Karl's Reading List

Published by The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago/Moody Press: Chicago, USA, 1977. A few months back we had a Jewish trainee teacher arrive at work. We got along well, and I was interested to learn more about her faith. During her time here, the annual Founders Book Fair happened, and among the books on offer, I found this one. I read half of it at that time, but when Elise and I went to Australia, I put it down. This week I finally picked it up and finished it. Zola Levitt is a Jew himself, but one who has accepted Jesus as Messiah. This gives him an 'inside perspective' on Jewish culture and faith, along with an understanding of the main reasons why Jews can struggle to accept Christ. The history of Christians persecuting Jews is a big one(!), and is rightfully seen as a blot on our record. But even the fact that we call Jesus by a non-Jewish name can make things difficult. After all, Levitt points out, in Hebrew Jesus's name would actually be " Yeshua Hamashiah (...

Published by Hodder & Stoughton Ltd: London, 2017 (2008). I first realised I was going to enjoy this book when I opened to the introduction and saw that the first epigraph was a quote from Darth Vader. Timothy Keller was a well-known theologian and pastor who died earlier this year. Browsing in Manna (my local Christian book store) I saw this book on display and decided to give it a go.  It was really worth the read. Keller outlines the reasons for belief in God in general and Christianity in particular, pushing back against common secular arguments thoroughly and firmly, while still maintaining a spirit of dialogue. In opening the book, for example, he argues that believers should be more open to admit doubt ( "A faith without some doubts is like a human body without any antibodies in it. People who blithely go through life too busy or indifferent to ask hard questions about why they believe as they do will find themselves defenceless against either the experience of tragedy ...

Published by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.: Carol Stream, Illinois, 2008. For my birthday last year I was given this devotional, by an author I had never heard of, and started reading it sometime later in September. I have quite a hit-and-miss record with devotionals; they are often a bit glib or cliche for me and I struggle to stick with them. This devotional, however, quickly appealed to me and although I'm not sure exactly what day I started reading it last year, I know I have now read every entry in it. What I like about this devotional is that it is quite ready to dig into deeper theology, occasionally even into commentary! An example of a good challenge (from only the second day of the year!): "Many believers get caught up in getting the most out of their salvation. Few move on to giving the most out of their salvation. But those who do will realize one of the many paradoxes of the Kingdom: Giving it all results in getting it all. A heart poured out in praise results in...

Published by Zondervan: Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2004. This book is the second I have read in the Counterpoints series of theological/apologetic debates, and the first I have reviewed on my blog. In each of the Counterpoints books, a topic will be decided upon, and then contributors from the various viewpoints will submit a chapter about their perspective, following that up by writing a response to each of the other chapters submitted. In this particular volume, the contributors talk about six different styles of worship, and why they and their congregation hold to their particular style. These styles are: Formal-Liturgical, Traditional Hymn-Based, Contemporary Music-Driven, Charismatic, Blended (a mix of contemporary and liturgical) and Emerging.  What I appreciate about this topic is that, on the whole, each contributor is happy to acknowledge the strengths of the other viewpoints, and even applaud the heart of their fellow writers. There is no division here, no claiming that othe...

Published by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.: Carol Stream, Illinois, 2002 (1994). Book 2 in the 'Mark of the Lion' series: " A Voice in the Wind "; " An Echo in the Darkness "; " As Sure as the Dawn ." The second book in the Mark of the Lion series, Echo is hard to talk about without spoiling certain elements of the previous entry, A Voice in the Wind .  That earlier book has such a good ending that I would encourage people considering the book to go and read it before carrying on reading this! So... spoiler warning... Hadassah has survived being thrown to the lions thanks to the aid of the surgeon Alexander, but has been hideously scarred as a result. Keeping her features hidden from the world, she now works with Alexander as an assistant, her faith in God manifesting itself through compassion for Alexander's patients and prayers for healing. Despite her new live bringing hope to those around her, Hadassah worries what will happen if the Valer...

Published by Inter-Varsity Press: Leicester, England, 1987. I picked this little book up from a pile my mum was giving away, then found it in my reading pile when I couldn't sleep a few nights ago. The authors, Bill and Shirley Lees, tell of their time as missionaries in Borneo, along with their call to the mission, some of their courtship and family stories.  Within the book, Shirley mentions an earlier book that she wrote, Drunk Before Dawn, which apparently tells the history the mission they were involved with more thoroughly. That allows this book some freedom to focus on particular themes and topics rather than needing to be tied to a larger arc. In some cases this would be an issue, but Is It Sacrifice? is very easy to read. The chapters are short and interesting, and the authors end each of them with a few questions to think about, as well as including a recommended reading list of other books on the theme of the chapter (some of which I might hunt out). Some parts of the bo...

