I aimed for 45 books this year and was able to surpassed it to 65 books. I'm surprised that I read this many, though I admit some were quite short reads. : )
Again this year I read a lot of non-fiction, as that's what seems to resonate with me lately. My favorites of this past year, include eight non-fiction and two fiction books.
I also read from my Bible, the book of Acts, the book of Jeremiah and I made it half way through Revelation. I've read both Acts and Revelation several times before, but this was the first time I'd read through the whole book of Jeremiah. I found it amazing. What an amazing God we have! This book taught me that God never gives up on His people. His love is never-ending and He pursues those He loves, despite our rebellion.
“Praise the LORD of hosts, For the LORDis good, For His mercy endures forever” Jeremiah 33:11
I'm also including a link to my 'most read post' this year called, '6 books I still think about.' I was pleasantly surprised by the response. : )
Christmas Bells - This was a lovely fiction read. Part modern day story, part 19th century story with the setting of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and his family. Read my thoughts HERE
The Cross He Bore - This was probably my favorite of all and will be read again and again. It was good to be reminded of what happened that day and I loved how the author implores the reader to meditate on God's Word, which shares the sufferings of our Savior. Read my thoughts HERE
Surprised by Oxford - I really enjoyed reading this beautifully written memoir by Carolyn Weber. Read my thoughts HERE
Women of the Word - This book had some great ideas and tools to help you read your Bible more efficiently and bring more out of your Bible reading. Read my thoughts HERE
The Case for Grace - This book was filled with beautiful stories of God's grace. Read my thoughts HERE
Finally Alive - Do you want to know what it means to be born again? To be finally alive? John Piper explains it so well in this book. Read my thoughts HERE
Strange Fire - This was somewhat of a controversial book, but I found it very informative. Especially when it comes to the Holy Spirit, which I share about in my post HERE
Wolves Among Us - This is the second fiction read I'm including. It dealt with a disturbing subject, the witch hunts of the 16th century. Read my thoughts HERE
Plain Faith - This was another amazing memoir written by an Amish couple who share their journey out of the Amish church and lifestyle. Read my thoughts HERE
*This year I have decided to include an honorable mention. R.C. Sproul's book, 'The Holiness of God.' I haven't got around to writing about it yet, but found it to be thought-provoking and humbling. I'm looking forward to sharing about it in the new year.
Happy New Year Everyone and Happy Reading in 2016!
I thought I'd share a few lines from a book by A.W. Tozer, that reminded me of what Christmas is really about:
"Mankind
is still inventing new ways of self-treatment and medication for
failures and weaknesses and wrong-doing, even in our own day, not
recognizing that the cure has already come.
Simeon, the old man of God who had waited in hope around the temple,
knew that the cure had come! When he saw the baby Jesus, he took Him up
in his arms, looked down at Him and said,
"Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace...for mine eyes have seen Your salvation." (Luke
2:29-30)
We
live in a world that is always coming up with a new remedy, a new plan,
or a new way of doing things. A world that tells us to look within ourselves for peace, grace and salvation. When in reality this world really has
nothing of worth to offer us, and we have nothing of true worth without Christ. Nothing that will matter in the end.
Oh,
but what joy Simeon must have felt as he held Jesus in his arms! Jesus!
Knowing this was the Son of God who would take away the sins of the
world! The One that would make things right. The One who is the cure.
"And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.
And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought
in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law,
he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said:
'Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, According to Your word;
For my eyes have seen Your salvation
Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples,
A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel.'
And Joseph and His mother marveled at those things which were spoken of Him. Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother,
'Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against
(yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” Luke 2:25-35
Jesus is the cure.
And all His gifts to us are free. FREE. His gift of peace,
His gift of salvation, His gift of grace. There is not one thing we can
do to deserve His gifts. No amount of work, no amount of thinking, no amount of willing. He only asks us to repent and humbly accept them in Him. To lay down self, and rest
in Him, the cure.
