Category: Book Recommendations Page 2 of 6

Worth Your Time (December 2023)

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On December 28, 2023

In Book Recommendations, Worth Your Time

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! Below are some articles and books I’ve recently collected. I would be happy to hear your thoughts on them.

Articles:

Blessed Are the Thrifty? by Susan Mettes
As a very thrifty person, this one was so thought-provoking for me. I read it a month ago and keep thinking about it.

“As Christians around the world live through a period of discomfort—or worse—in their household budgets, even thrift can bring them dangerously close to the errors often attributed to greed. Any perspective that filters reality through money distorts our ideas of worth. And isn’t seeing worth as God sees it an enormous part of discipleship?”

There’s another Christian movement that’s changing our politics. It has nothing to do with whiteness or nationalism By John Blake
“The victory not only reinvigorated an emboldened labor movement in the US, it also marked the revival of another movement in America: the Social Gospel. Fain’s sermonette was remarkable because labor leaders don’t typically cite the Bible in such detail to justify a strike. But they once did. Fain’s decision to blend scripture with a strike is straight out of the Social Gospel playbook.”

The Impact of Social Media on Youth Mental Health: A Summary of the 2023 US Surgeon Report
We have got to pay attention to this: “95% of youth ages 13-17 use social media with many using it “almost constantly.”

Why I Am Now a Christian by Ayaan Hirsi Ali  
“Unlike Islam, Christianity outgrew its dogmatic stage. It became increasingly clear that Christ’s teaching implied not only a circumscribed role for religion as something separate from politics. It also implied compassion for the sinner and humility for the believer.

Yet I would not be truthful if I attributed my embrace of Christianity solely to the realisation that atheism is too weak and divisive a doctrine to fortify us against our menacing foes. I have also turned to Christianity because I ultimately found life without any spiritual solace unendurable — indeed very nearly self-destructive. Atheism failed to answer a simple question: what is the meaning and purpose of life?”

Why I No Longer Support the Death Penalty by Matthew T. Martens
I came to this conclusion myself after reading Just Mercy. This article sums up my thoughts as well.

Books:

The Toxic War on Masculinity: How Christianity Reconciles the Sexes by Nancy Pearcey
Nancy Pearcey has yet to disappoint me with anything she writes. In the past several years, I’ve read a number of books on Christian gender roles, trying to wrap my head around the current debate in light of Scripture. This one made a lot of things so much clearer for me. Pearcey does a dive into American history and shows convincingly how the Church has been influenced by culture — and not in positive ways.

Here’s a taste: “Compared to secular men, devout Christian family men who attend church regularly are more loving husbands and more engaged fathers. They have the lowest rates of divorce. And astonishingly, they have the lowest rate of domestic violence of any major group in America… [In contrast], The numbers are staggering: They tell us that men who claim the Christian label often exhibit worse behavior than men who are outright secular. Nominal men skew the statistics, creating the false impression that evangelical men as a group are abusive and domineering.”

Dangerous Territory: An Inquiry into Everything I Thought I Knew about Faith, Love, and Saving the World by Amy Peterson
This is a page-turning memoir about the idealism of missions and learning God’s sovereignty the hard way.

The Gospel Comes with a House Key: Practicing Radically Ordinary Hospitality in Our Post-Christian World by Rosaria Butterfield
The Butterfields do hospitality so well that it was hard not to be totally overwhelmed by what I’m not doing. But as I read on, I was encouraged. Rosaria is quick to show her family’s own mistakes and failures and how they grew into an ability to love their neighbors well. I finished the book feeling inspired.

Video:
Christmas is over but it’s not too late to listen to this wonderful rendition of Joy to the World from Uganda!

Medina Family Life:

Gil and Grace at a Switchfoot concert
soccer season has started again
Gil’s extended family plays Wiffle Ball every time we are together!

Worth Your Time (September 2023)

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On October 2, 2023

In Book Recommendations, Worth Your Time

Articles:

Why the Mental Health of Liberal Girls Sank First and Fastest by Jon Haidt

This article isn’t about politics; it’s about the power of ideas.

“Many young people had suddenly—around 2013—embraced three great untruths:

They came to believe that they were fragile and would be harmed by books, speakers, and words, which they learned were forms of violence (Great Untruth #1). 

They came to believe that their emotions—especially their anxieties—were reliable guides to reality (Great Untruth #2).

They came to see society as comprised of victims and oppressors—good people and bad people (Great Untruth #3).”

