8. Rest (trust in God's sovereignty)

Next, he presents 7 principles on dating, which are excellent. 1. The importance of prayer. 2. The importance of clarity - explaining to the other person what are your intentions and where you are emotionally at various points in time so they're not guessing. 3. The importance of autonomy- the danger of becoming 'exclusive' (or physical) in the dating phase (rather than reserving exclusivity for engagement, and all physical until marriage). 4. Similarly, the importance of purity. 5. The importance of graciousness (this one was kind of vague, but basically, act in such a way to try to build up the other person, so that regardless of whether the dating relationship moves toward marriage or not, the other person is helped and bettered through the relationship), 6. The importance of community (friends, counselors, family)... interestingly, all of the examples he shared were of friends exercising 'veto' recommendations, recommending against continuing a harmful relationship. He did not share any examples of friends putting pressure on a person to date a particular someone else... and rightly so, I think, because the latter is much less helpful. 7. The importance of patience in dating ... taking time to get to know someone, seeing them in many, varied, and stressful situations, etc. A few other miscellaneous points of interest - in his chapter on sex, he mentions that conquering temptation requires two things: getting stronger on external boundaries, and softer regarding internal self-condemnation. The latter involves remembering how we have been forgiven by Jesus, accepted and loved perfectly by Him, etc. Both (external fighting and internal reveling) are necessary, whereas most people focus on only one or the other.

Here's an excerpt from his study of Abraham's servant:
"As soon as I say that, I know some of you may be thinking, 'That's easy for you to say, Ben. But what are the odds I'm going to find someone like that? It seems all the good ones are gone.' But I challenge you to adopt Abraham's perspective: the God who leads us will also provide for us. Abraham is a man of faith. This leads me to my next point: trust that the God who saved you can provide a mate for you [*]. Many of us can trust God with a lot of stuff, but when it comes to marriage we're scared to death he's going to do something terrible to us: we'll never meet someone, or if we trust God to provide a husband we will have to wait forever and then the guy will be weird or not at all what we want. So we take it into our own hands, which usually involves trying to dress a certain way, or act a certain way, or say certain things in order to 'catch', 'land', 'bag', or 'win' our mate. As a result, trusting the Lord (with the side effects of joy, peace, and a whole lot more) goes flying out of our lives. Don't be a 'believer' who doesn't believe God will care for you. If you have trusted God with your eternal destiny, you can trust him with your love life."
[*] IMHO, I think he should have added a caveat here, "... if He knows it would be best for you to be married." I.e., God certainly CAN provide. But He has not promised to provide a spouse for most people, and we should not pretend that He has promised this.

Stuart's recommendations on the type of person to look for are excellent (based on Rebekah and Isaac), but they are fairly common-sense, and identical to all the other dating books.

Next, he discusses the engagement period. Regarding indecision and when to pop the question, he has some excellent (though probably controversial!) advice. Excerpt: "... when trying to discern if commitment is present. Does this mean that you will always feel a strong sense of passion? No. What I am about to write here will sound very unromantic, but it is reality. You will be playing the percentages. What I mean is this: if 90 percent of the time you feel confident they are the one for you, that is a good sign. Our emotions rise and fall throughout the day. No one has a single, sustained emotional experience every minute of the day. That means there will be moments you feel indifferent about the love of your life. ... My question is, how many moments of the day are filled with thoughts like that? ... Now if four or five out of every ten thoughts about him or her are, 'Eh, I don't know if this is going to work', then don't get married!..." This helpfully "de-spiritualizes" the decision-making process, IMHO.

He has several helpful suggestions. He suggests that before engagement takes place, a serious conversation or set of conversations related to confession should happen... e.g., explaining all the secrets and baggage and stuff from one's past. There should be no big secrets between the couple, before engagement. He also suggests that engaged couples should carefully consider the finances (budget, savings, giving, etc), and discuss with the parents to show that they are financially ready for marriage. He also suggests that regularly (e.g. once a week) the engaged couple set aside time to avoid talking about the wedding and instead discuss plans for the marriage, and he presents a bunch of discussion questions.

In the section on marriage, he has good advice, and tries to exegete the most important Biblical texts on marriage, e.g. Ephesians 5. He chickens out a bit at one or two spots when trying to explain what "submit" means, but overall he does a good job. He tries really hard to make it palatable for modern ears.