Published by David C Cook: Colorado Springs, CO, 2021. This is a book on a very timely topic. It is not an easy topic to debate or discuss without polarizing people very quickly. It is a topic that I've resisted reading about for a while. But it is an important topic to investigate, particularly for Christians living in our modern world. Embodied is a Christian perspective on transgenderism.  Author Preston Sprinkle is a straight, white, American, Christian male, and occasionally throughout the book admits that this makes him an interesting choice to speak about minority experiences, but as the President of The Center for Faith, Sexuality, and Gender , and with a number of both Christian and non-Christian trans* friends (the asterisk denotes the 'umbrella' nature of this term) he approaches the subject thoughtfully, respectfully, thoroughly and always remembering to emphasis the need for love in this conversation. He goes as far as saying that there is a strong biblical cas...

Published by Inter-Varsity Fellowship: London, 1963 (1958). A little while ago I realised I was feeling a bit flat. Looking back over my recent reading, I also realised I hadn't read a Christian book in a while (aside from an ongoing commentary which I'll eventually finish). Putting the two together I picked up this book, and am glad I did. J I Packer is a theologian I have read in the past, probably most well-known for his book Knowing God , which some day I will review on this site. He is both Conservative and Evangelical in theology (which I would mostly consider myself) while also being Calvinist (which I would not consider myself). In this book Packer is writing in response to attacks by Liberal Christianity on the idea of 'Fundamentalism', especially responding to a book published a few years before this one by an author called Dr Herbert. The interesting thing about reading on this topic, is realising how little the attacks have changed in the last 60 years. Pac...

With Andrew Quicke. Published by Hodder and Stoughton: Great Britain, 1981 (1980). This is another one of those incredibly challenging faith biographies that Elise and I seem to enjoy. Although not as well structured as some of the books (I would call it more of a 'memoirs' than a traditional 'biography'), the life story of Jackie Pullinger and her work in the Walled City of Hong Kong is both fascinating and immensely challenging. Jackie felt a call to missions from a young age, but after being rejected by a number of mission organisations, had some unexpected but inspiring advice from a friend who was also a minister: "If God is telling to you go - you had better go...If you had a job, a ticket, accommodation, a sick fund and a pension, you wouldn't need to trust Him...Anyone can go that way whether they are Christians or not. If I were you I would go out and buy a ticket for a boat going on the longest journey you can find and pray to know where to get off....

Published by Crossway: Wheaton, Illinois, 2007. This one took me a while to get through.  Trying to remember when I started this book, I have a funny feeling I picked it up just after I finished William Barclay's Letters of James and Peter , which would put it around May last year. Obviously I haven't been reading it non-stop since then, but it is a testament to how "thinky" the book is that I had to find times when I could get my head around it, rather than being able to just pick it up at any time of day (as I do with most of what I read).  None of this is to downplay the book or make it seem dull. I did enjoy it. But I really wanted to take it in, particularly as the book has quite an interesting topic. Sam Storms is a Calvinist, and Chosen for Life is a defense of the Calvinist doctrine of election - the belief that God chooses whom He wishes to save based completely on His own will, rather than taking any human free will into consideration (which would be called...

Published by Monarch Books: Oxford, UK & Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2009. This is the autobiography of Andrew White, a canon in the Church of England and someone who has worked for peace in both Israel/Palestine and Iraq. He is able to have influence in these areas by building relationships with key religious and political leaders from all sides of a conflict, and has been able to bring about various statements seeking peace and reconciliation from often opposing parties. I found this a challenging book to read, partially because of White's focus on peace even at the price of evangelism. It is an important role, and one that he has obviously been called to, but also one that not every individual would be able to achieve. The challenge of pastoring a church in Baghdad (which he did until 2014, after this book's release) is also highlighted, including the balance between security and sacrificial love. When White talks about a particular pastor of the church, and then explains th...

With Richard Schneider. Published by Kingsway Publications: Eastbourne, England, 1982 (1978). This book has been sitting on my shelf for years, waiting to be read. I picked it up half-heartedly two days ago, not really convinced I was going to get very far through it.  I read almost two thirds of the book in a single sitting and have finished it already. It's one of my favourite books this year. Bilquis Sheikh tells her own story of coming to faith while living as a prominent Muslim land-owner in a small village in Pakistan. An encounter with the spiritual world drives her to seek God, initially by reading the Koran, and then (out of curiosity regarding the 'other' texts mentioned in the Koran) reading the Bible. A number of vivid dreams motivate her to seek out answers, and as she continues to act on what she feels is the prompting of God, she befriends some missionaries, learns about the nature of God, and, yes, reaches out to God as her Father. The ongoing excitement tha...

Published by Zondervan: Grand Rapids, 2018 (2014). This is a very well written and interesting book. It tells the life story of Qureshi, raised as a Muslim in the UK, his faith journey, and eventually his conversion to Christianity. The book is written in a style that greatly appeals to my way of thinking; Qureshi debates and seeks logical answers to his questions, engages in apologetics, and - importantly - holds no animosity towards his former religion, despite now disagreeing with the evidence for it. Coming from a Christian perspective, I appreciated the way Qureshi explained Islam and what it holds dear. For example, from Qureshi I learned that " In our culture, dreams are carefully considered because, as a well-known hadith teaches, "The dreams of the faithful are prophetic." In fact, dreams are the only means I know of by which the average Muslim expects to hear directly from God." (page 65). He also is not afraid of pointing out elements within the p...