My Top 10 Nonfiction Books of 2011

I read a lot of books in 2011. Most of them were really good, so it was really hard to pick my top 10, but here they are. Be sure to check out my Top 10 Fiction Books of 2011 also.

10. Earthen Vessels by Matthew Lee Anderson (Bethany House 2011) EARTHEN VESSELS was one of the most interesting books I've ever read and one of the most thought-provoking. Anderson takes us on an exploration of the importance of our physical bodies to life and to our journey with God. The book explores the topics of sex, tattoos, homosexuality, death, and more. Everyone should read this book. (Read my review here)

9. You Lost Me by David Kinnaman (Baker Books 2011) As someone who has worked with the young adult age group in a church context, as well as someone in that age group, I found Kinnaman's findings insightful and incredible helpful to churches wanting to reach disconnected young adults, as well as helping them develop a faith that pervades all facets of their lives. Definitely a book to read again and again. (Read my review )

8. The Christian Faith by Michael Horton (Zondervan 2011) Horton's systematic theology is a moving exploration of the most important tenets of Christianity. It's a big book, but it's interesting throughout. (Read my review here)

7. Is God a Moral Monster? by Paul Copan (Baker Books 2011) The violence in the Old Testament has always been a struggle for me, but Copan explores the issue and shows the love God extends toward humanity. If you've struggled with how God is portrayed in the Old Testament versus the New Testament, this is a book you'll want to check out. (Read my review here)

6. Innocent Blood by John Ensor (Cruciform Press 2011) This book is about the biblical stance on abortion, but it's also much more than that. INNOCENT BLOOD is a call for believers to stand up for the innocent and to protect human life. This is a very challenging book in that you may discover that you're pro-life theoretically, but pro-choice in practice. Ensor brilliantly explores the depths of God's care for human life. (Read my review here)

5. The Accidental Creative by Todd Henry (Portfolio 2011) Henry outlines a very practical creative process for generating ideas consistently and repeatedly. The ideas in this book are incredibly revolutionary if you're a creative. (Read my review here)

4. Tempted and Tried by Russell Moore (Crossway 2011) Jesus' temptations in the desert has always been one of my favorite stories about Jesus from the Bible, and Moore shows us how Jesus' temptations show us the pattern of our own temptations and how to defeat them. Moore's writing is fresh and transparent. This is a much needed exploration of the biblical battle against temptation. (Read my review here)

3. Quitter by Jon Acuff (Lampo Press 2011) QUITTER is about closing the gap between your day job and your dream job. Using his humorous wit, Acuff shows us how to discover the dream that's been locked inside of us and gives us great encouragement and practical advice on how to make our dreams a reality. QUITTER is an incredible book that I'll turn to over and over again. (Read my review here)

2. Gospel Wakefulness by Jared C. Wilson (Crossway 2011) GOSPEL WAKEFULNESS is a beautiful look at what the gospel is to us when everything else in our lives is stripped away. Wilson reveals how the gospel comes alive to us like never before, producing greater love for the God who rescued us. I especially enjoyed the chapter on gospel-centered sanctification. This book is brilliant. (Read my review here)

1. The Meaning of Marriage by Timothy & Kathy Keller (Dutton Books 2011) I love every book that Timothy Keller writes, so when I learned that he was releasing a book on marriage, I knew it would have to be incredible. Keller writes with amazing insight both into the biblical teaching on marriage and the culture of people he's writing to. Keller illustrates God's beautiful purpose for marriage brilliantly, and reading this book with a commitment to applying its principles will strengthen marriages and provide a strong foundation for singles looking to get married in the future. (Read my review here)

A Review of CLASSICAL ARMINIANISM by F. Leroy Forlines

I've had an interest in the divine sovereignty/human freedom debate for a long time, and though I don't subscribe to either Calvinism or Arminianism because those systems each entail some beliefs I think are unbiblical, I'm always interested to read what their proponents have to say because it helps me to understand and sharpen my stance on the theological issues involved. CLASSICAL ARMINIANISM by F. Leroy Forlines is one of the best books I've read on the subject and is a clear, thorough, and compelling case for a specific branch of Arminianism that seeks to be as close to what Jacob Arminius himself taught called Classical Arminianism.

