Previous Post – Advent Reflection
As you probably already know, I love books. Being an insomniac, I tend to read a great deal even considering my rather full life. With Christmas coming (and a loving family that knows what I love), I am expecting to receive many more great titles in the coming year. So I thought I would end this year with a reflection on the best book of 2010. Last year, without question, it was a tie between “Introverts in the Church” by Adam McHugh (see interview with Adam here, still my mosted visit post a month after 17 months!) and “The Naked Anabaptist” by Stuart Murray (see my interview with Stuart here). (If you don’t have both of these books already, order them now).
This year has led to another tie, though technically one of the books won’t go to print until 2011. The first is “When Helping Hurts: Alleviating Poverty Without Hurting the Poor. . .and Yourself” by Brian Fikkert & Steve Corbett. Work with the poor, both here and abroad, this book is something I had longed to have for years. Confronting the assumptions and expectations of Christians giving and/or working with the poor, the authors offer a necessary and hopeful corrective to how we should respond to such need. Deeply rooted in a solid, holistic and biblical understanding of the Gospel, the authors gracious challenge people on “both sides” of the “social gospel” debate. I’ve given away many copies already!
The second book is written by my new friend, Kent Annan of Haiti Partners: “After Shock: Searching for Honest Faith When Your World Is Shaken”. (See my interview with Kent about his first book, “Following Jesus Through The Eye Of The Needle”). This book is scheduled for release early in 2011, but you can pre-order it now. In fact, you may want to pre-order a few, as I am sure you will want to give some away. This was one of the most moving and difficult books I have read in a long time.
In the wake of a historic earthquake in the fragile country of Haiti, Kent considers suffering- from the epic to the everyday- as a problem for faith. While I will be saying more about Kent’s book in the coming months, I wanted to share with you quote from Christopher Wright about the book that speaks so clearly (from IVPress):
“It is hard to explain how I can say that this is a truly beautiful book, when it comes out of a background of such horror. But that was my dominant emotion as I finished it. Beautiful, perhaps, because up-close honesty is beautiful where the clichés of certainty-at-a-distance are repellant. Beautiful because it touches depths of reality where the beauty of God glimmers through the inexplicable darkness of suffering and the desperation of faith, love and hope. Of course, it is also a deeply disturbing book. But if its brutal honesty upsets you, or if the questions it throws before God with baffled anger and gritty trust seem too irreverent, perhaps you have not really spent enough time in the company of Jeremiah, Job, the psalmists–and Jesus. This is a book to read alongside the author at the foot of the cross, and at the empty tomb, where knowing, loving and trusting God make sense, even when understanding his world does not.”
It is fitting this both titles earned this top spot for me in 2010. In fact, I would highly recommend that they be read together. While the first helps us to understand the dynamics of ministry and service among the poor, empowering us to responsible and appropriate action, the latter reminds us that the brokenness of our world does not allow for easy answers.
Which titles most impacted you this year and why?
