George Barna is a Christian pollster who has been
extensively researching and analyzing trends that affect the church, our
culture, and morality for decades. He
has written more than fifty books. I
found his book America At The Crossroads:
Explosive Trends Shaping America’s Future And What You Can Do About It to
be insightful and informative, albeit sobering and discouraging. About 90 percent of the book is an overview
of his research, with analysis, in several categories, such as religious beliefs
and behavior, beliefs concerning the Bible, political ideology, beliefs on
social issues, priorities, etc. Then in
the last section of the book he deals with the question “What You Can Do.” Here he explores the importance of being a true follower of Christ, not merely a
Christian in name only.
I read The Gospel & Same-Sex Marriage from
“The Gospel For Life Series” by Russell Moore and Andrew T. Walker. This little book is packed with a lot of good
information. Like all volumes in this
series it is concise and to-the-point, but provides the reader with valuable
information to refute the claims of our day by mainly affirming what true and
biblical marriage really is. By
understanding what it is, one will quickly see what it is not.
Occasionally, the title of a book intrigues
me so much I want to read it. That is
exactly what happened when I first discovered Gregory Koukl’s book The Story of Reality: How the World Began,
How It Ends, and Everything that Happens In Between. In about 200 pages Koukl covers all the bases
in a very thought-provoking, insightful manner.
The book is unique in that it holds the interest of someone who has
studied the issues of faith for a long time, yet is simple enough to be placed
in the hands of a new Christian, a non-believer or even a skeptic. He covers realities about God, man, the
person of Jesus, creation, the cross, and resurrection.
There are
several great books on Heaven. One of
the quickest ways to get excited about what Heaven is really going to be like
is to read one of these books that help you understand Heaven better. One simple and straightforward book on the
subject is The Real Heaven: What the
Bible Actually Says by Chip Ingram.
It covers all the basics in a simple, easy to follow format. It pictures the New Heaven and New Earth as
well as helps believers understand what happens now after they die, where their
loved ones are, etc.
Surprise Endings: Ten Good Things About Bad
Things by Ron Mehl was a part of my daily devotional time for several
mornings earlier this year. The book is
not really a devotional book per se but it served that purpose for me. It is inspiring and encouraging as he takes
well-known Scriptural passages and makes modern application to real-life
situations. It was a very enjoyable book
to read. It will give you much
encouragement.
Another book
I used during my daily devotional time was Psalms:
The Prayer Book of the Bible, the classic work by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. It is somewhat of a topical arrangement with
comment on the book of Psalms. He shows
how the Psalms express the deepest groanings of our hearts. I found it quite helpful.
There are
lots of books available on the subject of prayer and you might even find a book
on fasting on rare occasion; but good books on the subject of biblical
meditation are quite rare. Most of what
is available is on the mystic side.
However, I found Robert Morgan’s book Reclaiming the Lost Art of Biblical Meditation to be very helpful,
uplifting, challenging, and encouraging.
He gives many verses and ideas as to how we can move beyond merely
reading the Scriptures and toward making them a part of our daily lives and
walks with the Lord. The answers are all
there in the Bible, we just need to know where to look and how to recognize
them when we see them.
Over the past few years, I have greatly
enjoyed the series co-authored by broadcaster Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard. This year I read Killing Regan: The Violent Assault that Changed a Presidency. In March 1981 the mentally disturbed John Hinckley
Jr. shot President Reagan and nearly took his life. This event changed the President in several
significant ways. Killing Reagan is a book that shows the character of Ronald Reagan
the man in the face of this event. I
have read several biographies of Reagan, but this is like no other. Like others in the “Killing” series it is
extremely well-written and very engaging.
Former Fox News host Megyn Kelley wrote a book
called Settle For More which was very
inspiring to me. The premise for her
book is based on a few words which changed her life. She realized she had settled for less in her
life and began a journey of changing those things. A journey which led her out of the practice
of law and into journalism. Reading this
book personally challenged me to work harder in some areas of my life and not
give up on certain dreams and goals.
In Christ,
Dr. Allen Raynor, Pastor
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