Classical Arminianism, like Calvinism, seeks to be faithful to what the Bible teaches, and this book does a great job at looking at many of the key passages that have to do with the divine sovereignty/human freedom questions. Because Calvinists are the ones most often writing books defending their views, CLASSICAL ARMINIANISM often reads like a defense against Calvinism more than a defense of Arminianism. Since this is expected based on the nature of the debate, it didn't bother me. I thought Forlines did an exceptional job of deconstructing many Calvinistic arguments.

Forlines presents a case based on the reality of created human personality and how persons interact through influence and response rather than cause and effect. He shows Romans 9 to be about individual election instead of corporate election, but also shows that the text doesn't require the unconditional election interpretation that Calvinists place upon it. He does this for several other passages as well, while also showing that these same passages are consistent with conditional election.

The book also includes some very illuminating discussion of the provisionary nature of the atonement and justification. The chapter on sanctification was one of my favorites. Finally, where I definitively part ways with Classical Arminianianism is the stance that it is possible for a believer to lose their salvation, though Forlines makes a very interesting and thought-provoking case for his position.

CLASSICAL ARMINIANISM is an excellent outline of what Arminianism as Arminius himself is. I have more in common with Classical Arminianism than I do Calvinism, and I appreciated Forlines very thorough treatment of the issues. Wherever you stand on the divine sovereignty/human freedom debate, this is a must-read exploration of the issues.

I received this book for free for review from Randall House

My Review of THE MEANING OF MARRIAGE by Timothy Keller

“There has never been a book on marriage like THE MEANING OF MARRIAGE.” This blurb on the inside dust jacket of Timothy Keller's latest book, co-written with his wife Kathy, is exactly right. Keller, using his usual use of words to communicate important concepts in fresh and stirring ways, elevates marriage to the place that the Bible elevates it.

In a world where marriage is often treated as something to be tried out and thrown away if left unsatisfying, Keller shows how marriage is actually an incredible gift to humanity and an important way for people to grow into the people God desires them to be. Marriage, though at times difficult, is meant to provide some of the greatest joy that two people can experience, as well as some of the most beneficial growth contexts.

Keller takes us on a journey through some of the most prevalent misconceptions about marriage and how important our perceptions are in how we approach marriage. Using the most important biblical texts on marriage, Keller shows us how marriage is meant to draw us closer to the heart of God and reflect the incredible love and sacrifice of Jesus. For marriage to thrive, Keller tells us, we have to put our inherent self-centeredness to death. In fact, self-centeredness is the number threat to a healthy marriage.

Keller shows us the power of grace, love, and truth in marriage as we learn to love someone who is really a stranger who we are discovering more and more of throughout the relationship. He shows how the biblical view of marriage is marriage as covenant, and he makes a compelling case for commitment and promise-keeping as a means to deeper love, stronger passion, and closer friendship.

I picked up THE MEANING OF MARRIAGE as a husband and as a follower of Jesus. I've been married to my wife for eight years, and I can say that she makes me better than I could be on my own. Desiring to always grow as a husband, father, and Christ follower, I found THE MEANING OF MARRIAGE to be insightful, biblical, and incredibly motivating to follow Jesus more and to pursue my wife even more.

Timothy Keller has been one of my favorite writers since I read his first book THE REASON FOR GOD a few years ago. THE MEANING OF MARRIAGE is an important book both for married couples and singles wanting a biblical and life-giving view of marriage.

I received this book for free for review from Dutton, a division of Penguin Books

Pursuing Your Dreams: A Review of QUITTER by Jon Acuff

For many people there’s a gap between what they’re currently doing for a living and what they wish they were doing for a living. Jon Acuff in his book QUITTER calls this the gap between your day job and your dream job. Acuff was once a chronic job quitter, never finding exactly what he was looking for. Until he decided to use his day job as the perfect opportunity to work toward his dream job, closing the gap between his day job and his dream job.