The last section, about ministry together as a couple (Aquila and Priscilla), is excellent (and reminiscent of Francis Chan's book and other books).
I highly recommend this book, as a "general", "overall", "safe to give to anyone", "unique", "up-to-date", "gentle", "Biblical", and wise guide to all four life stages (singleness, dating, engagement, and marriage). I think it would be an excellent book for couples to read together and discuss, and for premarital counseling talks. I think that this one and the recent book "Courtship in Crisis" are the two best books for modern singles to read about the topic of dating. Stuart's book is also worth reading about the topic of singleness.
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Contested Bones, by Christopher Rupe and John Sanford
This book goes through all the fossil human and ape (and alleged ape-man) bone discoveries (as of late 2017), and discusses their history and morphology. It convincingly shows that there are no transitional forms, between apes and humans. It also discusses the problems with dating of the bones, such as the history of certain bones being re-dated again and again to fit changing external scientific paradigms or political schemes. It also briefly discusses the genetic evidence, which likewise does not support evolution. Instead, the evidence strongly fits and confirms the Biblical account in Genesis, of separate creation of the kinds (human, ape, etc), and the Flood, and subsequent age. This is an excellent book! The research is superb. The tone is gentle and professional. I was sometimes annoyed by the writing style, which was repetitive (often repeating the same point 3 or 4 times in slightly different wording). But I think one can overlook the writing style in view of the excellent research presented. Highly recommended.
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Behind the Ranges: the story of J.O.Fraser, by Geraldine Taylor
This biography is about an early missionary to China, J.O.Fraser. He was a very godly and talented man, spending lots of time and effort reaching the people in the southwest corner of China with the gospel. He spent lots of time in prayer. The book tells of his successes and failures, various people he mentored, etc. He reached thousands of people with the gospel, and mentored many local churches. His is a life worth studying and emulating, and this is a book worth reading, I think.

Here are some more book reviews.  For earlier book reviews, see here.

Messy Journey, by Lori Wildenberg

This book is a collection of thoughts by a Christian mother, about parenting children who "go astray" from the way they were raised. Her daughter, who currently identifies as lesbian, currently has a good relationship with her mother and also contributed some parts of the book. The book shares anecdotes and discusses the importance of trying to keep the relationship going even when disagreements exist.  It talks about letting go of the urge to 'fix' one's child and surrendering the child to God.  It also has several other stories contributed by parents whose children are going through (or have gone through) various types of rebellion. This was an excellent book overall. I know many Christian parents whose children have wandered away from God, and I wish that all of them could read this book. The book does not provide "solutions" or "answers" per se, but encouragement for parents to know that they are not alone, and encouragement to keep trying, and true stories of parent-child relationships that have been restored. Recommended book.

Creation & Evolution: Compatible or in Conflict? by Jay Seegert

This is an excellent overview of the origins controversies, covering almost all of the related topics in a layman-focused, readable, general-audience fashion, with pictures and analogies. It covers both the scientific and Biblical arguments. It generally uses a presuppositional approach. For its audience, it explains things well (it does not go into deep depth in any area). This would be a great overview book to give someone.

Sing, by Keith and Kristyn Getty

This book is a discussion of congregational singing - its importance, the fact that God commands it, its benefits, how to do it, etc. It has some good points.

From Creation to Salvation: What Jesus and the New Testament authors believed about Genesis, by Lita Cosner

This book is basically a summary of the whole Bible, but with special emphasis on following the teaching about God's creation of the world, Adam/Eve, the Fall, Noah/Flood, etc (from Genesis 1-11) as it is developed and alluded to throughout the rest of the Bible. It has some good insights, but I was hoping for a more direct and powerful argument against the modern disdain for viewing Genesis historically that is often expressed in educated Christian circles. This book is almost closer to the "Stranger on the road to Emmaus" type of book or "One God One Message" type of book, rather than what its subtitle suggests. It is written in commentary style (semi-academic), with occasional sidebars of points about creation. I agree with all of the key doctrinal points it teaches, and most of the subpoints. It was not what I was expecting, but it still might be helpful for some people.

The Great Good Thing, by Andrew Klavan

He tells the story of his life, how he grew up in a Jewish family in New York City, became a writer, dealt with insanity and depression, then gradually over several decades (and therapy) came to a place of more happiness. Then, in the last 10 years, he came to believe in God, and then more specifically in Jesus the Christ. Beautiful book.

Zombie Science, by Jonathan Wells

This is a great book! He follows up on his 2000 book "Icons of Evolution", which pointed out supposed evidences for evolution used in biology textbooks which had already been discredited by scientists. In "Zombie Science", he shows that these are STILL being used 16 years later, and adds several more items. He discusses "vestigial" organs, whale evolution, Darwin's "Tree of Life", antibiotic resistance and cancer, and many other items. I was impressed with this book's balance and even-keeled tone. He never got 'preachy', just kept a smooth narrative running throughout the whole book. He believes in "Intelligent Design", (and an old earth), not creationism. But this book shows the extreme weakness of the evolutionary book. Well recommended!

