JRF's Top Ten of 2013 ... and then some

Top Ten (excluding the Bible)

  1. Adopted for Life by Russell Moore
  2. 1984 by George Orwell
  3. Uneclipsing the Son by Rick Holland
  4. The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness by Tim Keller
  5. Inventing the Enemy by Umberto Eco
  6. Fearless by Eric Blehm
  7. Of Temptation by John Owen
  8. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkein
  9. A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
  10. Jesus Himself by Andrew Murray

Honorable Mentions:

JRF's #52 - The Bible by God

Though I've read the Bible through in a school year multiple times, I had never read through the Bible in a calendar year, until now.

I made my own reading plan, dividing up the Bible into four sections, reading about 2 chapters each weekday from each section:

Genesis - Esther (History)

Job - Malachi (Poetry and Prophecy)

Matthew - Acts (Gospel Narrative)

Romans - Revelation (Epistles)

Although I didn't stay completely on schedule, I appreciated the discipline and reminder to be daily in the Word.  Every believer should try to read through the Bible in a year at least once in their lifetime.

Here are a few random thoughts from a year of reading God's Word:

- I need to study more eschatology. Reading continual statements like, "let him who has ears to hear, let him hear" and "blessed is the one who keeps the prophecy of this book" - and not understanding what I was reading was frustrating and humbling

- I am reminded anew of the amazing internal consistency of this book written by God through multiple people through out multiple centuries.

- I am reaffirmed in my conviction that the Bible is ultimately one story, and that is the story of God's glory as revealed in Jesus Christ.

- I enjoyed reading sermon notes I have taken over the past few years (I've had this Bible about 3 years), especially through the Minor Prophets as they reminded me of the excellent series Mark Oshman preached last year and how richly blessed I was through it.

- I realized that to really dig down into, retain, and meditate on God's Word I need to take it at a much slower pace.  I got behind schedule when I took time to dwell and study a passage.  I'm looking forward to using this resource to sink my teeth into the juicy steak that is the book of Isaiah over the first quarter of 2013.

- It was a pleasant providence that my reading ended with the book of Esther, for whom we named our daughter

- "[God's] promise is well tried, and your servant loves it."  Psalm 119:140

What's your plan for feasting on God's Word in 2013?

 

JRF's #50 - A Seed Falls on Okinawa by Peter A. Hewett

A disappointing read.  I'm not sure when/how I picked this book up but a few days ago when I was flipping through my Kindle looking for short books I could read to round out my 52 books for the year, I came across this 70 page short fictional story by Mr. Hewett about the battle of Okinawa and thought it might be an interesting read, considering it took place where I live and was supposedly about a Christian who died here.

Well it does take place on Okinawa - and it does provide some interesting facts and insights into the Okinawan culture.  Unfortunately, the book's redeeming qualities end there.  The author's overly-descriptive and pretentious writing style was distracting.  But that is forgivable.  The horrid theology presented is not.  A mixture of universalism and syncretism with a thin veneer of Roman Catholicism, there is no Gospel Truth to be found here, just therapeutic contextualization.

This book won't be showing up on any top ten lists this year.

JRF's #49 - Of Temptation: The Nature and Power of It by John Owen

Last year I read John Owen's classic, The Mortification of Sin.  This year I tackled his much shorter, but no less potent, Of Temptation.

Using Christ's instruction to his disciples in Matthew 26:41 "Watch and pray, that you enter not into temptation", as the foundational verse of his book, Owen then dives deep into the meaning of temptation, the circumstances by which we enter into it, and the way of preventing and resisting it.

In typical Owen fashion, the heart is laid bare and the truth of God's Word is expertly applied to both convict and offer hope to those caught in the current of temptations' flood.

Ultimately and most poignantly Owen points his readers to a Trinitarian Hope: The faithfulness of God the Father's promises to those who believe, the grace of God the Son who secures and accomplishes the Father's promises, and the power and efficacy of God the Holy Spirit who executes those promises.

I hope to cling to these promises and the God who gives them more tightly in 2013 because of reading this book.

"Confidence of any strength in us is one great part of our weakness...He that says he can do anything, can do nothing as he should."

"What a man's heart is, that he is."

"Prosperity has slain the foolish and wounded the wise"

"He that would indeed get the conquest over any sin must consider his temptations to it, and strike at the root; without deliverance from thence, he will not be healed.  This is a folly that possesses many who have yet a quick and living sense of sin.  They are sensible of their sins, not of their temptations - are displeased with the bitter fruit, but cherish the poisonous root."

"...store the heart with a sense of the love of God in Christ, and his love in the shedding of it; get a relish of the privileges we have thereby - our adoption, justification, acceptance with God; fill the heart with the thoughts of the beauty of his death - and you will, in an ordinary course of walking with God, have great peace and security as to the disturbance of temptations."

JRF's # 48 - Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

 

Joseph Conrad's classic novel tells the tale of Marlow, a sailor who travels up river into the dense Congolese rainforest on an expedition to retrieve a legendary ivory hunter, Mr. Kurtz, who has not been heard from in some time.  The further into the jungle Marlow travels, and the further away from civilization, the more savage the world becomes.  When they finally find Mr. Kurtz...well things get weird.  They find evil.  But they also bring evil.

Conrad supplies an interesting look at how humans view each other and ourselves and provides a beautifully written commentary on the forces that both fence in and reveal our depravity.  This exploration into the meaning of and potential for savagery within all of us is filled with powerful symbolism and enigmatic prose (a lot of which went over my head, I must admit).

 

JRF's #51 - The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

 

Referred to by some as "Harry Potter and the Holocaust", this lengthy book came highly recommended from a variety of sectors, so when I found out my library had it, I picked it up.

Narrated by the personification of death, the book tells the story of Leisle, an orphan of communist parents who is taken in as a foster child by a poor German couple living outside of Munich right at the dawn of World War II.  As Liesle struggles to survive she makes many discoveries - friendship, the secret life of her loving foster father, and the wonder and power of books.  As her story progresses it inevitably intertwines with the larger narratives of what is happening around her - Kristallnacht, the Hitler Youth, the Holocaust, and the devastation of World War II.

Overall I enjoyed it.  The story is definitely compelling and the characters are rich.  I thought that telling the story of World War II from the perspective of a poor, orphaned, German girl was helpful in that it provided a portrait of World War II that is not often explored.

While the non-linear narrative told by Death was unique it sometimes got annoying and confusing.  My only other criticism would be that there was an excess of foul language, especially considering this book is from the Young Adult section.