Good books…

One night a month I get out of the house for my homeschool moms’ meeting.  It’s sort of a discussion/support group so mama don’t make the evening news thing for me.  Once a month I regain my sanity.  This past Monday we did our annual book reviews and let me tell you, it’s one of my favorite nights.  I love love love to read and I always come home with a fresh list of reading material. 

Of course I was running late – new baby and all – so I didn’t bring any books to share.  I thought I’d share some of my favorite reads from this past year with you here instead. 

Created To Be His Helpmeet by Debi Perl

I absolutely LOVED this book.  It should be required reading for every married woman.  Debi does an excellent job getting to the heart of a woman and exposing to her some of the more elusive bad habits we’ve managed to accept in ourselves that do so much damage to a marriage.  For years I knew that the attitude of women (toward men) in our society wasn’t exactly right but I had a really hard time figuring out what was sinful, what was stupidity and what was ‘normal’.  Debi helped me to flesh it out and I realized that the majority of ‘being a woman’ as far as attitude goes is really just code for “I’m going to emasculate, dominate and berate my man in a way that society will deem acceptable.”  Really, how in the world did we get to the point where it’s okay to brow beat the men in our life and not think twice about it?  It’s beyond acceptance.  It’s to the point that if you treat your husband with respect and love, you better be prepared for criticism. 

Another helpful part of this book are the chapters explaining the different personality types of men.  Not all men are the same and, boy, does it help to know what kind of man you have!  Your ministry to your family and husband will greatly benefit from your ability to decipher the specific needs of your husband.  A kingly type man will be very demanding and want to be served, literally.  But a steady man will often be the one doing the serving.  You can see from just these two statements that your daily tasks can vary greatly depending on which kinda guy you married!  I’m not a huge fan of categorizing people by their personality traits but I really like the way Debi explains her theory on this and it is very helpful in understanding the thought processes of men.  They really don’t all think alike!

Throughout the pages of this book, Debi expertly calls women to kindness and respect no matter what kind of husbands they have.  Jesus didn’t say to love the people who are always good to us.  He commanded us to love even our enemies.  I sure hope the majority of husbands and wives aren’t enemies!  But often, to hear them talk to each other, you’d think they are!  Created to be His Helpmeet was a great reminder of my responsibilities as a wife and Christian to love my husband with perfect holiness this side of heaven… when neither of us can fully display that perfection.

The Myth of a Christian Nation: How the Quest for Political Power is Destroying the Church by Greg Boyd

The Myth of a Christian Nation: How the Quest for Political Power Is Destroying the Church (9780310267317): Gregory A. Boyd: Books

The church was established to serve the world with Christ-like love, not to rule the world. It is called to look like a corporate Jesus, dying on the cross for those who crucified him, not a religious version of Caesar. It is called to manifest the kingdom of the cross in contrast to the kingdom of the sword. Whenever the church has succeeded in gaining what most American evangelicals are now trying to get — political power — it has been disastrous both for the church and the culture. Whenever the church picks up the sword, it lays down the cross. The present activity of the religious right is destroying the heart and soul of the evangelical church and destroying its unique witness to the world. The church is to have a political voice, but we are to have it the way Jesus had it: by manifesting an alternative to the political, ‘power over,’ way of doing life. We are to transform the world by being willing to suffer for others — exercising ‘power under,’ not by getting our way in society — exercising ‘power over.’

 

I expected a highly political book that hammered away at the current administrations but I was pleasantly surprised to find that Mr. Boyd leaves all of that alone.  He spends the majority of this book looking at the Word of God and world history, calling us to examine the evidence and reconsider our role as the body of Christ.

After spending nine years in a setting where doctrine and biblical education were top priority, the Holy Spirit has been teaching me how to put that into practice.  It’s easy to ‘know’ a lot about God, His Word and sit around discussing it for hours on end.  It’s another matter to put all that knowledge into practice.  This book showed me what the Lord would have me to be and do, or more accurately what NOT to be and do as far as loving the church and loving the people of this world goes.  In the realm of conservative Christianity, getting sucked into the political hype of what we are ‘responsible for doing for our country’ is hard to avoid.  Greg Boyd strips away the layers of conservative morality, legalism and political spin the well-meaning Christian Right and Left have piled onto the Gospel.   What’s left is the simple command to love our God and love our neighbors as ourselves.  Boyd challenges us to rethink what that looks like. 

Morning and Evening by C.H. Spurgeon

I just started reading this little gem and it has been such a blessing.  Morning and Evening is a devotional type book written by Charles Hadden Spurgeon.  Each devotional, there’s a morning and an evening, consists of a verse or snippet of a verse to read.  Then Spurgeon uses that tiny bit of the Word to warm you up with the Son, wash you with the Holy Spirit and wrap you completely in the Father’s love.  I’ve struggled with anxiety for almost two years now and I’ve managed to cope without medication for 12 months.  I’ll admit it hasn’t been a piece of cake through the past year and these last couple months, for certain.  Having a baby followed by complications and the uncertainty of another health condition… I’ve been a slight mess as of late.  Anxiety is so easy to hide for a while, but if allowed to continue it will eventually wash over me like a tidal wave.  Here lately I had begun to feel that wave inching closer and closer.  Then, I opened up Morning and Evening in the wee hours of a restless night a couple weeks ago and since then I’ve been resting quite well in the Father’s arms.  I wake with a little bit of the Word and go to bed with it too.  Even if I get no other time to spend in the Word or in prayer, I’m always granted a few moments of fellowship with God as the day ends and begins.  It’s been such a blessing having this little book.

Well, that’s only three books but I better stop for now.  I’d love to add a few more to my reading list if you have any suggestions.  Leave me your list in the comments below, please.

-Sara O’