Here are some more book reviews... enjoy!  For earlier reviews, see  http://tim223.xanga.com/category/book-reviews/

We Died Before We Came Here, by Emily Foreman
This is a beautifully-written account of their family's years in a North African country, and the circumstances around her husband's murder by Al-Qaeda in 2010, and how God sustained them through it, and some of the fruit that has already been seen afterward. Highly recommended.

City of Tranquil Light, by Bo Caldwell
This is a novel about two missionaries to China in the late 1800's and early 1900's, based loosely on the lives of her grandparents, and with other true stories from other missionaries added in to their lives. It is a beautiful and powerful book, as the stories (told from the alternating points of view of both the husband and the wife) show their struggles to fit in and make friends and preach the gospel in China... and the hardships they went through, and God's faithfulness through it all. I found myself wishing it was a simple biography (rather than a novel). Other than that, great book.

Openness Unhindered, by Rosaria Butterfield
This is a very thoughtful book. Her first book, "Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert", tells her story (journey out of liberal/lesbian/atheism into Christianity). Here she shares more excellent thoughts on the mistaken categories our secular world has constructed regarding sexual identity, and how to use words and categories Biblically in this area. Also, her chapter 7 on "Community" is one of the most powerful portrayals of hospitality and Christian community I've ever seen. It is much more powerful and compelling than Dietrich Bonhoeffer's "Life Together"... it is basically an exposition of Acts 4 combined with a practical application of Jay Pathak's "The Art of Neighboring"... the book is well worth reading just for this one chapter about practical hospitality, even if you don't know anyone who struggles with the sexual orientation topics discussed in the rest of the book.

Not Just A Soup Kitchen, by David Apple
This book is focused on practical aspects of helping people who are in poverty, addicted to drugs, homeless, etc. He talks about the practical aspects of being a deacon in a church... everything from how to respond when someone asks for money, to how to visit the sick or dying. He shares his own story of his spiritual journey. Excellent book... recommended for all church deacons, elders, pastors.

< a very powerful memoir... not listed here because I would rather not have search engines indexing it ... contact me for details>

Girls Like Us: Fighting for a world where girls are not for sale, by Rachel Lloyd
This is a powerful memoir of Rachel's life, interweaving stories from her own life (how she became a victim of commercial sexual exploitation) and from the lives of the girls she now works with (through GEMS, in New York City) and helps to leave and recover from that life. She shares about how Christ's love (demonstrated through Christians) has helped her toward wholeness, and helped her to escape the psychological manipulation of her pimp(s). She also shares of their work to get states, cities, and police departments to recognize that commercially exploited children are not criminals ("prostitutes") to be prosecuted, but victims to be rescued. Highly recommended book.

Unless a Grain of Wheat: The Life of G. Christopher Willis I, by W.A.Willis
This is a biography of a Christian who became a missionary to China and other parts of Asia in the 20th century, for some 30-40 years. Its writing style is of mediocre interest, but the topic, the man Christopher Willis, is well worth reading. He seemed to be humble, friendly, faithful, Bible-centered, etc, and overall have a very fruitful ministry. He ran a Christian literature and printing business in China, and spent 2 years in a Japanese POW camp during WWII. Good things can be learned from his life, I think. The title sums up his life nicely. "Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit." (John 12:24) Willis 'died' to his earthly ambitions, and saw much spiritual fruit (and more came along after he was gone).

Helping others overcome addictions, by Steve McVey and Mike Quarles
The main point of this book is that Jesus Christ is not only the MAIN thing needed by an addict to overcome his addiction (i.e. a saving relationship with Jesus Christ, believing in Jesus Christ, becoming saved by Jesus Christ), but in fact the ONLY thing needed. All other things are merely crutches, of limited help... whereas recognizing one's new status as a fully-loved, righteous, clean, child of God, is the ONLY thing that will provide lasting freedom from any kind of addiction.
For example, they take issue with AA's pattern of having people introduce themselves as "Hi, my name is __ and I'm an alcoholic". "No!" the authors state, it is no longer accurate for a Christian to think of himself with that 'old identity' of alcoholic... instead he has a new nature, righteous in Christ, 'all things have become new', it's only 'sin dwelling in me' that does the sins, etc etc.
The intent of this book is good, and many of its points are good. But it is written in a very polemical style (even sometimes self-promotional), and some of its points are very controversial. They try to 'split hairs', it seems, in their interpretation of certain things... I'm not sure if I agree. I think I'll read it again in a few years (or discuss with others) to try to figure out if I agree with certain things they say. This book MIGHT be helpful for some people, but it might not.