Definition of a gift:
-something given voluntarilywithoutpaymentinreturn,astoshowfavortowardsomeone
“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives
do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be
afraid." John 14:27
Gift of Salvation: "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6:23
Gift of Grace:
"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God" Ephesians 2:8
I thank God for His gifts, through His son Jesus Christ, who's birth we celebrate at Christmas. Praise Him!
* Note - I will be taking a blogging break until after Christmas, but will be back at the end of the month with my '10 Great Reads of 2015.'
The book starts out in the present day during a children's choir rehearsal. Every other chapter shares the stories of those involved, the choir director, the pianist, the priest, a nun, children from the choir as well as their parents and the wife of a wealthy politician who has recently passed away.
At first I didn't see where the story was going, but as I read on the author intertwined theirs stories beautifully.
Every other chapter is the story of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and his family. It shares many details of the time, which takes place during the Civil War. I loved reading these chapters. They are also set during Christmas and really put me in the Christmas mood. Not necessarily a holiday mood, but a mood of thankfulness for my Savior and the peace He gives us so freely.
Here is a sample:
December 1860 "On Christmas morning as the Longfellow family walked home from church, bells pealed gloriously overhead until all of Cambridge resounded in exultant euphony. Harness bells chimed in, light and cheerful, as horse-drawn sleighs glided swiftly down Brattle Street, their laughing passengers bundled warmly in blankets against the nip in the air. The sky was a flawless azure redolent of Iberian seas with nary a cloud, the sun shone with golden morning light, and a soft, downy blanket of snow covered the earth.
Everywhere friends and neighbors called out greetings, and even strangers wished one another a Merry Christmas and courteously made room to pass on the sidewalks. With the promise of a Yule log burning on the hearth at home, a sumptuous feast to come, a good bottle of wine at the table, and friends gathered round to share it. Henry could almost believe that the tidings of the holy day could turn even the angriest hearts to reconciliation."
Longfellow had some extremely hard times in his life and one Christmas day he reflected on the war raging all around, where is the peace on earth? Some of us may be wondering that today, but what Longfellow knew, and answered his own question with, was a greater peace that is not of this world. A peace that surpasses our understanding, a peace that comes from the God who sent His Son that first Christmas morning.
"And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:7
Here's a video of the story of Longfellow and the poem he wrote, which we still sing today at Christmas.
Christmas Bells by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
I HEARD the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
Till ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime,
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;
"For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men."
This is a little devotional booklet that looks like it is packed with a lot of good Christmas cheer! Things like, excerpts from Billy and Ruth Graham's bestseller, This Christmas Night: Reflections from our Home to your Home, Scriptural accounts of Christ's birth, and the beautiful words of Christmas carols from the past.
Amazon says of it:
"Explore the blessings of hope, joy, love, and peace
that believers can experience as they keep their eyes on Jesus."
Star of Wonder
This is a novella I won online and I'm excited to get started on it! It is the first in a trilogy. Tracy writes so beautifully, and has become one of my favorite Christian fiction authors. Her historical fiction stories are intertwined with spiritual warfare and the gospel message, and always keep my attention!
Goodreads says here of it:
"An epic quest across the sands of Arabia
In
the exotic land of the east, a group of scholars studies the night sky
for generations, until finally a star bursts onto the scene, signaling
the birth of a new world leader. But when an ancient document
surfaces, whispering of an artifact of immense power, the temptation to
seek out its power infiltrates their caravan. The soldier, the mage
and the Egyptian princess each has a secret to protect. But if they are
going to survive the dark forces battling for their prize, they must
learn to trust each other—in what will surely be the journey of a
lifetime."
52 Little Lessons from A Christmas Carol
The 1951 classic version of 'A Christmas Carol' was always watched at our house growing up.And it's always been a favorite. I was reluctant to read the book because I loved the movie so much (Movie makers seem to often change the story).
I finally read the book a few years ago and found out the 1951 version was nearly identical to the Charles Dickens novel. I was very happy about that. : )
This book, '52 Little Lessons from A Christmas Carol,' extracts 52 Bible-based lessons we can learn from the story of 'A Christmas Carol.'
