Karl's Reading List

Published by Regal Books/Gospel Light: Ventura, California, 2005. Having previously read and enjoyed Matt Redman's 2004 book on worship, Facedown , I was happy to pick up the 2005 book he and his wife Beth wrote together, also on worship, entitled Blessed Be Your Name.  Anyone who has been in Christian circles for long enough will recognise that the title of this book comes from the song of the same name, that Matt and Beth wrote in 2002. It is a powerful song, in part because it not only focusses on worshipping God during the good times (eg. "When the sun's shining down on me... When the world's all as it should be" ) but also on worshipping God in the hard times (eg. "On the road marked with suffering...Though there's pain in the offering" ). The book itself - which is only five chapters long - has a similar focus; each chapter title comes from a lyric in the song, and focusses on the ways in which we can still worship God during each season of our...

Published by Ferguson Publishing: Nelson, New Zealand, 2024. Once a month, the Nelson Ministers Fraternal meets on a Tuesday morning. I try to attend as often as I can. Last time, another minister had brought this book along with them, and was offering it around for someone to read. I jumped at the chance, especially when I realised it kinda fitted the brief for 'Black History' in my Reading Challenge this year.  I mean, it's about the history of an African man! Neither writer is a professional author - Ross Ferguson is actually a local dentist and retired minister - and that lack of professionalism does show at times - there are random quotation marks at times; some sentences are incomplete; the authorial voice changes from Ross to Custodio and back without warning or reason - and yet the story is an interesting one, if (sadly) similar to others you may have read. Custodio was born in Angola, grew up during a civil war in the country, had both parents die when he was young...

With Dean Merrill. Published by Zondervan: Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2018 (1997). I recently did a sermon on prayer and fasting, and borrowed a number of books from our church library shelf that seemed to have some connection to the topic. I browsed a few for research (and read the entirety of Fasting by Derek Prince) and then took most of the rest back to church when the sermon was done. A handful, however, I kept to read later, and Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire was the first of these that I picked up post-sermon. I'm so happy I did, because this is an inspiring book, with a far more biographical bent than I was expecting.  The author, Jim Cymbala, is the pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle, quite a large church in New York that - aside from my parents-in-law playing some musical clips - I've had no exposure to. Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire tells the story of the growth of that church from a small handful of people to a congregation numbering in the thousands, but (rightly) is far less focuse...

Published by Allen & Unwin: Crows Nest, NSW, Australia, 2008. Book snobs, block your ears. *whispers* I think the movie was better. Okay, book snobs, you can unblock your ears now. *waves to get the attention of book snobs* To be honest, a huge reason why I read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society at this moment in time was that I thought it would be funny to have two books with ridiculously long titles appear back-to-back in my list. For anyone who thought that there were super-deep reasons why I picked the books that I did, I hope this helps you see the error of your ways. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (which I am refusing to shorten for the rest of this review) still tells the same story as that in the movie adaptation (also called  The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society ), but does so in a less gripping (though still interesting) manner. This is for a few reasons: firstly,  The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society ...

Published by The Reader's Digest Association, Inc./Academy Chicago Publishers: USA, 1991. Volume 1 of 'Academy Mystery Novellas.' This is a collection of four novellas (longer than a short story; shorter than a novel) bound together in a single volume, each on the theme of - you guessed it - women sleuths. The four novellas here are each quite different, with the only common elements being their mystery fiction genre and their use of a female protagonist. Even their time periods are different; the first three were originally published in the 1930s while the fourth was published in the 1980s. This means that the first three seem a bit dated at times - one case would have been easy to solve if DNA testing had been available. To give a brief review of each novella: 'The Toys of Death', by G.D.H. Cole and Margaret Cole, has a famous (and fairly unpleasant) author found dead in his study. Although a well-known detective is on the scene to begin with, and is able to prove...

Published by Fleming H Revell Company: Old Tappan, New Jersey, 1970. Edited by Robert E Coleman. Near the start of the year I heard about what was being called a 'revival' at Asbury College in the United States of America. It was a short-term movement but quite impactful, with students from the campus being involved in a spontaneous ongoing prayer and praise meeting. One night, while visiting Elise's parents, I happened to mention 'the Asbury Revival' and Elise's mother gave me this book to read, which outlined a previous revival at the same campus back in 1970! The book is not an outline of events, but rather various chapters telling the different perspectives of those caught up in the movement, each highlighting different elements of what God was doing at that time. Having a book written at the time of a revival that has now finished is quite interesting; the book is simultaneously challenging and slightly melancholic to read. Melancholic in that the hopes tha...

