Wired for Intimacy: How pornography hijacks the male brain by William Struthers

Pornography is a huge problem in our culture even within the Church according to recent statistics. In a poll done by Focus on the Family taken amongst Christians 47 percent of respondents said porn was a problem in their home.

The first part of the book talks about how pornography works, why men view porn, and the resulting consequences, how it destroys healthy male sexuality, corrupts the males ability to be intimate and rewires the male brain.

The second half of the book talks about healthy masculinity and sexuality and how God has hard-wired men for intimacy and relationship with women.

The book also provides resources for those struggling with online pornography and sex addiction.

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Telling Yourself the Truth by William Backus & Marie Chapian

I read this book 30 years ago when it was first published. I recently read the book again 30 years later and I am amazed at how this book has influenced my thinking.

The book talks about what is call "Misbelief Therapy" which involves three steps (1) locate and identify the misbeliefs in our thinking, these are lies we tell ourselves. (2) Argue against these misbeliefs, we counter these lies we utilize in our self-talk. (3) Replace the misbelief with the truth, negative thinking is replaced with Biblical truth.

The authors introduces and defines misbelief therapy in the first part of the book, the rest of the book illustrates and applies these three principles of misbelief therapy to various problems we face.

The subtitle of the books reads Find Your Way Out of Depression, Anxiety, Fear, Anger, and Other Common Problems by Applying the Principles of Misbelief Therapy.

An older book but one worth reading.

The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse: Recognizing & Escaping Spiritual Manipulation and False Spiritual Authority Within the Church by David Johnson & Jeff Van Vonderen

The Church should be a safe place for people but unfortunately sometimes it is not. Some of those who come to the Church for help leave having been manipulated, controlled, shamed and condemned. The Bible warns us about wolves amongst the sheep who endanger and devour the sheep. The reason for this problem is what the authors calls spiritual abuse.

This book talks about the problem of spiritual abuse in the Church, it defines the problem, looks at the victims and perpetrators of spiritual abuse, abusive church systems, how spiritual abuse develops, why those under it don't see it, and how to escape an abusive church situation.

Part 2 of the book examines the abusive leader and the subtle ways a leader may control the believer.

Part 3 of the book looks at effective ways to recognize and escape abusive situations.

This book is informative, practical, balanced and sensitive. A must read especially for a Church leader.

Faith of the Fatherless: The Psychology of Atheism by Paul C. Vitz

Is our belief in God shaped by our relationship with our earthly father?

It was the atheist who first proposed the idea according to Vitz "that belief in God is based on all kinds of irrational, immature needs and wishes, whereas atheism or skepticism flows from a rational, grown-up,  no-nonsense view of things as they really are."

Vitz reviews the lives of the prominent atheists and their fathers. He found in most cases a weak, dead or abusive father and in every case there was no strong, beloved father with a close relationship with his son or daughter amongst these atheists.

Vitz then reviews the lives of the prominent theists and their fathers. He found compared to the atheists the theists had a positive father-son relationship or a good father-substitute-and-son relationship.

Is it possible that a dysfunctional father predisposes their children to unbelief?

Popologetics: Popular Culture in Christian Perspective by Ted Turnau

We all live is this culture and we are all influenced by it. Christians have developed various ways of responding to the influences of our culture, covered in detail in part 2 of the book. Turnau attempts to explain how the Christian should engage non-Christian popular culture. He says "this book is for those who want to be able to give an intelligent, warmhearted, biblical answer back to the worldviews presented in popular culture."

Turnau give us five key questions to ask when dealing with a popular-culture text. A popular-culture text come to us in the form of popular music, graphic novels, television shows, movies, video games and magazine articles. The book illustrates and explains how the Christian can read and respond to popular culture through asking these five key questions.

1. What's the story?

2. Where am I (the world of the text)?

3. What's good and true and beautiful about it?

4. What's false and ugly and perverse about it (and how do I subvert that)?

5. How does the gospel apply here?

Cold-Case Christianity: A Homicide Detective Investigates the Claims of the Gospels by J. Warner Wallace

Wallace applies principles he uses as a cold-case detective to the claims of Christianity found in the gospels. Are the Gospels a reliable eyewitness account of what happened in the first century? Wallace examines the gospel accounts as he would any eyewitness account in a criminal case. The book looks at ten important principles that a detective would need to master and employ in his investigation.

Section two of the book answers four important questions regarding the reliability of the Gospels. Were the Gospels written early enough to have been authored by true eyewitnesses? Is the testimony of the gospels writers confirmed by outside sources and evidence? Did the gospel writers falsely report anything that would invalidate their testimony? And were the gospel writers motivated to lie about their testimony?

The book is full of valuable information for those interested in becoming a Christian Case Maker. You also may want to check out coldcasechristianity.com

I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist by Norman L. Geisler & Frank Turek

For the person who believes in the Bible but is not sure of how to defend against the attacks against Biblical faith. This book provides a reasoned step by step set of arguments against atheistic thinking. It is a book you will return to as a reference because it is full of practical material that can be used in facing the atheistic mindset in our culture.

Our Christian faith is not an insecure leap in the dark but it is based on a solid foundation of truth given to us by God. Biblical truth will hold up against the attacks and arguments of the Atheist.

This book will strengthen your faith, build your resolve to stand firm in your beliefs and give you practical material to defend your faith. It takes more faith to be an atheist then to be a Christian.

Fabricating Jesus: How Modern Scholars Distort the Gospels by Craig A. Evans

Do the Gospels give us a truthful account of what Jesus said and did? There are some skeptics who believe the New Testament Gospels distort the truth about Jesus. These skeptics draw their conclusions about Jesus by relying upon the extracanonical Gospels such as the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Peter, the Gospel of Mary and other spurious writings.

Craig Evans seeks to detail the ways these skeptics unfairly treat the New Testament Gospels and undermine truth about Jesus. He establishes the reliability of  the New Testament Gospels and verifies that these spurious Gospels are in fact false and unreliable.

Is God a Moral Monster? Making Sense of the Old Testament God by Paul Copan

This book attempts to respond to the accusations by the non-Christian that the God of Old Testament is unjust and immoral. For example how do we explain the Canaanite genocide recorded in the book of Joshua. Why did God command Israel not just to kill Canaanite soldiers but also women, children and animals? Why are women in the Old Testament viewed as inferior to men? Why does God approve of slavery? Why did God command Abraham to murder his son Isaac on an altar of sacrifice? All of these things are both unjust and immoral why would God approve of them? These questions and many more are skillfully answered by Paul Copan.