Acuff, who writes a funny blog about the idosyncracies of Christians called Stuff Christians Like, takes us on the journey of how he attained his dream job writing for Dave Ramsey’s company, and along the journey he gives some great advice on how people can grow to like a job you don’t love and to hustle your way toward making your dream job a reality.

QUITTER is packed with incredible insight on how to discover what it is you most love doing and how to get to the point where that is what you’re doing for a living. The only drawback to the book is that people who are creatively oriented, such as writers, will probably find this more helpful than other people who don’t feel led to a creatively-oriented job. I love writing, so I found the book to be great for pursuing that dream.

Still, QUITTER is encouraging to discover your dream and how to work toward it. Plus, Acuff is funny all the way through. It's definitely a book I'll turn to again and again.

The Longing: A Christmas Short Story

Imagine that you're waking up on the floor of a hospital hallway. It's completely dark and completely silent, except for the distant sounds of medical machines beeping. You have the distinct feeling that someone is after you.

You get up off the floor and pull out your cell phone to use as a light to navigate the darkness. You start going into all the rooms, looking for somebody, but you discover that the hospital is completely empty of people. Except for you and the person you suspect is after you.

You start running down the halls, desperately looking for an exit, but it seems like the halls are never ending. Finally, you find a door with an EXIT sign above it. You go through the door, but instead of finding yourself outside, you find yourself in the exact spot where you woke up in the hospital.

You try to stay calm. There has to be a way out of this. You're not sure that someone is after you, but you just have that feeling. You suddenly hear a beeping noise coming from your hand. It's your phone. Your battery is low. You only have a few more minutes before your light goes out and leaves you in the darkness.

You're ready to throw the phone against the wall in a fit of frustration when you hear the sound of someone moving twenty feet behind you. Instinctively, you know this can't be good. Your fight-or-flight reflexes take over and you're running through the hospital hallways again, hoping you don't run into a wall in the blackness.

You run for what seems like miles, and you finally feel that you might have gotten away, so you stop. You bend over, trying to catch your breath, listening for movement. Everything is silent once again. Your phone beeps again to tell you that it's almost time to say goodbye. You try to fight the panicky feeling rising up inside of you.

In the darkness, you're desperate for light, for something good in the midst of all the bad. Someone to rescue you. From what, you're not sure.

You shine your light all around you because you feel like you need to, and you stop because up ahead you see a person facing away from you, dressed in all black. The person is wearing a ski mask. They're not moving at all. This has to be who is after you. You know you should run, but you're sick of running. It hasn't gotten you anywhere.

You're suddenly overcome with this need to find out who this person is and why they're after you. So, silently and quickly you walk toward them and reach out to pull the mask off. As you're pulling it, the person turns around and you shine the light in their face. Actually, in your face, because it's you that you've just discovered is after you.

Suddenly you realize that the person after you is yourself, but specifically the person is the one thing that has always haunted you. More than just something you've ever done, but something you've always felt you've been missing that your soul desperately needs. It's the one thing that keeps you from being satisfied with life. It's the need for something to fill the hole inside of you. And now it's turned into a person with your face on it, and it's after you.

Suddenly the instinct to run kicks in again, and the person who is you begins chasing after you. The closer you get to yourself, the more you feel the burning longing inside for something you're not sure of, but you know is really good.

It's the one thing you need. It's the one thing that will stop you from being your own worst enemy. The one thing that will reconnect you to a love you're sure you've lost.

It has to be somewhere in this hospital. Because you can't get out of the hospital, and if it were on the outside, it couldn't help you. You could never reach it because the hospital won't let you out. But if it were on the inside, then there's hope. So you keep running, in complete darkness because your cell phone has finally died.