Do Christians Really Suffer in America? by John Piper

“So, we don’t just wait for others to persecute us and take away our pleasures and privileges and securities. Instead, we voluntarily make choices that deny ourselves some of these things freely, willingly, joyfully in order to serve others.”

Our Missions Approach is Too Western by Elliot Clark

“There’s a double mistake here. First, missionaries of a bygone era weren’t as complicit in colonialism as many think. Second, for all our anthropological acumen, we may not be as culturally savvy as we suppose. I’m convinced current missiological strategies can still be deeply Western in potentially harmful ways.”

Books:

Walking with Grace: Embracing God’s Goodness in Trauma Grace Utomo’s story is extraordinary. She was a newly married 23-year-old and a rising violin star when she was hit by a car in a crosswalk. The ensuing trauma to her body and mind equals a depth that few of us will ever experience, yet through it all she continues to keep her focus and hope fixed on Christ. Her story is sobering and inspiring.

Strange New World: How Thinkers and Activists Redefined Identity and Sparked the Sexual Revolution by Carl Trueman

If you are bewildered or just curious about where our current cultural perspectives came from, this is an excellent place to start. Think of it this way: If you were going to live in India, you would want to research Hinduism so that you could understand the way people think. If you live in America or Europe, this book is that equivalent.

How the Word is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery in America by Clint Smith

The longer I live, the more I am astonished at what was left out of my 80’s/90’s American education regarding slavery. If we want to find any hope for lasting racial reconciliation in our country, it’s got to start with reckoning with our history.

We rejoice that our Grace (age 17 ) chose to be baptized in September!

Worth Your Time (August 2023)

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On August 29, 2023

In Book Recommendations, Worth Your Time

Social Media and Youth Mental Health Even the Surgeon General is sounding the alarm about social media for kids and teens. Our kids aren’t happy about how we regulate them on this, but we aren’t budging. Too much is at stake.

Social Media is Causing Our Children to Suffer “The nature of community is greatly affected by social media. While these platforms offer a way to connect with others, they promote shallow, fleeting interactions over meaningful, deep relationships. This can impair the development of critical social skills such as empathy and conflict resolution.”

Which connects to my next topic….

What Social Science Tells Us About How to Escape Poverty This is totally fascinating. Hint: It has everything to do with community and nothing to do with donating food, clothes, or even money.

Good Genes are Nice, But Joy is Better (You’ll sense a pattern in these articles!) “Close relationships, more than money or fame, are what keep people happy throughout their lives, the study revealed. Those ties protect people from life’s discontents, help to delay mental and physical decline, and are better predictors of long and happy lives than social class, IQ, or even genes.”

If you’re a parent of teens, you’ll appreciate these thoughts by Gretchen Ronnevik. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes, but I have nearly 4 teens now, and I’ve learned a lot the hard way, and see other parents around me with less kids who are just getting to that stage make the same mistakes I made, so I want to share what I’ve learned.”

Books (Amazon links….but remember to buy used!)

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan. A beautifully written short novel about the power of redemption.

When We Called Myanmar Home by Julie Jean Francis. Third Culture Kids and their parents will relate to this bittersweet book about loving a country that’s not your own.

Fostered: One Woman’s Powerful Story of Finding Faith and Family Through Foster Care by Tori Hope Petersen. Though there were some parts of Tori’s story that I think she’ll see differently when she’s older, I really enjoyed this memoir of growing up in foster care. These kinds of stories always give me insights into my own kids.

This reunion with kids they’ve known their whole lives was truly special.

Gil and his brother took the boys on a camping trip.

The Mystery of Salvation: My Story of Doubt and Faith

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On August 21, 2023

In Book Recommendations, Liberian Childhood, My Memoirs

I remember the indignation I felt over the miniature potted plant. 

I was eight years old, and it was Sunday School at the big Baptist church on the hill. The fluorescent lights flickered as we squirmed in our metal folding chairs while the teacher asked us to raise our hands if we wanted to invite Jesus into our hearts. She reminded us that every head was bowed and every eye was closed because, apparently, this was a secret decision. We peeked behind fingers laced in front of our eyes. 

A brown-haired girl was summoned behind the room divider and reappeared a few minutes later, surrounded by the approving gaze of the teachers. She seemed rather flippant for one who had just done something that required the rest of us to sit so solemnly with every-head-bowed-and-every-eye-closed.

