2021 Summer Reading List
CS Lewis once said, “We read to know we are not alone.” Another author said this, “To read is to fly: it is to soar to a point of vantage which gives a view over wide terrains of history, human variety, ideas, shared experience and the fruit of many inquiries.”
The staff is happy to encourage your reading this summer by giving you a sampled list of books we either have read or intend to read. Many of you have asked about the books that I am reading. To answer these requests I have designated a section on my personal website called “On My Shelf” that gives a sample of books I either have read or am reading. I update this list on a regular basis.
Visit www.hearingisbelieving.org to access this and other resources by me.
If I may, let me encourage your reading by reminding you that reading is a unique gift of God. Consider this lengthy quote by Andrew Louth:
“The mode of being of literature has something unique and incomparable about it … There is nothing so strange and at the same time so demanding as the written word … The written word and what partakes of it - literature - is the intelligibility of mind transferred to the most alien medium. Nothing is so purely the trace of mind as writing, but also nothing is so dependent on the understanding mind. In its deciphering and interpretation a miracle takes place: the transformation of something strange and dead into a total simultaneity and familiarity. This is like nothing else that has come down to us from the past … a written tradition, when deciphered and read, is to such an extent pure mind that it speaks to us as if in the present. That is why the capacity to read, to understand what is written, is like a secret art, even magic that looses and binds us. In it time and space seem to be suspended. The man who is able to read what has been handed down in writing testifies to and achieves the sheer presence of the past.”
Enjoy your reading!
Books:
The First Thousand Years
Robert Louis Wilken
Wilken’s treatment of the history of the church is a must for anyone desiring a compelling understanding of the first thousand years of Christianity. This is more than a history book, this is the story of how God through his gospel shaped the world.
Recommended by Dr. Andy Brown
New Morning Mercies
Paul David Tripp
Mornings can be tough. Sometimes, a hearty breakfast and strong cup of coffee just aren’t enough. What we really need is an encounter with the living God. These daily devotionals energize you with the most potent encouragement imaginable: the gospel.
Recommended by Bridget Keel
The Gospel
Ray Ortlund
How does the church portray the beauty of Christ? The gospel is a theological message. But this message also creates human beauty–beautiful relationships in our churches, making the glory of Christ visible in the world today. This little book is packed with rich gospel truth and is a book our staff is reading as we consider the vision as our church moves forward.
Recommended by Dr. Andy Brown
Gentle and Lowly
Dane Ortlund
This book draws on some of the most beautiful biblical texts that reveal the heart of Christ. It is full of truth and grace yet at the same time it is calming, captivating, and convincing. It is an absolutely soul-refreshing read.
Recommended by Emily Washburn
Enjoying the Bible
Matthew Mullins
Many Christians view the Bible as an instruction manual. While the Bible does provide instruction, it can also captivate, comfort, delight, shock, and inspire. In short, it elicits emotion--just like poetry. Each chapter includes exercises and questions designed to help readers put the book’s principles and practices into action.
Recommended by Dr. Andy Brown
10 Questions Every Teen Should Ask
Rebecca McLaughlin
Questions like How can you believe the Bible is true?; Why can’t we just agree that love is love?; and Isn’t Christianity against diversity? can seem like roadblocks for kids who are following Jesus. In this helpful book, younger teen readers are invited to dig deep into hard questions for themselves and perhaps discover that these roadblocks to faith might actually be signposts.
Recommended by Neil Tullos
The Last Bookshop in London
Madeline Martin
This is a historical novel set in London during World War 2. The main character, a woman working in a small bookshop, uses the power of storytelling to unite a small community during the time of the London bombings.
Recommended by Charity Gwaltney
Hold on with a Bulldog Grip
John F. Marszalek et al.
In this new short biography of Ulysses S. Grant, leading scholars provide an accessible introduction to Grant and his legacy.Starkville’s unique connection to Grant means this accessible introduction is a must read for all who call Starkville home.
Recommended by Dr. Andy Brown
The Ten Commandments
Peter Leithart
Are these ancient words still relevant for us today? Their outward simplicity hides their inward complexity. This book shows us how they address every arena of human life, giving us a portrait of life under the lordship of Jesus, who is the heart and soul of the commandments.
Recommended by Dr. Andy Brown
Gaining By Losing
J.D. Greear
J.D. Greear unpacks ten plumb lines that you can use to reorient your church’s priorities around God’s mission to reach a lost world. The good news is that you don’t need to choose between gathering or sending. Effective churches can, and must, do both. The staff is working through this book to see how the Lord desires to shape the vision of FBC Starkville
Recommended by Dr. Andy Brown
Worthy: Celebrating the Value of Women
Elyse Fitzpatrick and Eric Schumacher
Worthy explores how women fit into the storyline of the Bible, offering a transformative view of women, their Maker, and their essential role in the plan of redemption. Readers will be informed and encouraged as Worthy uncovers how God values, empowers, and works through women.
Recommended by Christine Ellis
Shadow of the Almighty
Elisabeth Elliot
Shadow of the Almighty is a modern classic story of faithfulness, obedience, and martyrdom. It is the account, written by Elisabeth Elliot, of the martyrdom of her husband, Jim Elliot and four other missionaries at the hands of the Huaorani Indians in Ecuador.
Recommended by Charity Gwaltney
Superplan
Chris Clayman
From his home in Texas, Chris’s journey into God’s plan carries him from the academic halls of Cambridge to the parched lands of Mali before finally delivering him to New York City, where he discovers that God has delivered the ends of the earth to our own urban crossroads. In New York, Chris co-founds Global Gates, a Christian ministry that seeks to reach the ends of the earth through engaging the world’s least-reached people groups living in our own global gateway cities.
Recommended by Nathan Taylor
Erasing Hell
Francis Chan and Preston Sprinkle
Erasing Hell is an honest, biblical consideration of the theology of Hell. Most importantly, it’s a thoughtful reminder of why we share the Gospel and the responsibility of every Christian to take part in that ministry.
Recommended by Joshua Rodgers
Who Is God?
Richard Bauckham
Bauckham probes the deep meaning of well-known moments in the biblical story in order to address the key question the Bible is designed to answer: Who is God? He begins by exploring three key events in the Old Testament in which God is revealed and shows how the New Testament builds on these passages. A short and fairly easy book to read on discovering the identity of God.
Recommended by Neil Tullos
Podcasts:
For the Kids:
Colorfull; Gracefull; Thoughtfull
Dorena Williamson
Colorfull is about two best friends celebrating their differences.
Gracefull is about sharing with those who are less fortunate.
Thoughtful talks about being kind to others with special needs.
This interactive board book, which is perfect for little hands, shows little children just how amazing God’s creation is.
This RightNow Media video series takes kids on a journey through Bible lands using archaeology, history, geography, and Scripture.