Every few steps you feel your own warm breath on the back of your neck from your pursuer. Your pursuer could just grab you, but it doesn't. It's taunting you. If only your one desperate Need could be inside the hospital for you to find. As that thought flows through your mind, a sudden burst of light appears up ahead. It's a spotlight, shining down on something on the floor.

What could it be?

You run toward it, and as you get closer, you hear a tiny voice crying. You know that sound. You've heard it before, but this time it's much different. You seem to know that it belongs to someone bigger than you've ever known.

You reach the spotlight. You look down. The spotlight is shining down on a tiny baby boy. The baby is wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in what looks like an animal feeding trough. You look behind you and your pursuer is gone. The longing inside has also disappeared because the one thing you desperately needed came into the hospital in the form of this tiny little baby.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. -John 1:14


Photo Credit: Greg Lawler on Flickr

My 10 Favorite Fiction Books of 2011

Here are the ten fiction books I enjoyed the most this year. From this list, it's not too hard to figure out who some of my favorite authors are. If only J.K. Rowling had written a novel this year.

10. Invasion by Jon S. Lewis (Thomas Nelson 2011) INVASION was just a really fun YA novel about teen heroes and alien invasions. I loved the comic angle in the book. I love trilogies, and this being the first in the C.H.A.O.S trilogy, I'm looking forward to seeing where this story goes. (Read my review here)

9. The Chair by James Rubart (Broadman & Holman 2011) This was the first novel by James Rubart. The premise of a guy coming across a mysterious chair allegedly made by Jesus was interesting, though I couldn't imagine the story being very suspenseful. Rubart delivered a page-turning story, filled with suspense and emotion and hope. I'll be checking out Rubart's other novels now. (Read my review here)

8. Darkness Follows by Mike Dellosso (Realms 2011) This isn't a feel-good novel at all. In fact, it was quite disturbing. Yet it was a really great story about a daughter's deep love for her father, and as a father, I really loved that about this story. Dellosso knows how to use a dark tale to communicate spiritual truth. (Read my review here)

7. The Priest's Graveyard by Ted Dekker (Center Street 2011) Dekker's story about a priest who takes the law into his own hands is a disturbing tale that exposes our desperate need for grace. As always, Dekker surprised me with an intense story reversal that I should've seen coming. (Read my review here)

6. Vigilante by Robin Parrish (Bethany House 2011) I've loved every Robin Parrish novel to date, and this one was no exception. I've always loved superheroes and especially origin stories, and this story is a great superhero story. I'd love to see Parrish follow up this story with another story about The Hand. (Read my review here)

5. 40 by Travis Thrasher (Faith Words 2011) I studied recording in college with the hope of being a producer someday, which never happened, so 40 was a fun novel to read because it was like an inside look at the music recording industry. Thrasher's creepy novel about a music producer learning that he wouldn't live past his fortieth birthday is all about how the choices we make shape our history. It's a bittersweet story about regret and the hope of a meaningful life. (Read my review here)

4. One Step Away by Eric Wilson (Bay Forest Books 2011) I had been wanting to read Eric Wilson's books for awhile. Finally, I decided to dive into his latest novel, and after reading it, I'm sure I've found another favorite writer and can't wait to dive into his other books. ONE STEP AWAY is a suspenseful story about a suburban family struggling to make ends meet who is suddenly left with more money than they could ever imagine. What seems like a blessing begins to look more like a curse. Someone wants them to suffer greatly, and the past is coming back to haunt them. It's a tale about the unexpected ways God works in the lives of people. (Read my review here)

3. Frantic by Mike Dellosso (Realms 2012) This book doesn't actually come out until 2012, but as a member of Mike Dellosso's Darlington Society, I got to read it early. It was definitely one of the best book's I've read this year. FRANTIC is supernatural thriller about a man trying to rescue a woman and her gifted brother from a madman. Little does he know that the rescue attempt will land them right in the middle of a disturbed serial killer's path. Dellosso's pace is quick, and the mounting suspense and mystery kept me turning pages until the end. This will be one of the best Christian fiction titles of 2012. (Read my review here)

