It’s a time for 2016 favourite reads
from some of the ACW gang. I shared my fiction ones two weeks ago and now share my non-fiction.
I read more non-fiction. Hey, I’m a
“learner” in every strengths profile I’ve completed so reading and/or studying
non-fiction works fills my learning bucket. Oh, it’s probably also why I’m
happy to be preached to when reading fiction (so long as it gels with the
story) The ratio of non-fiction to fiction is roughly 60:40. Fiction has actually
grown in the last couple of years through judging and the large number of
novellas that are now available.
Enough of the pre-amble let’s get to
the list and in no particular order. However, in saying that two books have had
a significant impact on me and I’ll lead with those.
The Forgotten Way (Ted Dekker) – Ted
and I are of a similar age and interestingly we’ve both been on a journey these
past few years going deeper with the Lord. I believe most of us get to a point
in our faith walk where we ask the question: “Is this all there is?” only to
conclude it’s not and we want more. More of God. More of Jesus. More of the
Holy Spirit.
The Forgotten Way is a series of 21
devotions where Ted explores his journey on discovering the “more.” I’ve now
read it 7 times plus shared it with about ten people so think it’s pretty
significant.
The Broken Way (Ann Voskamp) – I read
most things Ann writes. I just love Ann’s heart for Jesus. Ann’s humility, her
understanding of the Word and her wholehearted devotion to Jesus is such a good
example for all of us. The Broken Way is a call to bring all of ourselves to
Jesus, yes, even our brokenness, our stuff, whatever that may be. He came to
bind the brokenhearted, which we all are. We are all broken. Sin does that. In
bringing all of ourselves to Jesus we establish true intimacy with Him enabling
us to discover who He made us to be.
I’ll be brief on the rest otherwise
we’ll be here till January with this post. My reviews are linked and a couple
of them I’ve already featured during the year.
Awe (Paul Tripp) – we’re created for
awe but too often we set our dials towards things of the world rather than to
the One who created us. Excellent. Excellent.
Moving Mountains (John Eldredge) – I
too read everything John writes. This one is on prayer. I’ve read a lot of
books on prayer. I enjoy praying and appreciate learning what others think
about it. This is very practical and will get you praying more and help develop
greater intimacy with Jesus. And that’s what I look for in a good book on
prayer.
Who I am in Christ (Neil T. Anderson)
– there are a lot of books out there on “identity in Christ”, “who I am” and so
forth. This is a 36 “chapter” devotional style book that looks at identity from
3 angles: “Our Acceptance in Christ, our security in Christ and Our
Significance in Christ.”
Really good stuff. I’ve read it a
couple of times now and will dive in again soon I expect.
Two other quick mentions, both of
which I’ve featured here on ACW:
If you’re a non-fiction reader I’d love to know of any that particularly
grabbed you this past year.
Wishing all of my ACW friends an especially blessed Christmas and New
Year. And here’s to a great year of reading in 2017!
Ian Acheson is an author
and strategy consultant based in Northern Sydney. Ian's first novel of
speculative fiction, Angelguard, is available in the US, UK, Canada and Australia. Angelguard was the recipient of the 2013 Selah Award for Best Speculative Fiction. You can
find more about Angelguard at Ian's website, on his author Facebook page and Twitter
