A Christmas Book "Wish" List

Thanksgiving Day may now be only a memory, but let's not forget that everyday should be a thanksgiving day.  God has blessed us so incredibly that we should never fail to have a note of thanksgiving upon our hearts and lips. 


And one of the things for which we should give praise and thanksgiving to God is the birth of the Lord Jesus - the reason for this Advent Season.  As hard as the world tries to push Jesus away from Christmas, the fact remains that without Jesus there would be no Christmas.  The old cliché is true: He is the Reason for the season. 


One of the important aspects of Advent is the giving and receiving of gifts from family and friends.  I have never been a person who created a long "wish-list" for Christmas.  I remember when I must have been in second or third grade that all I wanted was a Roy Rogers holster set.  Roy Rogers was one of my childhood heroes and I wanted to be just like him.  Wow!  I can still remember opening up that gift on Christmas morning and there was my Roy Rogers holster set. 


I have to be honest, now my list is even shorter - just ask my kids what I want for Christmas and they will tell you: "Dad just wants gift cards to his favorite book store."  Yes, books make me a "happy camper."  And, through the years I have read many books that I highly recommend to others.  So, perhaps a book or two might be on your "wish list."  Allow me to add a few that I think you would find interesting and meaningful.


The first book is titled, Rescuing the Gospel, and was written by Erwin Lutzer, pastor at Moody Memorial Church in Chicago.  The book was published by Baker Books in 2016.  The year 2017 marks the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther's posting of his 95 theses on the chapel door at the Castle of Wittenberg beginning which has come to be known as the Protestant Reformation.  Dr. Lutzer has done a remarkable job in helping his readers to better understand the times of Martin Luther and John Calvin and the legacy they have left behind.  I know there will be many other titles available in 2017 on Luther, but this would be a good place to begin.  I found the book to be very readable and insightful.  If you can read only one book on the Reformation, this would be the one I would recommend.


The second book is titled, The Emmaus Code, and was written by David Limbaugh who is the brother of Rush Limbaugh.  The book was published by Regnery Publishers in 2015.  This book begins with the account of Jesus walking on the Emmaus Road with two of His disciples that first resurrection morning.  Luke records that "beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself" (Luke 24:27).  Mr. Limbaugh seeks to address what that conversation might have been like.  How does the Old Testament prepare us for the story of Jesus?  I bought this book because I thought it would help me with some sermon preps in the series of messages I have titled, "Thru the Bible: The Thread of Redemption."  I found the book to be fascinating.  If you are interested in your own study of how Jesus is portrayed in the Old Testament, this book should be a must reading for you.  Perhaps you could even use this as a small group study.  After reading this book I began to better understand that Emmaus Road conversation.  Perhaps Jesus will share that conversation with us in glory.


A third book is titled, The First Congress, and was written by Fergus M. Bordewich.  It was published by Simon & Schuster in 2016.  For the past few years I have been drawn into knowing the hearts and minds and stories of our Founding Fathers.  I have read, and in some cases reread, many of the books written by Joseph Ellis, who in my opinion, is one of the best and most readable historians of this period.  I have highly recommended two of his books in the past: The Founding Brothers and An American Creation.  I found Dr. Bordewich's book difficult at first, but as he began to portray the scenes of the first Congress meeting in New York City the excitement began to build.  Many of the same men who helped win the War of Independence and later wrote the Constitution, were there for this remarkable first Congress.  They were charting new waters for no one in history had created the kind of government that they had.  There were conflicts over the separations of powers.  There were struggles over how to bring 13 colonies into a unified national interest.  There was the shadow of slavery that lingered over their deliberations.  And the agonizing questions of how a young nation was to pay for its enormous wartime debts needed to be resolved.  There were clashes of personalities - a James Madison vs. a Alexander Hamilton, for example.  There was the bored expressions of a John Adams who disliked being Vice President.  And, over all and probably holding it all together, was the peaceful presence of George Washington, filling that role of our first President.  The story of the First Congress continues the story of God's miraculous hand upon our nation in its infancy.  If you bear with the first couple of chapters, you will be richly rewarded at the end. 


A final book I have read this past year that I recommend is titled, If You Can Keep It, and was written by Eric Metaxas, who is becoming one of my favorite authors.  (If you have not read his powerful biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, you really need to add that to you list.  It is a fascinating and definitive study of the life of a martyr of the Church in the dark days of Nazi Germany).  The book If You Can Keep It was published by Viking Press in 2016.  This book concerns the history of the writing of the Constitution of the United States.  The author tells that story through the stories of those who were involved in that historic moment. 


For those who enjoy historical and biblical fictional stories, I can recommend the new series by Lynn Austin titled The Restoration Chronicles.  There are three volumes in this series.  The first is the story of Zechariah and titled, Return to Me; the second is the story of Ezra and titled, Keepers of the Covenant; while the third and final is the story of Nehemiah and titled, On This Foundation.   The author does an excellent job of staying with the story as told in the Bible, yet she has a way of bringing the story into incredible life - you will feel like you are actually there within the story yourself.  If you begin reading one of these, you find it difficult putting it down.


Finally, there are those classics which never are outdated.  These include the classic on Christian living by C.S. Lewis and titled, Mere Christianity.  By the way, this book would make for an excellent small group study; it generate a lot of discussion about our society and culture and how it views Christ and Christianity.  A second classic was written by A.W. Tozer and titled, "The Knowledge of the Holy."  If you are interested in a readable, yet powerful, study of the character of God, this is absolutely must reading. 


With the long winter evenings lying just ahead, one can never go wrong to put a fire in the fireplace, grab a steaming cup of hot chocolate or coffee, and take a good book off the shelf.  Take a trip back into time and discover people and events that still impact our world. 


Happy reading, everyone!