2. Gravestone by Travis Thrasher (David C. Cook 2011) Travis Thrasher has grown to be one of my favorite storytellers because of his ability to embrace several different genres. This is the second book in his creepy young adult series THE SOLITARY TALES, and it is intense all the way through. My favorite television show was LOST because it kept me guessing all the way through. GRAVESTONE is like that. I can't wait to read the final two books in the series in 2012 and finish the journey with Chris Buckley as he discovers the hidden secrets of Solitary. (Read my review here)

1. Forbidden by Ted Dekker & Tosca Lee (Center Street 2011) There was a lot of hype built around Dekker and Lee's collaboration on a new post-apocalyptic trilogy about a world where every human being is dead and doesn't know it. When I read it, there was no doubt that the story far surpassed the hype. I was a little nervous about the collaboration because, though I've enjoyed every Dekker novel, the collaboration novels didn't always feel totally Dekker. FORBIDDEN was a perfect collaboration. It was a moving beginning to an epic retelling of redemptive history. I can't wait for the final two novels out in 2012. (Read my review here)

Fast-Paced Storytelling: An Early Review of FRANTIC by Mike Dellosso (Coming February 2012)

HE'S GOING TO KILL ME

With those words written hastily on a crumpled piece of paper, Marny Toogood is thrust into a frantic rescue mission of a beautiful girl named Esther and her mysteriously gifted little brother William. What starts out as a desperate fleeing attempt from a violent madman named Gary turns into a full-throttle grasping for survival in the midst of a disturbing plot the reader will never see coming. Violent death has been following Marny his whole life, a curse that touches everyone he cares about. Will find Marny find the faith to be the hero and put an end to his curse, or will the violent and the crazy, the frantic thirst of death, claim Esther and William as well?

FRANTIC shows Mike Dellosso's growth as both a writer and a storyteller. It's easily the best story I've read by him and gets me excited to see what else he has in store. At times when I was reading FRANTIC, I felt like I was reading something akin to a Ted Dekker thriller. Dellosso continues to show that Christian writers can tell great, suspenseful, and sometimes dark stories that shine the light of Jesus into the dark places.

Dellosso's pace in this story is remarkable. I love his short chapter lengths that almost always end on a cliffhanger. Just when you think you're going to put the book down at the end of a chapter, curiosity gets the best of you and you just have to find out what happens next. If the goal is to get readers to keep turning pages, Dellosso has really hit on how to make it happen.

The suspense and mystery keep mounting further and further throughout the story. At times it reminded me of the TV show LOST, which was great given that LOST was really great and emotionally stirring storytelling.

Like LOST, I couldn't help but love the characters in FRANTIC. Each of them seemed to have a past that they were both running from and being shaped by. Marny is an unexpected hero, and you really start to sympathize with all the heartache he's experienced in life. Esther is a strong heroine who loves in the face of incredible hate. William is a picture of innocence and faith in the midst of impossible odds. Then you have the antagonists. Gary is deeply disturbed, yet even his past breeds a measure of sympathy from the reader. There's one more villain to the story, but the reader will want to discover that on their own. I'll just say that I didn't expect what the story turned into.

Additionally, Dellosso's descriptions really created a vivid image of what was going on in the story in my mind. I knew this was true because a few days after reading a scene in the book I was reminded of something I had seen on TV earlier in the week, only I couldn't remember what it was. But I could clearly picture whatever it was. I finally realized that it wasn't something I had seen at all; it was the scene I had read in FRANTIC.

FRANTIC was a story that starts out as one thing and gradually grows into something else entirely. I absolutely loved the progression of this story. If you love a story that keeps you guessing until the end as it seeks to draw you closer to the heart of God, you'll want to check out FRANTIC. Then you'll want to check out Mike Dellosso's other novels as well.

FRANTIC doesn't come out until February 2012. As a member of Mike Dellosso's Darlington Society, I got the opportunity to read it early. I'm grateful I did.