New Books

I do not have a good record at keeping New Year's resolutions. In January, I decided that I would change my reading genre for six months, and that I would not buy any books during that time. The purpose was to focus on the many books I have already purchased that remain unread. I am a sucker for book endorsements from certain individuals though, so I succumbed to the temptation to buy the following:

Under the Overpass by Mike Yankoski ~ This was first a work-related reading assignment, because the Saginaw Rescue Mission has secured the author as the keynote speaker for our annual banquet in September. During his college days, Mike felt lead to spend about six months living on the streets of five major cities to experience the life of a homeless man. Some of the stories are rather disturbing, some humorous, but they all give the reader a better understanding of the issues surrounding the homeless population. I enjoyed the book so much that I purchased my own copy to lend to others.

When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor and Yourself by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert. Ashlea highly recommended this book as a resource for her dad in his service as a deacon, but I'm going to read it, too. Bryan Chappell's (Covenant Theological Seminary) endorsement: "How can a local church make a difference, and how do individual Christians meaningfully reflect Christ's grace, when the disparities of wealth and power in our world are so great? When Helping Hurts explores biblical principles in terms of real-life situations to offer real help and grace-filled answers for such questions."

Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross: Experiencing the Passion and Power of Easter ~ edited by Nancy Guthrie, contributions by Piper, Keller, Edwards, Owen, Olford, Luther, Lloyd-Jones, Duncan, Spurgeon, Augustine, Calvin, Begg, MacArthur, Schaeffer, Sproul, and others. From the back cover: "In a culture where crosses have become little more than fashion accessories, it's easy for even the best-intentioned among us to rush from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday without contemplating all that the cross means. We miss out on tremendous spiritual riches when we do." This will be a timely and spiritually challenging read.