Some of my favourite 2016 Reads: Part 2 - Non-fiction

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:

The Story of With (Allen Arnold)

Idols of the Heart (Elyse M. Fitzpatrick)

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!

Grace and peace,

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

Book Review: Idols of the Heart - Elyse M. Fitzpatrick

Photo courtesy of P&R Publishing
 website

The Blurb

Do you feel discouraged, even defeated, in your battle against habitual sin? Are you dismayed or surprised by the situations that bring out your fear, anger, or distress? Elyse Fitzpatrick delves into the heart of the problem: deep down, we're all idol-worshippers who put our loves, desires, and expectations in God's place—and then suffer the consequences of our misplaced affections. Yet God loves his people and can use even our messy lives and struggles for his glory. Fitzpatrick shows us how to better search and know our hearts, long for our gracious Savior, and resist and crush our false gods. Includes questions for further thought. Revised edition of the one published in 2002.

My Review

I've read a few of Elyse Fitzpatrick's books now (and featured them on ACW) and when I saw that she was updating one I had NOT previously read I willingly volunteered to read an Advance Reader's Copy (ARC) of the new version. 

Idolatry continues to be a key challenge for believers. Anything that limits our love for God is an idol and from her years counseling people and in her own life Fitzpatrick is able to see how idols can take root in our hearts and weave their way through our everyday thoughts and actions.

For many of us we are aware of idols in our life but we can tend to either downplay their significance or attempt to kill them off ourselves. With tremendous Biblical teaching Fitzpatrick outlines how critical it is to be dealing with our idols but also letting the Holy Spirit manage the process.

What I particularly appreciated about this book is how practical it is. Fitzpatrick provides a step-by-step process for identifying potential idols in your life and provides herself as an example to demonstrate the process. Further, she outlines how to deal with them via prayer, repentance, and practical obedience.

For many of us we believe we can kill sin in our life through willpower or self-discipline and in the excellent Chapter 9, Fitzpatrick explains that fundamentally habitual sin is a heart problem. Our desires are fallen. The enemy who prowls around us all day every day uses those desires to tempt us to sin. Hence, we can only kill off sin by the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus was able to fend off Satan in the wilderness because from the very beginning of His life His desire was always to please the Father.

The book ends with a powerful Chapter on deepening our love and reverence for God. Like Jesus, if our desires are increasingly refocused to pleasing the Father dealing with temptations when they strike will get easier.

I highly recommend this book. Each chapter ends with "Further Thought Questions" which help you digest the content and apply it to yourself. In addition, the publisher provides a study guide (PDF) on their website which I'm planning to use when I give the book a second reading.

As I mentioned above I was provided with an ARC by the publisher but was in no way influenced to provide a positive review.

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 received the 2014 Selah Award for Speculative Fiction. You can find more about Angelguard at Ian's website, on his author Facebook page and Twitter

Book Review - Comforts from the Cross: Celebrating the Gospel One Day at a Time by Elyse M. Fitzpatrick

Review by Ian Acheson

Photo courtesy of Amazon.com

Blurb

Many women don’t always find solace in their relationship with Christ because they don’t see how his life, death, and resurrection connect with daily pressures and frustrations. 

Comforts from the Cross provides bite-sized readings to remind women of their place in Christ and of his love in the midst of their busy lives. Elyse Fitzpatrick shows how gospel truths such as justification, sanctification, and redemption can refresh women’s souls every day. These five-minute celebrations of the gospel relieve readers of legalistic condemnation and empower them for joyful obedience.

Great for gift-giving or personal encouragement, Fitzpatrick’s book will help busy women grasp the comforts of the gospel message. Now redesigned.  

My Review

This is one of the best devotionals, if not the best, that I've worked through. I so love how Ms Fitzpatrick draws the state of our hearts with all its muck and helps us let it go by guiding us with practical teaching to the heart of Jesus.

This is a 31-day devotional designed to be read over the course of a month. I've now read it twice and plan to start it again soon. Each devotional is three to four pages in length so is meatier than the typical one page per day of most other devotionals I've read. She starts with a verse of Scripture that provides the context for her lesson. Many days, not all, conclude with a powerful prayer that enables you to walk away having handed over the contents of your heart to the Lord.

There are so many excellent lessons but Day 29 on prayer is worth the purchase price alone. I found I was highlighting much of the ebook and making notes in my journal. Ms Fitzpatrick brought new life to verses that I've read hundreds of times. For example, the vine, branches and abiding of John 15:4-5 she encourages us to consider that it's not about what we should do rather simply to receive the goodness and godliness that comes from intimacy with Jesus. (Day 20)

The essence of each devotional is to bring us back to Jesus, to see His great love for us, and to enable us to keep looking at Him throughout the day. Focusing on His attributes, what He's done rather than what we do, and allowing ourselves to receive all that He's done.

As indicated in the blurb it’s written for women but I believe it is just as valuable for men.

Ian Acheson is an author and strategy consultant based in Northern Sydney. Ian's first novel of speculative fiction, Angelguard, is now available in the US, UK, Canada and Australia. You can find more about Angelguard at Ian's website, on his author Facebook page and Twitter

Book Review: "Found in Him" by Elyse M. Fitzpatrick

Photo courtesy of Crossway.org

We all desire acceptance and belonging. It’s a natural yearning that God has placed in us all. Much of what we do in life from our earliest days as a child through to adulthood can be a result of this natural yearning. Ultimately, God desires we discover that only He can satisfy this deepest need.

But what is so special is that God yearns for relationship with us. Found In Him provides a wonderful outline of what God has done to demonstrate His yearning in giving us His Son. But more significantly this gem of a book is a tremendous guide to understanding how we can find acceptance and belonging in Him.

The book is broken into two parts. The first covers the Incarnation. Fitzpatrick outlines in some detail how Jesus was like us. He was a child who did what children do. He lived intentionally as a child so he “veiled his omniscience”. He had to otherwise he wasn’t living as we did. That was his intention: to live as a human lives. That way he was able to replace us as on the Cross. Up until His baptism, Fitzpatrick contends “He didn’t get any special perks or supernatural privileges, like us He walked by faith, not by sight.”

Fitzpatrick walks through Jesus life to demonstrate His humanness in this first part and then leads us into the second part where she reflects on our union with Christ. She opens this section stating that Paul’s letters mention our being “in Christ” thirty-three times highlighting it is a central theme of much of the New Testament.

“If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our home with him.” (John 14:23). The Father loves us as much as He loves Jesus.

I don’t think I’d really ever thought of God’s love like that. I am loved as Jesus is loved. Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father.

Fitzpatrick lingers on the analogy of a wedding, the motif of which is strong throughout the Bible. The church, that is, His people, is His bride. And Jesus was our wedding gift.

The final chapter and in fact Appendix 2 (make sure you read this Appendix) draw it all together. There is nothing more we need to do but rest in the knowledge that we are wonderfully adored and loved by our Heavenly Father. How do we do that? Spend time with Him and do what He says. Like any great relationship, time and giving of ourselves is how we find true connection and comfortableness.

This book needs time so read it slowly and stop frequently to meditate and talk to God about points that are presented. It is bathed in Scripture and Fitzpatrick makes reference to many other scholars who have written about “oneness” with Christ.

If you struggle with acceptance and a sense of belonging I’d encourage you to grab this wonderful book.

Ian Acheson is an author and strategy consultant based in Northern Sydney. Ian's first novel, Angelguard, was released recently in US, UK, Canada and Australia. You can find more about Angelguard at Ian's website, on his author Facebook page and Twitter