These are just a few from my own library, and if you have some you think worthy of sharing, please let me know. I love to read!
The links to the books below all lead to Amazon.com because as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. It seemed like a convenient way to get you the best price I know of. However, if you trace the author’s book back to its publishing company, then the author gets a better commission, and the publishing company fairs better as well.
At the bottom of this page (you will have to scroll a bit) are books that have changed me.
Book Reviews
For the heart
Book Review: “Tell Her Story”
Would it not be great to read a scholarly book with such accessibility, written in such a conversational tone, that it is almost like being in comfy chairs, talking with the author? #TellHerStory #NijayKGupta #GoodBook
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“Unoffendable” Love and Offense
The final piece in a five-part review of this book.
God’s love, the smog of shame, and the cost of forgiveness are a good way to complete my thoughts on this book. #Unoffendable #BrantHansen
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“Unoffendable” Scripture Versus Straw Men
Jesus and Paul provide the template for us to understand how to process our offences and emotional pain. At the end of this post, I provide the title for what I think is a way better book on that topic. #Unoffendable #BrantHansen
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“Unoffendable” Who Does Jesus Trust?
This week I tackle Jesus’s observed theology concerning people, and what scripture has to say about love and anger. #Unoffendable #BrantHansen
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“Unoffendable” Action Versus Motivation
Though the second chapter begins with what I see as good advice, it seems to conflate concepts throughout, and ends with what to me is a hair-raising conclusion.
#Unoffendable
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“Unoffendable” Be Careful With This
Considering he accolades of such high-profile authors as all Alan Hirsch and Frank Viola (who I hold in high regard), you would think I would love this book.
But I do not.
#Unoffendable
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“Reading While Black”
McCaulley has a good voice for reading, not wasting words, yet somehow managing to take time to explain. He speaks the truth in a firm, clear, and yet gracious way, from his own life and experience and also as pastor. #ReadingWhileBlack #McCaulley
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“Slaves, Women & Homosexuals”
This book first came out in 2001, so a lot of water has traveled under the proverbial bridge since he sent this manuscript off for final approval. Nevertheless, we found ourselves instantly drawn in by Webb’s hermeneutic of redemptive movement. #LGBTQ
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“Killing Christians”
This book had me at the title and never let go until I had read the last page
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“Out of a Far Country”
Whether you or I agree with how Christopher Yuan has made sense of who he is in the Lord, and how he interprets God’s call on his life, the bottom line for us all is to trust that God is loving enough, wise enough, powerful enough, and expansive enough to guide each of us into…
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“The First Urban Christians”
Beginning with the urban environments Paul strategically targeted, Meeks draws the reader into the geography and culture of the ancient city and its importance and impact on the people of antiquity.
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“Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions”
Ian Stewart enriches the reading of Flatland greatly with his own explanation of Abbott’s references to various Victorian references, and explication of Abbott’s mathematical allusions.
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“Anatomy of the Soul”
By God’s design, even in paradise, even in perfect relationship with God and earth, even in a state of spiritual wholeness and blessing, no human being can remain indefinitely alone.
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“The Old Testament in Archaeology and History”
Though initially daunting in size, once into the reading the chapters are page-turners. After reading the final chapter (Killebrew’s Philistines), my text had become so marked up and dog-eared, the spine cracked in several places, that the book itself is a mute testimony.
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“Food and Faith: A Theology of Eating”
The earth’s ecosystems are in a state of early and accelerating collapse because humankind has become so decoupled from nature, we disregard, dishonor, and even actively brutalize the earth and its resources.
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“What Did the Ancient Israelites Eat? Diet in Biblical Times”
After reading the whole book (including endnotes), I realized how important understanding food, famine, and feasting factor into the formation of people groups since time immemorial, and particularly the Israelites.
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“The 5 Minute Archaeologist in the Southern Levant”
Well-named, each essay really did take about five to fifteen minutes to read and was both engaging and informative.
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“Heavenly Man: The Remarkable True Story of Chinese Christian Brother Yun”
As I sat looking at my books, wondering what to review next, my eyes fell on the shelf I keep in my office, special books that have changed me. Among the dark colored spines, the light blue of The Heavenly Man stands out.
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“How We Choose To Be Happy”
I do not usually pick up self-help books, but the title was so intriguing (and I was so unhappy) that I decided to take a chance on it.
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“Courage to Care”
If you are part of a Life Group or Care Group, or whatever your church calls it, this is well worth sharing together, perhaps over a meal, and with plenty of time to participate on the reflection questions.
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“The Essential Writings of Christian Mysticism”
I think I had heard about Christian mysticism, but I was not sure what it was, or what mysticism meant. Either way, I did not think of myself as a likely candidate to read mystical literature, or be interested in mystics.
