Christianity for People Who Aren’t Christians by James Emery White

Uncommon Answers to Common Questions.

This book is written to those outside the Christian Church attempting to explain the Christian faith. It answers common question like: Is there a God? What is God like? How do you explain “the not so good God” of the Old Testament? Why does the life, death and resurrection of Jesus matter? Why do Christians think there is only one way to God? Is Jesus the only way to God? What is the message of the Bible? Why should I trust the Bible? Why does the Church have so many denominations? How can I reconcile the Bible’s picture of a Jesus follower with the actual Christians I know who disappoint me?

An apologetical book written for those outside the Christian faith.

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ghost boy by Martin Pistorius

the miraculous escape of a misdiagnosed boy trapped inside his own body

Martin was a normal boy until age 12 when he became sick with an undiagnosed illness, his body gradually weakened and he went into a vegetative state then into a coma. He eventually awakened from the coma and became aware of his surroundings but he had no control of his body. Martin was literally locked inside his body with no means to communicate with the outside world. Those around him treated him as an imbecile. The only person who understood him was God.

This is a fascinating story of what Martin experienced and how he gained access to the outside world.

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30 Days to Understanding the Bible by Max Anders

Unlock The Scriptures In 15 Minutes A Day

This book will help you unlock the scriptures and learn the story of the Bible. You will learn all the major Bible characters, the major Biblical events and all the major points of geography in the Bible world and the key Bible themes. You will be able to piece together the people, events and geographical points in their proper chronological order.

This book will give you a clear overview of the Bible and a foundational grasp in understanding the scriptures. This is a book I am using to teaching my grand-kids an overview of the Bible preparing you for a lifetime of Bible study. A great book for those who are new at reading the Bible.

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Jesus: An Interview Across Time by Andrew G. Hodges

A Psychiatrist Looks at Christ’s Humanity.

Biblical Christians believe that Jesus was both God and man.

Jesus was fully human but how did He experience humanity? Did Jesus experience humanity differently from other men? How did he learn about his identity as God and as the promised Messiah? What experiences did he have as a child growing into manhood? Did he ever doubt? How did Jesus experience shame, guilt, anger, love and other human emotions? Did he experience temptation as we do? How did he endure the physical and emotional consequences of the crucifixion? These questions and many others are addressed in this book.

Psychiatrist Andrew Hodges interviews Jesus using clues from Old Testament messianic prophecy and the New Testament gospels to explore questions about Christ’s humanity.

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The Cost

The subtitle reads My Life on a Terrorist Hit List.

This book describes the true story of Ali Husnain (not his real name for security reasons). Ali is born into a prominent Shia Muslim family in Pakistan and has a dramatic encounter with Jesus. After his encounter with Jesus, he becomes a target of a terrorist organization because of his conversion to Christianity. He narrowly escapes death after being stabbed by a terrorist attacker. This stabbing mere inches from his heart was not fatal because Jesus told him in the hospital room “I will not let you die.”

Ali was exiled from his home and family, nearly kill for his faith in Jesus, miraculously healed from a savage knife attack, and he was chased cross continents fleeing for his life. Yet Ali’s faith in Jesus compelled him to bring the gospel to the Muslim world no matter the cost.

This is a must-read story.

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Pagan Christianity by Frank Viola & George Barna

The subtitle reads Exploring the Roots of our Church Practices.

The book starts out in the first chapter by asking the question - Have we really been doing it by the book? In the other eleven chapters Viola and Barna document from early historical sources their findings that contemporary church life, ministry and structure have little or no Biblical basis. They point out how many of our current church practices are borrowed from pagan Greek and Rome culture.

You may not agree with all the conclusions of these authors but much of what they say should give us a reason to assess the scriptural foundation of our current church practices.

The author Frank Viola follows up this book with another book called Reimagining Church. In this book he presents what he calls Organic Christianity an alternative way of doing Church. This is an excellent book much more positive than Pagan Christianity.

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Super Heroes and Philosophy

One of the most striking pop culture developments today is the Superhero story. First depicted in Marvel and D.C. comic books now presented on the big screen. Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, Daredevil, and the X-Men, all of these Superhero stories have become part of our cultural language. Not only are these stories full of action, adventure and suspense but they also present deep philosophical themes and ideas to the viewer. Interesting and important questions faced by all human being. Questions regarding ethics, personal and social responsibility, justice, crime, punishment, personal identity, destiny, the meaning of life, family, virtue and many other important questions. These superhero stores raise these questions.

 This is volume 13 in a series of books on Popular Culture and Philosophy. The book is a series of essays written by multiple authors.

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Is God Anti-gay? By Sam Allberry

The subtitle reads and other questions about homosexuality, the Bible and same-sex attraction.

This book attempts to answer many of the questions the Christian has about homosexuality and same-sex attraction.