With Gordon Hunkin. Published by Every Tribe Resources for New Covenant Ministries International: Bryanston, South Africa, 2001. A few weeks ago I came across this book in the second-hand area of our local Christian bookstore. I was intrigued, as I recognised the name Dudley Daniel. He started the NCMI movement, of which our church, ChristFirst is a part! I have never actually read anything by him before though. Daniel paints a picture of how he sees the church working, building a community wherein every believer can minister in their own giftings as 'a priesthood of all believers' (1 Peter 2:5,9). He stresses that an authentic Church community needs to be built on the Word of God and also have the freedom to flow in the Holy Spirit, when a number of churches will focus on one at the expense of the other. In pursuing this goal churches (and individuals) should be willing to adjust when God directs them into new areas without losing hold of the important things He has been doing...

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 Baker Academic: Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2004. This is a great book, one that I first read as part of my theological training. Bartholomew and Goheen take the Bible as a whole and divide it into six "acts", namely: 1) God Establishes His Kingdom: Creation, 2) Rebellion in the Kingdom: Fall, 3) The King Chooses Israel: Redemption Initiated, 4) The Coming of the King: Redemption Accomplished, 5) Spreading the New of the King: The Mission of the Church, 6) The Return of the King: Redemption Completed. By dividing the Bible thusly, they are able to focus on the 'overarching' story of the Bible, something that is important because "If we allow the Bible to become fragmented, it is in danger of being absorbed into whatever other story is shaping our culture, and it will thus cease to shape our lives as it should."  (page 12) The Bible is really the story of God and how He connects with His chosen creation, and Drama of Scripture helps to remind us of t...

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...

With Margie Thomson. Published by HarperCollinsPublishers (New Zealand) Ltd: Auckland, NZ, 2020. Wow. So, Stan Walker is a New Zealand singer/songwriter who came to prominence as an 18-year old when he won the 2009 season of Australian Idol. I knew that about him. I knew he had a faith of some sort. And Elise has been listening to a lot of his more recent music lately, including some beautiful pieces in Te Reo. That's really it. Elise is actually the one who found this book at a second hand shop, and we decided to check it out. I say again, wow. Stan has had an incredible life. Incredible highs, and incredible lows. He talks about his journey candidly, sometimes too bluntly for comfort - including his abusive upbringing, his abuse and repeated rape at the hands of a relative, his diagnosis with cancer and subsequent operation to remove his stomach... and his career, his journey on Idol, and his faith journey - coming to know the love, forgiveness, and transforming power of Jesus. I...

Published by Arrow Books: London, 2018 (2017). This collection of short stories, published to celebrate 40 years since the release of A New Hope (aka the original Star Wars movie) retells scenes from that movie from the perspective of 40 minor (or greater canon) characters from the film itself. Story perspectives include those of more well-known figures such as Greedo, Obi-Wan, and even Yoda, Lando and the force-ghost of Qui-Gonn, as well as far more obscure ones, such as one of the Jawas, members of the Cantina Band, and the trash-monster from the Death Star. Each story is told by a different author or authors, and therefore the stories range in genre from comedic to dramatic, to a parody of Shakespeare (the latter being the contribution of Ian Doescher, who has also produced full-length parody 'plays' of Stars Wars in Shakespearean form elsewhere ). It would take too long to review each of the 40 stories, but as with any short story collection, some are good, and others are j...

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 Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.: Carol Stream, Illinois, 2007 (1996). Also: New International Version (Anglicised), Audio Edition, published by Biblica, Inc., 2013, narrated by David Suchet. Found online at https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/audio/?recording=nivuk-suchet This may be the longest I have taken to read a book without leaving it for an extended period of time. At the start of the year Elise mentioned a desire to read the Bible chronologically using this version that she had purchased some time in the past. We desired to do this together, pacing ourselves by keeping roughly to the reading plan outlined within. As a Christian, I deeply value the Bible. I try to read at least a few verses most days (although realistically it is sometimes less often than this) and often I find that the different verses I read will either speak into whatever situation I am going through at the time, or come back to mind at a future time. I believe that God speaks through His ...

