Non-craft reading

I used to be an avid, even voracious, reader, mostly of genre fiction (science fiction, fantasy, romance, mystery). For several years now, however, I just haven’t read many books. Most of the fiction books I try to pick up now fail to capture my attention for longer than a few pages.

During that time I have read a few non-fiction books and biographies, most as either eBooks or audio books. More recently I’ve started reading physical books again. It started out that way because I was unable to purchase Clarence Thomas’ autobiography, My Grandfather’s Son, in either eBook or audio book format at the time (I see both formats are available now). After watching the Created Equal documentary, I wanted to know more. I was heavily influenced by the big (corporate) media at the time of his Senate confirmation hearings, and believed only what they told me about his character rather than researching and finding out for myself. I was in my twenties at the time and rather impressed with my own intellect (and that of the media), ha! So I bought the paperback version of his autobiography. I’m amazed at how easily I accepted the propaganda of the Anita Hill story.

Not pictured here are the numerous Bibles and Study Bibles I’ve purchased in a variety of translations. Those were actually the first physical books I bought when I finally began seeking God and attending church again in 2019. I hadn’t attended regularly, or even thought about it much, since I abandoned my faith in my late teens/early twenties.

So before I go forward, I have to go back just a little to explain. I grew up in a Christian home. I was baptized and accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior when I was about 11 or 12. We went to church every week, often twice on Sundays, and on Wednesday evenings. Singing was my favorite part. Sermons, not so much. I was also very much influenced by the world around me (music, television, books) and my friends.

One Sunday morning in Bible class, the youth minister was discussing current music. He used the lyrics of a song from one of my favorite bands as an example of something we should not be listening to, because of the bad influence it had on our hearts and minds. The song wasn’t even my favorite from the band, but because I really like the band and their other songs, I wasn’t very receptive to the idea or to what I perceived as chastisement. The song was Stay the Night by Chicago. He even pointed out how the lead singer emphasized the following lyric in the song, “We’re gonna have a very good time.” He was right, of course, but I really only began to accept that when my heart was changed in 2019. Even just a few years ago I was arguing my side with a co-worker that “I don’t even really listen to song lyrics, I just enjoy the music.” But looking back now that my eyes and ears are open, I see how everything has influenced my thinking, even subliminally, over the years.

I won’t go into everything here, but suffice it to say that after that moment, I rejected God. What He wanted was very inconvenient for me. I stopped attending church when I went to college. I engaged in worldly behavior and had some extremely unhealthy relationships. I did it “my way”, as the song says. And I’ve paid some pretty heavy prices for doing just that. At the time, even paying those prices wasn’t enough to turn me back to God. But He didn’t abandon me. He kept pursuing me. And in 2019 He finally broke down the walls I had erected in my heart.

When I started attending Sunday School/Bible study classes again, I began to realize how much I didn’t know about what the Bible actually says. Yes, I knew many of the stories from childhood – Noah, Moses, Jesus’ birth and death and resurrection. But I had a lot of misconceptions about a lot of things. And a lot of those things I had absorbed from the media I’ve consumed over the years. It doesn’t help when television shows misrepresent, either ignorantly or willfully, what the Bible actually says, because again, most of what I “knew” came from what I’ve seen, heard, and read from the culture.

So I began changing the culture I was ingesting. I came to some shows for entertainment, cultural, and political commentary, but I stayed for the thought-provoking educational and theological content. I kind of guessed at some of the information in PrimeTime Propaganda by Ben Shapiro, but I never really considered the extent to which many writers in Hollywood would go. It has completely changed how I watch scripted television shows, if I watch them at all. I read The Flipside of Feminism by Phyllis Schlafly and Suzanne Venker (which, ironically, is no longer available as an eBook on Amazon) and Feminist Fantasies by Phyllis Shlafly. Both were very eye-opening to some of the effects of third-wave feminism. I also read Allie Beth Stuckey’s You’re Not Enough, and That’s Okay, and bought a copy for each of my nieces.

{As an aside, when topics of theological and Biblical interest with special guests pique my curiosity (which happens more and more as time goes on), I research those guests’ writings (and listen to their sermons in the case of pastors). I am constantly adding and pruning resources as I learn more about God’s Word.}

I also decided that it was time to go to the source and read the Bible for myself. I first read the New Living Translation (NLT) version of The One Year Bible. And once I read that, I began to have questions about some of the different translations. The King James Only Controversy by James R. White should help me understand about the various old and new translations, how they were developed, and some of the major differences among them.

So back to the books. A lot of the books I’ve been purchasing are either for reference or ones that I want to pore over, and refer back and forth. That’s one of the reasons I’ve been buying more physical books. Another is that sometimes it is cheaper to buy a paper version (but the reverse can also be true sometimes). I often want to read a book and then share it with a friend, which is much easier to do with a physical copy (and more often than not impossible with eBooks because of Digital Rights Management or lack of eReader access).

Many have recommended Mere Christianity and The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. When I saw the set of C. S. Lewis books together with other works that looked very interesting, I bought the set. I have only ever read Lewis’ fiction book The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, after having watched the movie. The only other fiction that I’m reading (listening to) at the moment is This Present Darkness by Frank Peretti.

Along with those books, one of my Bible study teachers (who was also a Bible teacher at Lipscomb University!) recently recommended The Christian Mind by Harry Blamires. It was first published in 1963, and is just as relevant today as it was then, if not more so.

After listening to a sermon given by Keith Pickard on What Happens When We Die, along with getting a promotional email from Wretched around the same time for a devotional book, 50 Days of Heaven by Randy Alcorn, I decided to get the full book Heaven: A Comprehensive Guide to Everything the Bible Says About Our Eternal Home.

Another Bible study teacher recently did a book talk on Imagine Heaven: Near-Death Experiences, God’s Promises, and the Exhilarating Future That Awaits You by John Burke. I’m generally a skeptic when it comes to near-death experiences, but it sounded interesting, and I’m keeping an open mind.

I have listened to several interviews with and sermons by Voddie Baucham, and have been very touched by his teachings. He is a very powerful and thought-provoking speaker, so of course, he has a few detractors. I bought and am currently reading Fault Lines: The Social Justice Movement and Evangelicalism’s Looming Catastrophe (not pictured) as well as a couple of his other books. I just listened to “God With Us” and I love how he explains why things that the Bible says are important, and he does it with a wonderful sense of humor as well.

The last few books in the photo were recommended by another Melissa (Dougherty) that I follow on YouTube. I found her through Alisa Childers, who I found through a conversation Doreen Virtue, who I found through an interview with Allie Beth Stuckey – who does a lot of really great interviews! And yes, I’ve read Doreen’s book and Alisa’s book as well. It was actually the conversation with Doreen that encouraged me to read through the entire Bible myself and not just depend on someone else’s interpretation.

Melissa Dougherty had a video recently where she shared some of the top books she read in 2021. I really enjoyed her book talk. She was the one who recommended The King James Controversy.

Passport to Heaven isn’t another book about Heaven. The full title is Passport to Heaven: The True Story of a Zealous Mormon Missionary Who Discovers the Jesus He Never Knew by Micah Wilder. It sounds very interesting, and I’m looking forward to reading it.

Live Not by Lies: A Manual for Christian Dissidents also sounds like a very timely read regarding totalitarianism.

And I’ve just started reading The Story of Reality: How the World Began, How It Ends, and Everything Important that Happens in Between by Gregory Koukl. He also has a book called Tactics that sounds like a good book to read as well.

There are more books that I’ve bought and plan to read, of course. These are just the most recent. In some ways I feel like I’m trying to make up for all of that lost time.