Thursday, January 4, 2018

Top 10 books of 2017 II

Today I will complete my list of my top 10 favorite books of 2017. If you missed yesterday's post that included the first five books I encourage you to check it out. Here are the remaining five. Again, they are in no particular order.

Messy Grace by Caleb Kaltenbach. This is a fascinating story of a conservative pastor with gay parents. Raised in the gay lifestyle he came out to his parents as a Christian and later became a pastor. No issue is more divisive in today's church world as the issue of homosexuality. If your church has not discussed how it will relate to those involved in that lifestyle, you need to do so, and this book can help that conversation.

Taking Pascal's Wager by Michael Rota. This is an incredible book on apologetics that demonstrates how reasonable it is to accept the truth of the Christian faith. This book is not a simple read, but it is one that I thoroughly enjoyed. If you are a minister with preaching responsibilities, it will give you a lot of great material to share with your congregation.

A New Kind of Apologist by Sean McDowell, ed. One of the reasons this book made my top 10 list is that it addresses topics often ignored by traditional apologists, the kinds of issues faced by pastors and churches today. Over twenty leading apologists contributed to this book.

Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked by Adam Alter. The title alone should make you curious. It did me! The author demonstrates how many of today's products are made to be irresistible to consumers and how addictive they have become to millions of people. The good news is that he doesn't stop there but also shows how we can reverse that to improve our own health and that of our families.

Relativism: Feet Firmly Planted in Mid-Air by Francis J. Backwith and Gregory Koukl. Many today insist that there are no absolute moral values. One behavior is considered no better or no worse than another. The authors attack that idea in the introduction by pointing out that under such a belief system Mother Teresa is no more moral than Adolf Hitler. They continue attacking the idea of moral relativism throughout the book. I found it to be an excellent read.

Tomorrow I'll share some of the books I'm currently reading and some titles on my shelf waiting their turn. Will any of them make the top ten list for 2018? You'll just have to check back next January to find out!

1 comment:

Seth said...

Messy Grace was the best book I read in 2017.