March’s Book(s) of the Month

Posted on March 1, 2023 by hemilykim

Can you believe it’s March already? For March I have a couple of selections. There are a lot of wonderful books already recommended on the Lent Resources, so if you haven’t read those, I recommend starting there! I don’t want to stress people out with more recommendations, but I do know there are some avid readers out there who are looking for new and more books to read. The two I’ve chosen, in light of Lent and the month leading up to Easter, are newer books that led me to marvel at the gospel more, and also to love Jesus more.

The first is J.D. Greear’s new book Essential Christianity: The Heart of the Gospel in Ten Words. It came out last month, and I read it in one sitting (albeit a long sitting with several breaks!).

Greear uses Romans as a framework to go through the key questions and message of Christianity. This book is great for non-Christians who are interested in learning more about Christianity, new believers, and for Christians who want to deepen their faith too. I realize I basically said the book is good for everyone. 🙂 I could see it as a good book to read with someone who has taken Course 101 and wants to keep learning and discussing.

One thing I appreciate about Greear’s work is that he uses illustrations and stories that everyone can understand, distilling deep truths into concrete images and examples we can hold onto.

Here is one that might familiar to those of you who’ve read Gospel (if you haven’t, it’s on my (long) short list of Christian books), from the intro to Essential Christianity.

The gospel is not just the diving board off which you jump into Christianity―it’s the swimming pool in which you swim. See this book as your invitation to rediscover the goodness, the excitement, the liberation, and the power of the gospel

.If you’ve read his other books, listened to audiobooks he’s read, or listen to his podcast, you can definitely “hear” his voice as you read, and it was like having a conversation about Christianity with your neighbor who happens to be a pastor.

The second selection is Jesus Through the Eyes of Women: How the First Female Disciples Help Us Know and Love the Lord by Rebecca McLaughlin.

I found this book to be incredibly devotional, meaning I did come away knowing and loving Jesus my Lord more, like the title states.

One cannot help but fall in love with the Jesus that emerges through the course of this book. It goes without saying, but this book would be a great response to people who are resistant to Christianity because it is anti-women. March is also women’s history month. 🙂

While I think this book is for both men and women, there are some elements of the book that might make some men squeamish. It’s all stuff that is already in the Bible, but just wanted to give a little heads up.

Both books are available at the HB bookstore, for those of you in Berkeley. By the way, Essential Christianity is not yet available on audiobook, but JD Greear is going through the different topics of each chapter on his Ask Me Anything with JD Greear podcast.

Happy Reading, everyone!

February’s Book of the Month

Posted on January 27, 2023 by hemilykim

It’s been awesome hearing about different books people have been reading this past month. So many people reading Brothers K…I’m humbled and inspired! Even if the monthly theme is no longer “Cultivating the Mind,” I hope that picking up a good book or two this past month has motivated you to keep reading throughout this year.

According to polls, the average American reads about 12 books a year, while the median is 4 (that means half the country reads less than 4 books a year). That’s not to discourage you, but to motivate us to keep reading. Let’s shoot for above average. 🤣

And let’s keep talking about what we’re reading with one another, because love of reading and learning is contagious. We can create a culture of reading and learning, from the young to the not-so-young!

February’s book choice is Forgive: Why Should I and How Can I?, Timothy Keller’s new book, released this past November.

It expands on his September 2021 essay “The Fading of Forgiveness,” which was referenced in the Signs of the Times presentations we heard last summer.

The book’s anchoring text is The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant from Matthew 18. I don’t want to say too much more, but I found the book to be a mix of educational, devotional, practical.

It’s timely as I’ve been talking about The Sun Does Shine with some people, marveling at Anthony Ray Hinton’s ability to forgive, and to not be consumed by anger and vengeance. And this past week I’ve been reflecting upon and having conversations about Joseph, and his perspective on his life and all that he endured. I hope that this book will help each of us appreciate how central forgiveness is in all of our relationships, with God and with one another; to appreciate how costly it is; and to learn how to both receive and grant forgiveness continually.

Introducing: Gracepoint Book Club

Posted on October 25, 2022 by hemilykim

We’re marking the end of this blog’s 29-month hiatus by kicking off the Gracepoint Book Club! 🙌 I tried to think of some snazzy name, but decided to stick with this for now. Whether you’re an avid reader or a reluctant one, or somewhere in between, chances are you’d like to read more.

One of the obstacles people have cited for not reading more is not knowing where to start. So each month I’ll be unveiling the “book of the month” in four different genres or categories. You can choose to read one or all!

As I read along with everyone, I’ll be posting some thoughts and questions here on the blog, and over on Convo. The dream, the vision, is that there’ll be some IRL conversations as well as convo-sations throughout our church about some good books and some big ideas. This will help us to remember more of what we read, and we’ll likely grow in our enjoyment of reading as well, which will start a virtuous cycle of even more reading and more thinking!

Our November book-of-the-month selections are…[insert drum roll]

Christian book category: Fan the Flame: Let Jesus Renew Your Calling and Revive Your Church by Jim Cymbala, pastor of Brooklyn Tabernacle Church. (Sept. 2022)
Good Fiction category (aka English Class but *even* better!): Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (Oct. 1953)
Social/Cultural commentary category (aka Good Non-fiction about Big Ideas): The Life We’re Looking For: Reclaiming Relationship in a Technological World by Andy Crouch (Apr. 2022)
Bibliopolis Wild Card category: The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row by Anthony Ray Hinton, who you might remember from Just Mercy. (June 2018)