Welcome to another edition of Three-Minute Thursdays. Every year I get literally hundreds of books in the mail. That’s one of the perks of being a book reviewer. From time to time I take the big stack, I turn it into a little stack, so I can tell you about some of the new and notable books that I think will be interesting to people like you.
Transcript
Welcome to another edition of 3 Minute Thursdays. No, it hasn’t gone away, it’s back. In 3 Minute Thursdays, I take a short little bit of time, three minutes, and in that time I try to say something helpful, maybe even useful about something that’s of interest to you. My guess this week, is you’re interested in some new and notable books. I’ve got a few of them here that have come out in the last few weeks. Today I’m going to tell you about them.
Today we’re talking new and notable books. So we’ll get three minutes on the clock, and we’ll go. First up, we’ve got The Gospel for Muslims: An Encouragement to Share Christ with Confidence by Thabiti Anyabwile. I’m glad he’s written this book. Over the last few weeks, a couple of months really, I’ve had several opportunities to share the Gospel with Muslims. I’m grateful to have his wisdom, I’m grateful to know how to do it better, to do it more. Hopefully, to share the Gospels with Muslims more effectively. It’s been my experience, they’re generally very, very willing to engage, to talk about religion, to talk about what we share, and then, that often leads to an opportunity to talk about the uniqueness of Jesus Christ.
Next up, we’ve got Down, Not Out by Chris, I’m going to go with Cipollone, I don’t know. It’s a book about Depression, Anxiety and the Difference Jesus Makes. On the back it says this, “Depression can lead to self-condemnation, and yet the Gospel tells us there’s no condemnation in Christ. Anxiety leads us to inner turmoil, but the Gospel assures us of the love of God and the peace that comes with knowing Him.” That’s a conundrum, isn’t it? And so, in this book, he tries to address depression, anxiety, even mental illness from a Christian perspective. Whether that’s you yourself who are suffering from this, or someone you know and love.
Next, from Helen Thorne, we’ve got Walking with Domestic Abuse Sufferers. And so she has written quite a good book on pornography that I’ve often recommended, Women and Pornography. Now this one on walking with domestic abuse sufferers. And it’s an interesting format. I think it’s quite an effective one. She talks first about listening to the pain, then speaking words of transformation, and ends with encouraging practical change. That would be a great resource for every church to have available.
From Albert Mohler, we’ve got Acts 1 – 12 For You. This is from their ongoing series, God’s Word For You that comes from The Good Book Company. Many different people have written entries in this series. It’s a great way of studying God’s Word, to supplement, or even to become a key part of your daily devotions, or your family devotions. You read, you feed, you lead, are the three ways they break down every day. A great series, I’m glad to see Dr. Mohler with a new entry.
Then, from Nancy Leigh Demoss, we have two books. These are both updated versions of very popular books she’s written. There’s Lies Women Believe and Lies Young Women Believe, which she’s co-written with Dannah Gresh. Helpful books. This one’s already sold a million copies. So these are hardly new, but they are updated, and it says, “Now, in this new updated and expanded edition, Nancy shares the liberating truth with the new generation. She spotlights 45 lies women commonly believe. Lies about God, themselves, priorities, emotions, marriage, parenting and more, and offers the only means to challenge, counter, and overcome deception, which is, of course, the Truth.”
Finally, we’ve got Discipleship Explored. Not a book, but there is a workbook for it. It’s primarily a DVD series. You’ve probably heard of Christianity Explored. That’s a means to explore the claims of Christianity. Hopefully to bring people to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. This then is the follow-up. What do you do with people who have come to Christ? This is a good first step or series of first steps in discipleship. And, it might surprise you. It doesn’t say do this, do that, do that. Instead, it goes right to Christ, to the love of Christ. Shows that our identity is in Christ, and then leads people in their discipleship from that firm foundation. So, one worth checking out, whether you’re an individual, whether you’re a family, and a great resource to have available to your church.
So there we go, some new and notable books. I hope at least some of them have been interesting to you. I’ll put links of each one of them down in the description. I’ll see you again soon.