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...

With Jamie Buckingham. Published by Christian Literature Crusade & Fleming H. Revell Company: Pennsylvania & New Jersey, 1974. More a collection of short anecdotes from her life than a straight-forward narrative, Tramp For The Lord tells of Corrie ten Boom's life and ministry following the events outlined in the book The Hiding Place. The stories don't take place in any chronological or thematic order, but are short bite-sized chunks of faith and challenge from a remarkable evangelist. Corrie came to fame as an unlikely evangelist following her experiences in the concentration camps of World War 2. In Tramp we see her travelling the world by faith, going wherever she feels the Spirit leading and speaking to whomever she feels God prompt her to. In humble and self-deprecating fashion, Corrie often highlights stories in which she has learned 'the hard way' some truth from God, but is also able to gently point to moments where her faith in God has been strong...

With David Hazard. Published by Word Publishing: Milton Keynes, England, 1989. This is the life story of Christian musician Keith Green, told by his wife Melody. Keith had a short but impacting life, only coming to Christ seven years before his tragic death, yet reaching hundreds of thousands through his music and ministry, both during his life and afterwards. I have read this book a number of times in the past and always found it challenging. Keith was a very "full on" personality, and his passion for God drove him to (as the title of the book states) accept no compromises in his faith. Very black and white in his thinking, Keith was not afraid to challenge his audience, his record company, or himself if he felt something needed to shift in order to become more 'authentically' Christian. Reading the book with Elise led to a lot of conversations about our own faith, and how we could also seek to deepen our walk with God. Being told from Melody's pers...

With John and Elizabeth Sherrill. Published by Hodder and Stoughton, Ltd: London, 1976 (1971). Corrie ten Boom, along with her sister Betsie, were spinster sisters living with their father in Holland during the Second World War. Despite their age and station in life all three became involved in hiding Jews, even having a false wall put in to one of their rooms so that a 'hiding place' could be installed. The Hiding Place is their story, told by Corrie herself.  When people picture heroes of the resistance, or even heroes of the faith, it is unlikely that two sisters in their fifties, and their father, would come to mind, but the faith of Betsie, Corrie and their father during the horrific events unfolding around them is humbling, and challenging. The story itself is a powerful one, but various lessons of faith are also shared throughout the book. As an example, Corrie (as a younger girl) is faced with the death of a child her mother visits. She is traumatised by this,...

With John and Elizabeth Sherrill. Published by... I remember reading this book when I was much younger, and being struck by it. Re-reading it with Elise, I realised how much I had forgotten, and how much more God had been doing in the life of Brother Andrew than I remembered. This is firstly a biography of 'Brother Andrew' (real name Andrew van der Bijl), particularly how he came to faith and began to serve as a missionary and smuggler of bibles into Eastern Europe during 'the Cold War.' But more than that it is a journey of faith and trust in God. So many times throughout the book Andrew is forced to rely on God because he has no other choice, and time after time God shows himself sovereign and powerful. One of the most powerful to me was actually something that Brother Andrew experienced before entering the mission field. At his Evangelism Training School Andrew and some colleagues were given one pound and sent out to do a two week evangelist tour. They were n...

Published by Thomas Nelson & Sons Ltd.: London, Date Unknown. I mean, wow.  When I was in my early twenties, a friend and I started writing "blog novels", each taking a turn to write a chapter. It was a fun pastime, and we ended up with ten and a half novels before we finally ran out of steam (as of this post). We didn't plan the stories in advance, and often used to try and end a chapter somewhere awkward, so our co-writer would have to be creative to keep the plot going. Why do I bring that up now? Because there were numerous times during Grimm's Fairy Tales that reminded me of two co-writers making up stories as they went along. Of course, the Brothers Grimm are famous for their fairy tales being violent, and there is that element to a number of the stories, but it was the weirdness of the stories, and the fact that they would go in all kinds of directions within an individual story that hit me the most. To give an example of this ran...