Here are some recent book reviews.  For older reviews, see http://tim223.xanga.com/category/book-reviews/

Making Sense of God, by Tim Keller
Another EXCELLENT book from Keller!  He wrote this as a 'prequel' to "The Reason for God" because he realized that millions of millenial Americans have so many preconceived notions about the folly of 'religion' that they would not even bother to read that earlier book.  He discusses many reasons people don't think it worth their time to consider Christianity.  He begins with the point that secular belief is not a 'default', but is a particular set of beliefs that needs justification just as much as religious beliefs do.  He focuses on the fact (with lots of quotes from secular philosophers and popular figures) that secular beliefs do not satisfy in many situations... times of suffering or approaching death... questions of identity and achievement, societal problems such as racism, etc.  He discusses individualistic freedom as an ideal (it is lacking), and the question of where do human rights, justice, and our sense of morality come from?  I found it a little more dry than some of his other books, and a little less pointed than "Reason for God", rather instead more of a 'conversation'... but it is still vintage Keller, packed with great quotes and good reasoning.  Definitely worth reading, maybe also discussing in a group.

 
Farewell Four Waters, by Kate McCord
This is a semi-fictionalized story of an American NGO worker living in Aghanistan, and the story of how she had to suddenly leave her work as tribal warfare exploded in the last decade.  It is based on her own true experiences.  She describes the confusion.. both logistical, and also emotional and spiritual... involved, and how she came to find peace in God's presence with her.

 
The scent of water, by Naomi Zacharias
In this book the author intersperses stories from her life, with stories about various people she met on her trips (primarily nonprofit humanitarian trips, helping to provide restoration for people who had been rescued from slavery or trafficking or prostitution, or other humanitarian ventures).  She emphasizes God's grace, His love for the outcast and outsider... and provides stories of people's lives being made whole through God's grace overflowing through other people.

 
Is It My Fault?  by Justin and Lindsey Holcomb
This is an excellent book that presents hope and advice, aimed toward women who are being abused by their husband or partner (i.e. suffering from domestic violence).  It emphasizes God's love and grace, the Biblical high value of women, etc.  It argues against the most typical rejoinders, such as 'God doesn't care about me' or 'It's my fault that I'm suffering', etc.  One of its most helpful points was its catalog of all the places in the Bible where people 'ran away from suffering' when possible, such as Jesus avoiding arrest, Paul using his citizenship to avoid flogging, many others fleeing persecution by running to a different city, etc.  In this pattern, separation can often be a helpful thing in domestic violence situations.  However, the authors briefly mentioned their support for divorce without any reference to the Bible's teaching that reconciliation after separation is preferred if possible.  I would have liked to see more direct _practical_ suggestions for helping people in these situations.  It was mostly a few brief suggestions in their appendices.  However, the bulk of the book had good theological points and would probably be helpful for an abused wife to read, especially in the context of discussing it regularly with a friend.

 
The Creation Answers Book, by Don Batten, David Catchpoole, Jonathan Safarti, and Carl Wieland
This is an excellent book going through the most common questions and objections people have to taking the Bible's creation account literally.  Its answers are good, succinct, footnoted, Biblical, etc.  Highly recommended!
Chapter 1: Does God Exist? Chapter 2: Six days? Really? Chapter 3: What about gap theories? Chapter 4: What about carbon dating? Chapter 5: How can we see stars in a young universe? Chapter 6: How did ‘bad things’ come about? Chapter 7: What about arguments for evolution? Chapter 8: Who was Cain’s wife? Chapter 9: Were the 'Sons of God' and/or nephilim extra-terrestrials? Chapter 10: Was the Flood global? Chapter 11: What about continental drift? Chapter 12: Noah’s Flood—what about all that water? Chapter 13: How did the animals fit on Noah’s Ark? Chapter 14: How did fresh and saltwater fish survive the flood? Chapter 15: Where are all the human fossils? Chapter 16: What about the Ice Age? Chapter 17: How did the animals get to Australia? Chapter 18: How did all the different ‘races’ arise? Chapter 19: What about dinosaurs?
It is available for free online at http://creation.com/the-creation-answers-book-index

 
Redeeming Love, by Francine Rivers
This is a romance novel set during the 19th century California gold rush.  It is loosely based on the Biblical account of Hosea and Gomer.  As romance novels go, this one is excellent overall (although with a few problematic/corny/sappy parts).  The main character, "Angel", has been abused most of her life, and finds it impossible to trust men.  An (unrealistically super-mature) Christian man decides that God is calling him to marry her... and does a great job of continuing to faithfully love her throughout her struggles, and eventually his constant love changes her, and she matures and comes to love him in return.  Some will object that the ending of the story wraps up too neatly, but I think that within its genre, it works ok.  It does a good job of showing the emotions inside someone who comes from a background of abuse, and why they find it hard to trust again.  It presents a good example of a man who surrenders his romantic situation to God and trusts Him to work it out.  It is also a great portrayal of God's love for us... He would stop at nothing to redeem us... His love is completely unselfish, and never stops.