I knew what had happened behind the room divider; the drill was familiar, even with only eight years under my belt. The teacher would have recited a prayer; the girl would have repeated it, and presto: Jesus was now in her heart. 

When the brown-haired girl emerged, she was holding a fake miniature potted plant: a prize, presumably, for raising her hand. Jealously flamed. I loved anything miniature, and I briefly contemplated raising my hand too. Yet I was caught in a conundrum: I had learned that you could only ask Jesus into your heart once, and I had already done so with my mother when I was five years old, right next to the record player that sat under the dining room window. There was nothing I could do to get myself that prize. I wondered, should this decision even warrant a prize? The unfairness planted itself as a memory.

By 12, my faith had grown with my shoe size. In Liberia, I was incubated in an extraordinary community of multicultural Christians. Why wouldn’t I want to align myself with their God? Every night, I sat on my bed and read five chapters of the Bible, framed by the old-fashioned brown-flowered wallpaper in my bedroom. I went straight through until I got bogged down in Isaiah and skipped to the New Testament. I wrote little notes with goals for myself on how to improve in one fruit of the Spirit each month. I cried when I prayed for my unsaved family members. 

I told my Dad I was ready to be baptized. In Liberia, the school gymnasium was also the church, representing the worst of times (P.E.) and the best of times (Psalty musicals). One Sunday, I stood outside that gymnasium while the cover was pulled off of the small concrete baptismal, and I stood in line in the red dust with several others. “Why do you want to be baptized?” the pastor asked me. “So that I can show the world I’m a Christian,” was my confident reply.

But yet, I had doubts. When did I actually become a Christian? I had no dramatic conversion story; I couldn’t remember not believing.  So was my faith legitimate? What else did I need to do? Fear of being Left Behind permeated my generation. How could I be sure I was in?  

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Worth Your Time (July 2023)

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On July 26, 2023

In Book Recommendations, Worth Your Time

Trying something new! Instead of doing a couple of posts a year with my book recommendations, I’m going to write them monthly, and include links to videos and other resources as well. Feel free to share your ideas with me!

Videos and Music:

Maverick City Music sounds beautiful but is even more wonderful to watch.
Vocamonix is an excellent Nigerian acapella group.

Universe Size Comparison –for when you need to remember how small you are and simultaneously how incredible you are.
College softball players with a 53-game winning streak talk about the difference between happiness and joy. 

Articles:

Embrace Your Otherness by Jen Wilkin: “Sweet child, study the way you are feeling today. Because I love you, I ask this of you: lean into your “otherness”—learn the contours of its face, feel out the steady grip of its hand. Because I intend it to be your lifelong companion. It is a truer friend than those who surround you now. More than I want your comfort, I want you to be an alien and a stranger.”

This is Pro-Life: Powerful Photos of Older People with Downs Syndrome Defy Misconceptions

Books:

Lots of people are talking about the “Shiny Happy People” documentary about Bill Gothard and the Duggars–and it’s important. Jinger Duggar Vuolo’s memoir Becoming Free Indeed tells a similar story, but I appreciated how she gave a nuanced perspective on her childhood and her family, and how she carefully “disentangled” Gothard’s legalism from true faith. It’s a courageous book.

All My Knotted-Up Life by Beth Moore was both delightful and sobering. I’d only read one other Beth Moore book, but I’ve admired her insight, humor, and grace on Twitter, and this memoir only increased my respect for her. She’s a gifted storyteller so it’s a page-turner on its own, but it’s also an important book because of what it reveals about American evangelical culture. I highly recommend it.

Gil teaches a section on dating and relationships in one of his Bible classes, so he’s always reading up on what’s happening in American culture on this topic. He talked so much about American Hookup: The New Culture of Sex on Campus by Lisa Wade that I decided I needed to read it myself. It’s not a Christian book, but that doesn’t keep it from revealing how the hookup culture on college campuses is scarring our young people. This is a very hard book to stomach–but is a must-read for any parents sending their children off to college.

I was completely ignorant about how difficult it is to take down sex offenders until I read What is a Girl Worth?: My Story of Breaking the Silence and Exposing the Truth about Larry Nassar and USA Gymnastics by Rachael Denhollander. Even though Nassar had abused hundreds of girls, no one could stop him until Rachael–a tenacious lawyer–put everything in her life on the line to find justice. It is a compelling and eye-opening story.

Pictures are from our trip to Yosemite and Gold Country in June.

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