The book begins with a look at God’s original design for mankind and then examines what the Bible says about homosexuality. How the Christian responds to this subject is important. The Church has not done well in addressing this subject in the public forum. The LGBTQ community has felt deep rejection by the Christian Church seeing Christians as people who are harsh, hateful and judgmental. The Christian must learn to be more careful and sensitive in their discussion and dealings with the LGBTQ community. The book talk about responding sensitively to those who experience feelings of Same Sex Attraction (SSA).  The Church must be a place of love and grace for all people including the homosexual.

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Demons by Michael S. Heiser

The subtitle reads What The Bible Really Says About The Powers Of Darkness.

Heiser debunks many of the popular beliefs about the powers of darkness. He elaborates on what the Old Testament, Second Temple Judaism and the New Testament teaches on this subject pointing out the connects between the Old and New Testament views.

The book is divided into four sections: (1) Deals with the Biblical vocabulary for the powers of darkness found in the Old and New Testament. (2) Examines the powers of darkness described in the Old Testament and in second temple Judaism looking at what Heiser calls the three divine rebellions which helped proliferate evil in the world. (3) Elaborates on the powers of darkness defined in the New Testament pointing out the correlation and development of these beliefs from the Old to New Testament. (4) Deals with common questions and misconceptions surrounding the powers of darkness.

Heiser offers a unique perspective on this subject.

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Fight by Craig Groeschel

The subtitle reads Winning the Battles That Matter Most.

Groeschel talks about the battles we face as Christians using the Old Testament story of Samson as an example throughout the book.

The book is divided into five sections (1) Fight Like a Man – God created man to be a warrior, we are itching for a fight, God has planted a divine desire in us to fight for righteousness. (2) Strong Men With Weak Wills – Samson had unique God given abilities but a dangerously weak will. (3) Spirit-Led Not Emo Driven – We get into trouble when we allow our emotions to drive our actions instead of following God’s guidance. (4) Small Steps Big Destruction – men don’t ruin their lives all at once they ruin them one small step at a time. (5) Failing Forward – When we face failure, we can choose between two responses: remorse and repentance. We can blame ourselves; we can blame others or we can take responsibility for our choices.

Great insights from Samson story.

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The Battle for the Keys by Justin W. Bass

The subtitle reads Revelation 1:18 and Christ’s Descent into the Underworld.

Chapter One – Many of the early Christian writers affirm Christ’s descent into Hades and spoke about it frequently in their writing.

Chapter Two – It is virtually unanimous that in the O.T., Greco-Roman world, and during the Intertestamental period that all mankind descended to Sheol/Hades.

Chapter Three – To possess keys in the ancient world was symbolic for possessing authority and power.

Chapter Four – Explores the different compartments of the underworld. Death, Hades, Paradise, the Lake of Fire, Hell, Tartarus and the Abyss.

Chapter Five – Is an exegetical discussion the fundamental passages in the New Testament concerning the Descent of Jesus into Hades.

Chapter Six – Death and Hades are seen as personified in Rev. 1:18. Christ has stripped Satan of his power and authority over Death and Hades, Christ alone possesses that power.

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Reading Moses Seeing Jesus by Seth D. Postell, Eitan Bar, and Erez Soref

The subtitle reads How the Torah Fulfills It’s Goal In Yeshua

These authors speaking from Jewish eyes point out that the Torah anticipates man would break the law of God which leads to death and the only remedy for the breaking of the law is the Messiah. What the apostle Paul taught in his New Testament Epistles about the Messiah and the law is in fact what the Torah is saying. The Old Testament itself teaches that the law cannot save us only the Messiah can save us.

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The Case For Easter by Lee Strobel

The subtitle read A Journalist Investigates Evidence for the Resurrection.

This book examines three major evidences for the death and resurrection of Jesus.

First, did Jesus really die or was the resurrection a hoax? Strobel interviews Dr. Alexander Metherell a prominent physician who has extensively studied the historical, archaeological and medical data surrounding the death of Jesus. The evidence supports that Jesus did die as a result of crucifixion.

Second, was the body of Jesus really absent from his tomb? Strobel interviews Willian Lane Craig considered to be one of the world’s foremost experts on the resurrection of Christ. He argues that there is conclusive proof that the tomb was vacant on the first Easter Sunday morning and offers compelling proof for the resurrection of Jesus.

Third, was Jesus seen alive after his death on the cross? Strobel interviews Gary Habermas the author of seven book on the subject of the resurrection of Jesus. Habermas talks about the compelling eye witness testimony of those who saw the resurrected Jesus after his death on the cross.

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iGods by Craig Detweiler

The subtitle reads How Technology Shapes Our Spiritual and Social Lives.

Technology may both improve and complicate our lives, this book will give us some insight into how this is true.

Chapter 1 attempts to define technology and how our relationship with technology may alter our understanding of our world and God.

Chapter 2 looks at Steve Jobs, the Macintosh computer and the cult of Mac.

Chapter 3 give us a brief history of the internet and how it changed the world.

Chapters 4 & 5 looks at the history and influence of Amazon and Google.

Chapter 6 & 7 examines the social network and our frenemy, Facebook - how we have surrendered personal information in order to connect with friends.