 
A Wind in the House of Islam, by David Garrison
This book discusses each of nine different Islamic areas of the world, and discusses their history, and how very few Muslims had been believing in Jesus over the centurs a ies.  If one defines a revival "movement" as 1000 or more baptisms among a people group, there were none until the 19th century (2), then suddenly 13 in the 20th century, then suddenly an additional 69 in the first 12 years of the 21st century.  Garrison carefully researched each one, with more than 1000 interviews total, etc.  He then goes through each area and talks about the movements, and what seem to be the human factors facilitating each movement.   This is very interesting, and it does seem that God is doing amazing things in the Islamic world.  A caveat is that Garrison seems very positive on the "insider" approach (having a new convert stay within his/her Muslim community for a while, continue going to the mosque, etc, while quietly learning about Jesus in secret)... many other Muslim-background believers have expressed how harmful this paradigm has been to their (and others') spiritual growth.  Garrison generally tries to report in an unbiased way.  Two fascinating excerpts... the first from interviewing a Muslim-background believer about how he witnesses to other Muslims- p.216
<<I asked Nasr what he did to open Muslims' mind to the truth.  Nasr said, "If I am sitting with a Muslim, I might ask, 'What kind of prophet, when he's 53 years old, takes a 6-year old girl as his wife? And he....  ...it's disgusting- a little girl.'" I probed, "And you actually ask a Muslim these questions?" "Of course.  Why not? It's written right there. There's no argument." I continued, "Do you think this is something that you can do, but I, as a Westerner, should not do?" Nasr laughed. "No, no, no, no, no. I can do this, because I am a Muslim." I was struck by this casual admission, 'I am a Muslim', by a man who had now given his life to dismantling Islam. .... "So you can do this because you are in the culture?" "Yes," Nasr said. "There's a barrier against you. The first thought that comes to their mind when you question the Qur'an, is that you are against them, because you are an American.">>    I do not necessarily agree with the author's/speaker's sentiment here, but I find it very interesting.
The other excerpt was from the "10 Bridges" that he suggests God uses to establish revivals in Muslim areas.  Faith, Prayer, Scripture, Holy Spirit activity (including dreams), Faithful Christian witness, Learning from the body of Christ, Communication, Discovery, Islam itself, and Indigenization.  Cool quote from "Prayer" -[Aisha said] "I believe... that the prayers of people all over the world have been rising up to heaven for many years. In the heavens, these prayers have accumulated like the great clouds during the monsoon season.  And now they are raining down upon my people the miracles and blessings of salvation that God has stored up for them."

 
In Order To Live, by Yeonmi Park
The author tells the true story of her life in North Korea, followed by her escape to China with her mother at age 13, then escape to South Korea around age 16.  She mentions some of the abusee went through, but in a matter-of-fact way, without focusing on it inappropriately.  Her book explains "everyday life" in North Korea well... this is not a book focused on either the prisoners in prison camps nor the rich/elite people but on a family in-between.  Especially moving were her accounts of the people (many Christians) who risked their lives to help them escape from China, and ended up in prison for their troubles.  It is well-written, and a beautiful, powerful, story, showing the need for the gospel of Jesus in those parts of the world (too).  I recommend reading it.

 
Strange Fire, by John MacArthur
This book examines the problems associated with the charismatic movement, and compares the movement to the Bible's actual teaching on the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit.  MacArthur points out that modern "tongues" are gibberish, unlike the New Testament gift of actual world languages... modern "prophecies" are considered fallible (unlike Biblical prophecies), and modern "faith healers" (/etc) are generally charlatans and prone to moral failures.  He includes a lot of amazing quotes from such (false) teachers. I agree with almost everything he says in this excellent book.  One thing in which he may go slightly too far is that he seems to say that 1 Cor 14:39 and 1 Thess 5:20 are no longer applicable today because tongues and prophecies (and other such sign gifts) have ceased, along with apostleship.  I am not sure if I would feel comfortable being that dogmatic.  However, his points about the problems with the charismatic movement are very well argued and documented, and his emphasis on the Bible and the true ministry of the Holy Spirit is excellent.