Category: Books

All of the curated books on Sunday to Saturday. Visit our Good Reads page for more book reviews.

Books/Liturgical calendar/Liturgy

BOOK: Advent – The Season of Hope

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From chocolate to Lego and everything in between Advent calendars begin filling store shelves come November. This often consumeristic celebration of Advent divorced from its 4th-century roots neglects the heavier themes of waiting, hope, darkness, light, repentance, rest, emptiness, and filling. In a world that equates December with yuletide debauchery and commercial frenzy, Tish Harrison Warren masterfully reclaims Advent as a season not of escapism, but of honest reflection and holy longing. This is no glittering holiday self-help book; it’s a profound invitation to slow down, repent, and live in the aching beauty of the "now and not yet."

Books/Media

BOOK: Amusing Ourselves to Death

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In Neil Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death, the author delves into the ways in which television and other forms of visual media have transformed public discourse, diminishing the role of the written word and fostering a culture where entertainment prevails over serious intellectual engagement. Postman begins with a provocative question: “Is it really plausible that this book about how TV is turning all public life (education, religion, politics, journalism) into entertainment... Can such a book possibly have relevance to you and The World of 2006 and beyond?” This question sets the stage for an exploration of how media shapes not just the content but the very nature of communication in society.

Books/Global economy/Modern day slavery

BOOK: Made in China

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Amelia Pang's Made in China explores the disturbing reality of forced labor camps in China through the lens of one man's heartbreaking experience. The book centers around Sun Yi, a Chinese engineer imprisoned in Masanjia labor camp for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline banned by the Chinese government. While detained, Sun secretly writes a letter detailing the inhumane conditions and torture endured by prisoners, which was discovered by an American woman, Julie Keith, who found it in a box of Halloween decorations purchased from Kmart. This discovery led to international attention on the issue of forced labor in China and sparked efforts to address human rights abuses in global supply chains.

Books/Global economy/Modern day slavery

BOOK: Cobalt Red

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Take a quick inventory of the electronics around you. If you have a smartphone, computer, or a device that has a computer chip and/or a rechargeable battery then you have participated in the cobalt trade. In Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives' Siddharth Kara explores the sobering realities behind the global cobalt industry, shedding light on the exploitation, human rights abuses, and environmental impacts linked to the extraction and trade of this essential mineral.

Books/Politics

BOOK: The Liturgy of Politics

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Reflect on your average day and consider the routines, rituals, and practices you follow. These daily habits—what you spend your time on, the media you consume, and the people and places you engage with—compose a personal liturgy of life. This liturgy shapes you both politically and spiritually, often without being critically examined. In The Liturgy of Politics, Kaitlyn Schiess challenges readers to reflect on what influences their political and spiritual lives and to understand what true Christian political responsibility entails.

Books/Liturgical calendar/Liturgy

BOOK: Pentecost – A Day of Power for All People

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Is Pentecost about spiritual gifts and power? Or is it about unity? Perhaps it is the birth of the church? Pentecost, which means fifty days, is all of those things and more. In Pentecost - A Day of Power for All People bishop of the Union of Charismatic Orthodox Churches Emilio Alvarez details the themes, rituals, prayers, and hymns from a variety of denominations of this often misunderstood day on the church calendar.

Books/Charity/Missions/Short term missions

BOOK: Toxic Charity

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Over two billion dollars are spent, and more than two million Christians go on short term missions trips each year. In excess of two trillion dollars have been sent to Africa in the last 60 years while Haiti has received over $13 billion in foreign aid ($5 billion from the United States) in the last 13 years. Despite the influx of billions of foreign aid and charity dollars along with millions of volunteers most of the people in Africa, Haiti, and other developing countries still live in poverty with very little infrastructure. The tendency of parachurch organizations, non governmental organizations (NGOs), and nonprofits to slowly, or never, pivot from crisis relief to long term development in conjunction with the propensity of short term mission workers having a giver-receiver mindset lead to what author Robert Lupton calls toxic charity, which happens to also be the title of his book.

Books/Devotional

BOOK: What If Jesus Was Serious About Heaven?

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Before diving into his 41 devotionals on heaven author Skye Jethani discusses his fondness of maps and the fact that each one of us carries a mental map that "orient(s) and guide(s) us, offer(s) perspectives, and provide(s) a framework for understanding our place in a complicated world." Our mental maps "define what is real, what is important, and where things reside in relation to each other." But what if one of our mental maps is wrong?

Books

BOOK: When Helping Hurts

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According to MissionWorks over two million Americans participate in short-term domestic and international mission trips each year. Unfortunately, even those with best of intentions can wreak havoc, many times unintentionally, on the community they intend to help. In When Helping Hurts Brian Fikkertt and Steve Corbett provide a Biblical framework for those that want to go on, and those that have have gone on, short-term mission trips by asking the reader to interrogate their motivations and assumptions for wanting to serve in addition to evaluating their own attitudes and beliefs about poverty.

Books/Politics

BOOK: Thou Shalt Not Be a Jerk

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Politics matter. Politics matter because policies affect people. Policies affect Christians and non-Christians alike as they shape the community we live in. But, where does a Christian start politically? How does a Christian engage, advocate, and debate in the public sphere? What does the Bible have to say about politics? With humor and grace and a nod towards the Ten Commandments Eugene Cho in Thou Shalt Not Be a Jerk lists 10 "thou shalts" a Christian should follow when engaging in the public sphere.