NEW BOOK REVIEWS

State Missionary Rick Lance is executive director of the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions.

Other Recent Blog Entries:

VBS a GPS Strategy
Friday, February 5, 2010
The reason I am emphasizing VBS now is obvious. It needs to be an intentional act of training for VBS leaders. VBS is one way to share Christ in this Decade to make a Difference before us.

Helping the Haitians
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Long after the news spotlight has shifted elsewhere and many relief agencies have departed, the yellow shirts of Alabama Baptists and other Southern Baptists will be on the ground working in recovery, restoration and rebuilding.

Abbreviated Leadership Lessons
Monday, December 28, 2009
ALong after the news spotlight has shifted elsewhere and many relief agencies have departed, the yellow shirts of Alabama Baptists and other Southern Baptists will be on the ground working in recovery, restoration and rebuilding.

An Amen Christmas
Friday, December 18, 2009
Being called a "yes man" is not a compliment. Being described as "God's yes people" is the highest and greatest compliment we could ever receive. Let's have an Amen Christmas!

A Great Commission Convention Meeting
Friday, November 19, 2009
Thanks to all who contributed to the annual gathering and to those who came as messengers and guests. I am grateful to be an Alabama Baptist. We are on mission with the Great Commission.

Major Otis Corbitt Reports for Duty!
Friday, November 11, 2009
Now Otis goes as a missionary through the military. His role is different, but his calling is the same. He is called to be on mission with the Great Commission!

Happy Birthday, Billy!
Friday, November 6, 2009
Reminiscently, the last time I saw Billy Graham in person was during his last crusade in New York City. Frail and fragile, the famous evangelist made his way to the podium to preach during every service of his final evangelistic crusade.

A Variety of Quick Reads for the New Year

This past year I bought a Kindle, and I must admit that I have enjoyed it more than I ever could have imagined. Mine is not the latest one but the second version. I have downloaded a good number of books for my reading pleasure.

Despite the love affair with the Kindle, I still read the print version of books, and I would like to share with you a variety of quick reads which have inspired and informed me this past year. There really isn't a common thread to this list, except they have been helpful to me devotionally and spiritually.

G. K. Chesterton: The Apostle of Common Sense, by Dale Ahlquist, is a very good introduction to this intriguing English author, so loved in his time and in the present as well. Chesterton did take a common sense approach to Christianity, and this book highlights that lasting legacy.

So does Orthodoxy, foreword written by well-known contemporary author, Philip Yancey. Concerning this classic work by Chesterton, Yancey writes, "Whenever I feel my faith going dry again, I wander to a shelf and pick up a book by G. K. Chesterton. The adventure begins all over again." Orthodoxy is a book you want to read again and again.

Knowing Christ Today: Why We Can Trust Spiritual Knowledge, by Dallas Willard, author of The Divine Conspiracy, is well worth your time too. In this work, Willard has written a definitive defense of the faith for our time. Not every assertion will be well received, but Willard does a good job arguing for the Christian ideals of the gospel in a culture of postmodern thought.

One Sacred Effort: The Cooperative Program of Southern Baptists, written by collaborative authors David Hankins and Chad Owen Brand, was a book I reread recently. This is the best description of the Cooperative Program in Southern Baptist life today. It brings a fresh understanding to this time-tested and preferred plan of giving developed by Southern Baptists. A reading and studying of this work by Southern Baptists of all generations would go a long way in helping our convention sustain a cooperative missions focus in the 21st Century.

My friend, Don Wilton, has written a very helpful book, A Future and a Hope: Overcoming Discouragement. Wilton is a well-known Southern Baptist pastor, who preaches with a unique passion for sharing the gospel. He is also concerned about the challenging problem of discouragement in the lives of Christians today. That is the focus of this biblically solid and practically applied material. Don Wilton offers an encouraging word to his fellow believers which will resonate in the hearts and lives of so many in the future.

Two other quick reads deserve attention too. 100 Bible Verses That Changed the World, written by William J. Petersen and Randy Petersen, is a delightful study of famous people and their choice Scriptures. From the Apostle Paul to Charles Colson, you will live some biographical history and see the mighty influence of the Bible upon lives well lived.

Similarly, Words to Die for: Verses That Shaped the Lives of 30 People Who Changed the World, by Lawrence Kimbrough, reveals the stories behind what many call "life verses." You will read again the story of the verses which brought Augustine to his knees. Other influential people included are Bach, Booth, Bunyan, Bonhoeffer, Carey, Judson, Luther, Livingstone, Spurgeon, Wesley and Wilberforce.

The Kindle is a sheer joy, but I still like holding a book in my hands and having an experience of reading pleasure. In the years to come, that may become rarer, but I am going to enjoy while it lasts. Happy reading in 2010!