The irony is that the Gospel of John, the letters of John, and the…
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“Women’s Lives in Biblical Times”
This book involves a great deal of archaeological content. Women’s Lives in Biblical Times, by Jennie Ebeling, PhD , follows the course of a woman named Orah’s life, from birth to the grave, in Iron Age Israel.
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“The Lost History of Christianity”
Though I am not an historian by trade, I consider this book a must-read for every Christian. Oneness in Christ is a precious unity that is easily lost when current divisions are considered insurmountable.
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“The Cloud of Unknowing”
The Cloud of Unknowing drew me because it holds answers to the questions I have been asking God: How can I know You more? What is next for me, especially as a middle-aged woman?
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“The Oracle”
I’ll be in Jerusalem for a couple of days, and while there, I’ll have Cahn’s visions in mind, marveling at how powerfully God is at work—not just in our individual lives, but in the movement of history across earth.
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“The Making of Biblical Womanhood”
A good book is one a person is ready to read more than once. Even though I finished Barr’s book last year, I am ready to read it again. She is a great writer and a consummate scholar, and I hope she writes more in this genre.
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“Crispina and Her Sisters”
I have actually read this book three times now, and I may go ahead and read for a fourth.
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“A Week in the Life of a Greco-Roman Woman”
A Week in the Life of a Greco-Roman Woman, by Holly Beers, PhD, follows the story Anthia and her little son as she comes to know Jesus in first-century Ephesus.
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“Risky Teaching”
If you are a teacher, both of these books are worth the read–cutting edge, just about literally, both are new to the scene and full of excellent counsel (and practical advice).
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“On Purpose: Understanding God’s Freedom for Women Through Scripture”
On Purpose offers a comprehensive look at Genesis 1-3, Ephesians 5, Passages in 1 Corinthians 11 and 14, and 1 Peter 3.
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- Anything by Brene Brown
- Curt Thompson
Intimacy with God
- Ten Prayers God Always Says Yes To (Anthony DeStefano)
I am a Protestant, and DeStefano is a Catholic writer, so there are some ways in which he and I do not share the same perspective, or theology. However, I found this book on prayer transforming.
- Practicing the Presence of God (Brother Lawrence)
This book is three hundred years old, yet the truths are timeless.
- The Cloud of Unknowing (Anonymous)
This book comes from the middle ages, and speaks from that Catholic perspective, yet the overall wisdom is worth gleaning.
- The Knowledge of the Holy (AW Tozer)
I included the three-volume work because the other two books are just as important, and included a couple of other Tozer books as well.
- Anything by Hildegard of Bingen
The first book is an overview. She was a mystic who lived a thousand years ago, who wrote poetry, music, and books about her visions from God.
For the mind
- Love Your God With All Your Mind (JP Moreland)
- Heresy: A History of Defending the Truth (Alister McGrath)
- Total Truth (Nancy Pearcey)
If you like science
- Reasons to Believe (website of Hugh Ross)
- The Language of God (Francis Collins)
If you’re into alternatives to traditional church
- Reimagining Church (Frank Viola)
- Pagan Christianity (George Barna and Frank Viola)
- The Rabbit and the Elephant (Tony and Felicity Dale)
- ReJesus (Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch)
And I included more very good reads from Alan Hirsch in terms of re-imagining how we live out being the church, the community of Christ.
Women and the Church
- Beyond Sex Roles (Gilbert Bilezikian)
- Good News for Women (Rebecca Merrill Groothuis)
- I Suffer Not a Woman (Richard and Catherine Clark Kroeger)
- Discovering Biblical Equality (Ronald W Pierce, editor)
- Women and Men in the Light of Eden (Bruce Fleming)
- Familiar Leadership Heresies Uncovered (Bruce Fleming)
- Recovering From Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (Aimee Byrd)
If you’re dealing with spiritual darkness
- The Bondage Breaker and Victory Over the Darkness (Neil Anderson)
- People of the Lie (Scott Peck)
- 12 Steps for the Recovering Pharisee (John Fischer)
If you like devotionals, but are getting tired of same old-same old
The Book of Mysteries (Jonathan Cahn)
Stories that changed me
- The Heavenly Man (Christian Brother Yun)
- Killing Christians (Tom Doyle)
- Created for Commitment (A Wetherell Johnson)
- Christ in the Passover (Ceil and Moishe Rosen)
- Pretty much every Francine Rivers book
Commentary written for real people
- Anything written by Nijay Gupta
- Anything written by Walt Kaiser
- Anything written by Ray Stedman
- My great great grandfather, Jesse Lyman Hurlbut, wrote a lot of books and they’re still in print! They’re written for real people.
- My very favorite commentator is Alfred Edersheim, I go to his books all the time, and he includes those fascinating details about culture and archaeology that many commentators skip over.