Chapter 8 explores You-Tube, Twitter and Instagram.

The concluding chapter considers where the drive for smaller, faster and smarter gadgets is taking us.

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Wild at Heart by John Eldredge

The subtitle reads Discovering the Secret of a Man’s Soul.

This is an older book published in 2001 that talks about the recovery and release of a man’s heart, passion and nature. The first part of the book examines the nature of the masculine soul, a man needs a battle to fight, he needs something and someone to fight for. The second part of the book talks about the wounds that come to a man though life and the subsequent healing that God provides. These wounds nearly always come from a father and of course our healing comes from God the Father. The third part of the book looks at the battles engaged by the masculine soul. A man looks for validation, for without it he doesn’t know who he is and what he’s here for. God provides this validation. The final part of the book talks about living a life of adventure and purpose “Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”

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Men of the Bible by D.L. Moody

A classic book written by D. L. Moody examining the life and character of men in the Bible. Moody investigates how God shapes and deals with these men using them for His purpose. The book looks at Abraham, Moses, Naaman, Nehemiah, Herod, John the Baptist, the man born blind, the penitent thief and Joseph of Arimathea.

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The World Turned Upside Down by Michael S. Heiser

The subtitle reads Finding the Gospel in Stranger Things

This book is based on the 2016 Netflix T.V. serious called Stranger Things. To date 2020 there are 3 seasons of Stranger Things with a fourth season to be released in the future.

Michael Heiser says “the good news of the gospel can be found as we reflect on the insightful, artful storytelling of Stranger Things.”

The story of the gospel is framed by a supernatural worldview. The same is true of Stranger Things. In this story there is the looming threat of a malevolent, otherworldly intelligence that seeks the destruction of all that the characters we hold dear in this story. A lot of the material in Stranger Things is analogous to the Bible’s story of God’s desire for a human family and of the supernatural agents bent on its failure.

Family is the heart of Stranger Things from Eleven’s forlorn, isolated existence, to the relentless search for Will, to Hopper’s tragic loss, every character in the story shows a yearning for companionship and the secure of a family. The Demogorgon and the unearthly overlord of the Upside Down aim to destroy these characters through violence, deception and manipulation. These threats draw the heroes together, because they cannot defeat evil by themselves.

At the end of season 1 Eleven conquered the horrific Demogorgon and saved her friends but at a very high cost. Eleven is the Christ figure in this story. In the opening of season 2 the kids in the party are resigned to the loss of Eleven except for Mike. The powers of darkness refused to surrender to their defeat by Eleven in season 1, the hellish gate had been closed but all was still not well in Hawkins. The final scene of season 2 leaves the viewer with hope that Eleven would return.

The goal of the book is to discern the elements of Stranger Things that make us think about the story of Jesus and God’s salvation plan.

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The Story of the World by Susan Wise Bauer

Volume 1: Ancient Times – From the Earliest Nomads to the Last Roman Emperor.

Volume 2: The Middle Ages – From the Fall of Rome to the Rise of the Renaissance.

Volume 3: Early Modern Times – From Elizabeth the First to the Forty-Niners.

Volume 4: The Modern Age – From Victoria’s Empire to the End of the USSR.

The Story of the World covers many of the historical persons, places and events on every continent throughout human history from ancient times to the present. These books are designed to be read aloud by parents (or grandparents) to elementary-school children. Each volume contains 42 chapters and each chapter contains two historical stories.

I began reading volume 1 to my granddaughter and as I read ahead, I couldn’t put it down, I then ordered the other 3 volumes and read them as well. Even though these volumes are written for elementary-school children there is much an adult can learn from The Story of the World.

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The Cross and the Lynching Tree by James H. Cone

A book about race and religion in America.

The Cross and the lynching tree are separated by 2,000 years but there is a relationship between the two. The cross is the universal symbol of the Christian faith, the lynching tree is a symbol of black oppression in America. They both symbolize death but the cross represents a message of hope and salvation while the lynching tree represents a message fear and white supremacy.

Everyone in the white evangelical Church should read this book. It contains a view point the Church needs to hear.

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Think Christianly by Jonathan Morrow

The subtitle reads looking at the intersection of Faith and Culture

As Tim Keller says “There is no more crucial issue facing us today than the relationship of the Church and the gospel to contemporary culture.” This book is about engaging the world and the culture, we live in. Each chapter of the book contains an in-depth discussion about a specific aspect of contemporary culture including an interview with an authority on the subject and a list of resources for each topic considered. The book examines topics such as Jesus, the Bible, truth, tolerance, relativism, sexuality, social media, injustice, faith in the public square, faith & science, bioethics and stewarding God’s creation.

How can Christians make the case for Christian marriage in a culture that thinks Christians are backward, bigoted and intolerant? Is it reasonable to believe that Christianity is actually true anymore? Why is the next generation not embracing the Christianity of their parents? There are many questions this book addresses that every informed Christian should think about.

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