As we are a few weeks out from Easter, I chose a devotional classic, The Calvary Road by Roy Hession for this month’s book. This is a lot of people’s favorite book, and I know there are people who read it regularly.
One thing I love is how Hession doesn’t pull any punches, but is direct in his writing. As I reread the book, I was reminded of our recent John 12:24-25 memory verse and this past week’s MBS message from the very beginning paragraphs:
“The Lord Jesus cannot live in us fully and reveal Himself through until the proud self within us is broken. This simply means that the hard unyielding self, which justifies itself, wants its own way, stands up for its rights, and seeks its own glory, at last bows its head to God’s will, admits its wrong, gives up its own way to Jesus, surrenders its rights and discards its own glory – that the Lord Jesus might have all and be all. In other words it is dying to self and self-attitudes.”
The book focuses on how to experience spiritual renewal and deeper relationship with God, and Hession emphasizes it isn’t necessarily through dramatic events, but through daily dying to self that comes from brokenness, repentance, and walking in the light. It is a short book, but each paragraph is packed with phrases you want to highlight or underline. You might end up coloring the book!
As we’ve been going through John 10 for our devotions, and we went through Psalm 23 for our ECM Conversational GPS this past Sunday, everything aligned for the February BOTM. I cannot help but recommend the classic A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23, by Phillip Keller, who was a pastor and an actual shepherd!
This is one of those Devotional Classics I would wager 99% of the 40+ at our church have read. And if they haven’t read it, it was probably still on their bookshelf because they got at least one as a gift for baptism, birthday, or graduation. 😅
I realize there’s a whole generation that hasn’t read this oldie-but-a-goodie that was published before even I was born! I’m glad I got to convince several people to pick this one up last month at AWC.
Psalm 23 is such a familiar Bible passage, but this book will deepen your appreciation for God’s careful attention and loving leading of your life. Even though I knew King David was a shepherd, this book taught me so many lessons about sheep that are relatable, and I came to understand the kind of love and care a shepherd has for his sheep. The book is insightful, funny, and moving. There are descriptions of some sheep I’ll never forget. Maybe you and your friends can talk about which sheep you most relate to at your next peer hang out time!
For those of you still on the fence about picking up this book, here are three things that might convince you: 1) it’s a SHORT and fast read, 2) it’s currently $1.58 😲 at christianbook.com, and 3) with Valentine’s Day coming up, and the hearts all around us, this book will help turn our hearts and minds to the great love God has for us, and deepen our love for Him, too. A win-win all around, I’d say!
Happy 2026! It’s a new year, and a new attempt to revive this blog as a way to keep people across Acts2 Network in the loop about new (and old) books, and to inspire us all to read more books through stories, photos, and who knows what else. I tried the podcast thing (sorry to everyone who got excited from the trailer), but blogging might be the best way for me to be consistent. I know blogs are so 2008, but if you know me, I’m actually totally 1998. 📟
For those of you who are new here, you can read the updated “about” section and peruse old posts. Sometimes I’ll refer back to old posts, as there’s some good stuff from back in the day, if I do say so myself. One thing is I realized multiple generations of kiddos have come and gone through Bibliopolis, and so I’m looking forward to a new generation of kids, college students, and adults growing to love reading, or at least like it a little more.
It was great to meet a lot of college students and recent grads at AWC this past week at the new ATC. I was personally so energized as I got to talk about some of my favorite books and heroes of faith with some of you at the book table!
The first Book-of-the-Month for 2026 is a book mentioned by one of our AWC speakers. After hearing a stirring message about prayer from Trace Hamiter from The Oaks Collaborative, I picked up Praying Hyde: Apostle of Prayer: The Life Story of John Hyde. I hadn’t heard of him before, and was challenged by the kind of singular priority he put on prayer. Rather than be intimidated or think, “I can never pray like that,” I decided to be inspired and apply some of the lessons from his life, and to commit to praying with more intensity and regularity. One lesson was he not only focused on prayer before and during a meeting or gathering, but gathered people to pray even more afterwards, so the word of God that was sown would not be snatched away (see “The Parable of the Sower” Mark 4). I found that timely, especially as we experienced God powerfully through AWC.
The book is actually a compilation of a few sources, including letters he wrote and biographical accounts. If you’re looking for a short book that will inspire and challenge you, give it a try!
Acts2 Books 