Book-of-the-Month for January & The Return of the Blog

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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!

Book-of-the-Month for June

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Each month it’s “I can’t believe it’s…” but this time, I mean it! The school year is almost over and summer is upon us.

For June I’ve selected the book Growing Up Social: Raising Relational Kids in a Screen-Driven World. It’s written by Gary Chapman (of 5 love languages fame) and Arlene Pellicane, who wrote Screen Kids and whose children are featured in the documentary Screen Kids: In Their Own Words.

This book was written in 2014, but it doesn’t feel outdated. If anything, it feels even more relevant, especially reading it from the other side of a global pandemic that took screens and their place in our lives to another level.

The reality was we needed them in order to work, go to school, play with our friends, connect with family. In the years since this book was released, there’s also been time to conduct more research about the changes our devices and screens have wrought on children and adults alike.

You don’t have to be a parent or a youth or children’s worker in order to learn from this book. The fact is that all of us have been affected by our screens, whether it’s in how we deal with difficult emotions or boredom or awkwardness, what we consider entertainment and fun, and how we relate to people and view relationships. I think that the “A+ skills” of Affection, Appreciation, Anger Management, Apology, and Attention are useful for each of us to grow in, no matter how old we are! As someone who interacts with children and youth a lot, I’ve seen the effects growing up in the years of the pandemic have had in particular, and this book was helpful in thinking about what kind of skills and values I am instilling into our next generation.

The authors are realistic and offer hope that we can start wherever we are at to make positive changes that will be beneficial for our children, teens, and ourselves, and enrich our relationships with one another, in our families and communities. One thing I kept thinking while reading this book was that it would be difficult for parents who are trying to do this on their own, but thankful that in our community, we could support one another in our efforts to implement some of the relationship-prioritizing principles in the book, by doing it together!

Book-of-the-Month for May

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Wow, can you believe it’s already May? The official book selection for May is The Fuel & the Flame: Ignite Your Life and Your Campus for Jesus Christ by Steve Shadrach and Paul Worcestor, from Campus Ministry Today and hosts of the Campus Ministry Podcast.

Rather than trying to paraphrase the blurb and description of the book, thought I could just point you to the description on their website!

While this book focuses on the 4-year window of college, the fundamentals of evangelism, disciple-making, and mission mobilization (EDM 😬) apply to each of us as ministers of the gospel!

Looking forward to getting fired up together!