a(Typical) Woman
"So be encouraged and truly liberated, all you atypical women. God doesn’t ask you to be typical. He calls you to be his.”
The Christian Atheist
Have you ever questioned if God loves you, cares about you, or fights for you? Have you ever resented that evil people seem victorious and good people are sick, robbed, oppressed, killed? Are you jaded by the ways the church has failed you? Congratulations, you're a Christian Atheist. Just like me.
Cultivating Compassion
Not meant to be exhaustive, this book is a short (easily read in one sitting), practical resource that offers great insights for something we’ve all wondered about- how to help a grieving friend. I’ve been on both sides of grief, as I’m sure most…
You Who?
"If you are looking for a book that will gently pet your bangs and soothe your worried brow, telling you how beautiful you are, this is not it."
Everybody, Always
So many people rave about this book. I don’t. But maybe you should still read it. So what was the problem? After each time I read part of this book, I came away thinking…
Gay Girl, Good God
“The same Bible that condemned me held in it the promises that could save me. I just had to believe it… Jesus had the guilty in mind when He was hung high and stretched wide. On it, He stood in my place, for my sin… Didn’t He know that that wrath was mine?... His love is what He wanted me to remember… a good God had come to my rescue.”
Enjoy
This book sets out to show us how we can enjoy things God has given us (i.e. work, people, rest, sex, creation, money, food, possessions, life) without feeling guilty. It's a fairly fast read. I think my favorite part about it was…
What is the Mission of the Church?
I picked up this book because we've been tired of hearing the word 'mission' or 'missional' and feeling like we don't know what it means anymore.
Loving the Little Years
Validated and anxious. That's how I feel after reading this book. Validated because a lot of the situations she describes are ones I've experienced or I highly expect to experience. Anxious because…
The Gospel According to Satan
A provocative title in the best way. "The prospect of the fruit promised the three things—fulfillment, beauty, and enlightenment—that we have been chasing in every tree ever since… We live our lives in exile, but we play ‘garden’ every day. We drink the mirage’s sand and call it living water. We indulge our flesh and call it glory. We worship ourselves and call it living at the ‘next level.’"
Humble Roots
“We can plan. We can build a trellis. We can plant beans. We can do all the right things. But we are not guaranteed a harvest simply because we worked hard and planned well. (James 4:13-16) Pride tells us that all we have to do is organize well enough, plan effectively enough, and work hard enough and we can achieve our dreams. Humility teaches us that it was never up to us in the first place.”
Fierce Faith
I wasn't sure if I would like this book or not. I don't relate to people obsessed with coffee and who call their friends 'Girlfriend', or who use the word 'women' when they mean 'woman' but I forged on and read the whole book. I would classify it as…
Becoming a Woman Whose God is Enough
The truths you encounter in this book are ones you will need daily because as humans we are constantly battling our desire to be our own god, to do things our own way, to doubt God, to question his love and his purposes. Every single day we need to wake up saying…
Parenting
It’s awesome that God chose parents to be part of our kids' redemptive story by leading them to Christ in every conversation or disciplinary action we take.
Happiness
“The logic is that since people are full of sin, God must be full of unhappiness. But this logic begins in the wrong place- with ourselves. We flatter ourselves by imagining we're the primary source of God's happiness, tilting him one way or the other by what we think, do, and say…”
Just Do Something
“The only chains God wants us to wear are the chains of righteousness—not the chains of hopeless subjectivism, not the shackles of risk-free living, not the fetters of horoscope decision making— just the chains befitting a bond servant of Christ Jesus. Die to self. Live for Christ. And then do what you want, and go where you want, for God’s glory.”
What’s Best Next
Basically to sum it up: Do the best work you can do, do all the good you can do (all work you do are good works), schedule things that matter, and know that your hope is in Christ.
The Hole in Our Holiness
“Is it possible you look at personal holiness like I look at camping? It’s fine for other people. You sort of respect those who make their lives harder than they have to be. But it’s not really your thing?”