The publisher says of it here:
"The lessons and stories from the beloved novel A Christmas Carol
point to bedrock values we all share. Award-winning author Bob Welch
takes readers deeper into the nuances of this classic by Charles
Dickens.
From the miserliness of Scrooge to the innocence of Tiny Tim, 52 Little Lessons from A Christmas Carol will inspire readers to live for what really matters, not only at Christmas, but all year long."
Christmas Bells
I'm super excited to read this novel!
I love Longfellow's poem "Christmas Bells" which was made into a beautiful Christmas carol we still sing today. "I heard the bells on Christmas Day/ Their old familiar carols
play/ And wild and sweet/ The words repeat/Of peace on earth, good-will
to men!"
This novel shares Longfellow's story, alongside a present day storyline, set during a Christmas concert rehearsal at a church.
Goodreads says here: "In 1860, the Henry
Wadsworth Longfellow family celebrated Christmas at Craigie House, their
home in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The publication of Longfellow’s
classic Revolutionary War poem, “Paul Revere’s Ride,” was less than a
month hence, and the country’s grave political unrest weighed heavily on
his mind. Yet with his beloved wife, Fanny, and their five adored
children at his side, the delights of the season prevailed.
In
present-day Boston, a dedicated teacher in the Watertown public school
system is stunned by somber holiday tidings. Sophia’s music program has
been sacrificed to budget cuts, and she worries not only about
her impending unemployment but also about the consequences to her
underprivileged students. At the church where she volunteers as music
director, Sophia tries to forget her cares as she leads the children’s
choir in rehearsal for a Christmas Eve concert. Inspired to honor a
local artist, Sophia has chosen a carol set to a poem by Longfellow,
moved by the glorious words he penned one Christmas Day long ago, even
as he suffered great loss.
Christmas Bells chronicles
the events of 1863, when the peace and contentment
of Longfellow’s family circle was suddenly, tragically broken, cutting
even deeper than the privations of wartime. Through the pain of profound
loss and hardship, Longfellow’s patriotism never failed, nor did the
power of his language. “Christmas Bells,” the poem he wrote that
holiday, lives on, spoken as verse and sung as a hymn."
The Dawning of Indestructible Joy
John Piper has a way of expressing the joy of the Lord that is rare in our world today. I always come away from his books with a deeper view of God and the true joy He freely gives. This book is a daily devotional, written for advent.
The Desiring God website describes it here:
"Advent is for adoring Jesus.
The Christmas season is one of the busiest times of the year. But it
is also a season of reflection and preparation for that special day when
we mark Immanuel’s coming—the arrival of our eternal God in our own
frail humanity.
This is the greatest of history’s many wonders, something too
stupendous to celebrate just on one day. Advent is a way of lengthening
and intensifying the joy of Christmas.
These 25 brief devotional readings from John Piper begin on December 1
and carry us to Christmas Day. Our hope is that God would use these
meditations to deepen and sweeten your adoration of Jesus and help you
keep him at the center of your Christmas season."
You can see a short video and the table of contents HERE
Here is one of my favorite Christmas carols, performed by the Piano Guys, to enjoy the start of this season.
Oh, come, oh, come, Emmanuel
Oh, come, oh, come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!
Oh, come, our Wisdom from on high,
Who ordered all things mightily;
To us the path of knowledge show,
and teach us in her ways to go.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!
Oh, come, oh, come, our Lord of might,
Who to your tribes on Sinai's height
In ancient times gave holy law,
In cloud and majesty and awe.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!
Oh, come O Rod of Jesse's stem,
From ev'ry foe deliver them
That trust your mighty pow'r to save;
Bring them in vict'ry through the grave.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!
Oh, come, O Key of David, come,
And open wide our heav'nly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!
Oh, come, our Dayspring from on high,
And cheer us by your drawing nigh,
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death's dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!
Oh, come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind;
Oh, bid our sad divisions cease,
And be yourself our King of Peace.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!
"Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us." Matthew 1:23
I've always believed interracial marriage was a good thing. I know that many women of other races were graphed into God's family, through marriage, throughout the Old Testament. Women who put their faith in the One True God, like Ruth and Rahab. Ruth being from Moab and Rahab from Jericho.
John Piper in his book 'Bloodlines' devotes a whole chapter on this subject and it was very enlightening and beautiful to read. He has put thoughts to my feelings and I'd like to share his 4 Biblical observations on interracial marriage here.
1. All Races Have One Ancestor in the Image of God, and All Humans Are in God’s Image
This one is pretty straight forward. We all can trace our lineages back to Adam, our one ancestor made in God's image. After the flood Noah's three son's went different directions and multiplied. Races emerged from there. All made in God's image. Here is a little more depth into these truths...
John Piper quotes Scripture here and then comments:
"So God created man in His own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." Genesis 1:27.
Again in Genesis 5:1-3:
"When God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. Male and female He created them, and He blessed them and named them Man when they were created. When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image."
In other words, the magnificent image of God goes on from generation to generation."
John Piper goes on to share this:
"Then Paul makes the sweeping statement in Acts 17:26,
“And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the
face of the earth.” In other words, Adam, who was created in God’s
image, is the father of all human beings in all ethnic groups. Therefore
all of them are dignified above the animals in this absolutely unique
and glorious way: humans are created in the image of God. With all the
beautiful, God-designed ethnic and cultural diversity in the world, that
truth is paramount. That truth is decisive in setting priorities for
how we respect and relate to each other."
I feel this is a very important point from Acts 17:26 in the interracial conversation. That God made every nation from one man, Adam, to live on this earth. Every nation, that means every person, every race. To reject someone because of their race, would be to reject the God their image is made in.
Another point John Piper brings up, is as I mentioned earlier, is the story of Noah and his sons. After the flood his sons went out and multiplied. He says here:
"The human lines that flowed from the sons of Noah (Shem, Ham, and Japheth) have flowed into far more diversity than three ethnic types of human beings. There is no reason to think that diversification has stopped.
Just one example: after the flood Noah's three sons(Shem,
Ham, and Japheth) become the fathers of the human race. But look what
happens to these racial fountainheads. Genesis 10:6 says, 'The sons of
Ham are Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan.' The ethnic
and 'racial' differences between Cananites and Cushites and Egyptians
were physiologically pronounced. In other words, 'race' is a fluid
concept with no clear boundaries.
God
seems to delight not just in three but in thousands of variations of
human beings. In fact, many today would argue that the concept of race is
unhelpful altogether because here are no clear lines that can be drawn,
and the ones that are drawn are not genetically or morally
significant.
Moreover, the offspring of inter-ethnic marriages add to the diversity of human race rather than dilute it. The scope of the world's peoples is so huge that there is no serious possibility that intermarriage will reduce diversity of peoples. In fact, there is more likelihood that new ethnic types will emerge rather than that all will become the same-let alone 'mongrel.'"
What I think he is saying here is that God delights in the diversity of His creation. It was all meant to be. It was His plan. And that interracialmarriage is a part of it. And this is good.
2. The Bible Forbids Intermarriage Between Unbeliever and Believer, But Not Between Races
John Piper uses the story of Ruth to make his point that God isagainstmarriage between believers and unbelievers,but not againstinterracial marriage.
Ruth was a Moabite. A race born out of incest. Gensis 19:36-37 says:
'Thus both the daughters of Lot became pregnant by their father. The firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab. He is the father of the Moabites to this day.'
John Piper says here:
"But in spite of these serious divisions, Ruth was a lover of the true God and came under the wings of His covenant with Israel (Ruth 2:12). This faith and this marriage (to Boaz, who was the son of Salmon and Rahab)and the offspring that came from it were so remarkable that the New Testament Gospel of Matthew includes Ruth as one of the four women mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus (Matt.1:5). (Rahab, Ruth's mother-in-law, is mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus as well).
