Summer Reading List

So, I took a really cute picture of all my Summer Reading books laid out on our hammock - and, well, I can't seem to find any adaptors that fit my camera and this laptop.   Bummer!

But, I do have a great list of summer reading books that I wanted to share with you - so I did a little cut and paste as a back-up plan.  Here they are - hope you can find some time to enjoy a few good books this summer, too!  If you have other books to recommend - please leave your titles in the comments section.  Thanks

I'm really excited about this book for the kids.  I think we'll use it with our family devos at night (which btw have suffered dearly due to ball season!)  If you've read Training Hearts, Teaching Minds by Meade - you know how great she is at explaining the Scriptures in a hearty way for little minds.     Forty interactive readings introduce children ages 8–12 to God’s saving work and the priority of the gospel by creatively unpacking Paul’s teachings in Galatians.

Long before we reach adulthood, the gospel ought to be shaping our lives. Paul taught the core truths of the gospel in his letter to the Galatians, and this collection of interactive readings for preteens applies those truths in understandable ways.
Each reading begins with a key verse and then highlights one element of the gospel in everyday terms, followed by questions and activities that reinforce Paul’s teaching. Meade guides young readers to a full picture of God’s saving work, as well as a real understanding of other doctrinal concepts such as justification by faith alone, the priority of Scripture, the requirements for apostleship, and the relationship between the old and new covenants.
For parents and teachers who want to awaken young hearts to a lifelong commitment to the gospel, God’s Mighty Acts in Salvation is a great resource. This is a companion volume to God’s Mighty Acts in Creation.

Just like you, Ann Voskamp hungers to live her one life well. Forget the bucket lists that have us escaping our everyday lives for exotic experiences. 'How,' Ann wondered, 'do we find joy in the midst of deadlines, debt, drama, and daily duties? What does the Christ-life really look like when your days are gritty, long---and sometimes even dark? How is God even here?' In One Thousand Gifts, Ann invites you to embrace everyday blessings and embark on the transformative spiritual discipline of chronicling God's gifts. It's only in this expressing of gratitude for the life we already have, we discover the life we've always wanted ... a life we can take, give thanks for, and break for others. We come to feel and know the impossible right down in our bones: we are wildly loved --- by God. Let Ann's beautiful, heart-aching stories of the everyday give you a way of seeing that opens your eyes to ordinary amazing grace, a way of being present to God that makes you deeply happy, and a way of living that is finally fully alive. Come live the best dare of all!

This is an incredible story about an ordinary woman who saw incredible needs and decided to do something about it - not just talk about it, but actually put feet to her words. It's not ok with me either and I'm sure it won't be ok with you once you read the book. It challenges you to act on what you've just read in a powerful and moving way. So I challenge you to read it and then get out of your chair and do something!   This book came recommended by a dear friend at church.  Really looking forward to unpacking these pages!

"Noël Piper tells the stories of five women whose lives declare something we have almost forgotten-what it means to be a Christian. May the influence of this book cause that awareness to burn brightly again in our generation!"
—Ray and Jani Ortlund, Christ Presbyterian Church, Nashville, Tenn.

Breakthrough author Francis Chan rips away paper and bows to get at the true source of the church’s power—the Holy Spirit. Chan contends that we’ve ignored the Spirit for far too long, and we are reaping the disastrous results. Thorough scriptural support and compelling narrative form Chan’s invitation to stop and remember the One we’ve forgotten, the Spirit of the living God.

"I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me."Matthew 25:42-43 ESV

In many Bibles, Christ's words are set apart with a red font. It should be obvious, but this distinction helps remind us that when God becomes Man and that Man speaks--it's probably something we cannot afford to miss.

So why doesn't the church take these " red letters" to heart? Why aren't we doing more to be Christ's hands and feet to the poor, the disenfranchised, the weary, the ill, the fatherless, the prisoners? It's all there--in red letters. Why has the Church shirked its responsibilities, leaving the work to be done by governments, rock stars, and celebrities?

The Gospel wasn't only meant to be read--it was meant to be lived. From the HIV crisis in Africa to a single abused and lonely child in Russia, the Church must seize the opportunity to serve with a radical, reckless abandon. Author Tom Davis offers both challenge and encouragement to get involved in an increasingly interconnected, desperate modern world.

Art critic John Ruskin enthusiastically proclaimed her potential as one of the best artists of the nineteenth century, but Lilias Trotter's devotion to Christ compelled her to surrender her life of art, privilege, and leisure. Leaving the home of her wealthy parents for a humble dwelling in Algeria, Lilias defied sterotypes and taboos that should have deterred any European woman from ministering in a Muslim country. Yet she stayed for nearly forty years, befriending Algerian Muslims with her appreciation for literature and art and winning them to Christ through her life of love.