What the book of Ruth illustrates is that there was no absolute rule in God's Word forbidding marriage across racial and ethnic lines. What the Bible does forbid is the marriage of a believer and unbeliever. The apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 7:39, 'A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord.'Whom she wishes, only in the Lord. The man she marries must be in the Lord. He must be a believer in Jesus Christ.
This is the main point of the Old Testament warnings
about marrying those among the pagan nations. The point was not to
protect racial purity. The point was to protect religious purity."
3. In Christ Our Oneness Is Profound and Transforms Racial and Social Differences from Barriers to Blessings
This is the beauty of being a Christian, the oneness we have in Christ.
John Piper says here:
"In Christ ethnic and social differences cease to be obstacles to deep, personal, intimate fellowship, including marriage."
"...seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all." Col. 3:9-11
Really think about this. Christ is all and in all to those who put off the old self and believe. The old self being the sinful nature. How profound and amazing it is. How amazing our God is. That He is all.
He says here of Col. 3:9-11:
"The point of Colossians 3:11 is not that cultural, ethnic, and racial differences have no significance; they do. The point is that they are no barrier to profound, personal, intimate fellowship."
My daughter brought a Japanese friend over and he bowed to us several times in respect. Another of her friends is Chinese and brought a gift for us when she came over.Theseare cultural traditions that arebeautiful and respectful and different from our culture.They are example of the diversity and beauty in our world...
But Colossians 3:11 is talking about something deeper, about a relationship that is given over to Christ, where He becomes all. Where all believers become one in Christ and can have fellowship with each other through Him. This is profound and beautiful.
4. Criticizing One Interracial Marriage Was Severely Disciplined by God
Here John Piper uses Moses and his marriage to an Ethiopian as an example. How many times have I read the story of Moses and never saw he was married to an Ethiopian or how God approved this so dramatically! I was so excited when I read this. : )
*Note - This woman is thought to be, by some scholars, Moses's second wife after the death of Zipporah.
Painting by Jacob Jordaens - Netherlands (1650) - Moses and his Ethiopian Wife
In Numbers12:1 it says:
"Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married, for he had married a Cushite woman."
John Piper goes on to explain:
"Cushite' means a woman from Cush, a region south of Egypt, and a people known for their black skin. We know this because of Jeremiah 13:23" 'Can the Ethiopian (the very same Hebrew word translated Cushite in Num. 12:1) change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then also you can do good who are accustomed to do evil.' So attention is drawn to the difference of the skin of the Cushite people."
He later states this:
"What is most significant about this context is that God does not get angry at Moses; he gets angry at Miriam and Aaron for criticizing Moses. The criticism has to do with Moses's marriage and Moses's authority. The most explicit statement relates to the marriage: 'Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married, for he had married a Cushite woman.' Typically commentators say that Miriam and Aaron's objections to Moses's marriage 'were only a smokescreen for their challenge to Moses's spiritual authority.' Perhaps. But what you use for a smoke screen reveals your heart. And God was not pleased.
What happened next is startling. God is furious. First, he defends his servant Moses from false charges, and then He strikes Miriam with a terrible disease that turns her skin white - white a snow."
Numbers 12:7-10 says here:
[God said concerning Moses that] "He is faithful in all my house. With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?' And the anger of the LORD was kindled against them, and He departed. When the cloud removed from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, like snow. And Aaron turned toward Miriam, and behold, she was leprous."
Right away Aaron repents and asked forgiveness, Moses then cries out to God please, please heal her!But God in His sovereignty leaves the leprosy for 7 days. A lesson for their greater good.
This really moved me. God is serious when it comes to those He created. His love is extraordinary and extends to all races, all mankind, and calls us all to Himself.
I'll leave you with these verses in Revelation to ponder. God is showing John a vision of the future of all believersand it includes all races, from every tribe, every language and every nation...
"After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could
number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages,
standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes,
with palm branches in their hands,and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” Revelation 7:9-10
There is so much more to this book, 'Bloodline', but what I've shared here is what really stood out for me. If you'd like to read more about this issue you can read John Piper's sermon HERE which includes some of what I've shared from his book.
