35) Becoming Free Indeed: My Story of Disentangling Faith from Fear by Jinger Vuolo—She grew up Duggar under the teaching of Bill Gothard. Then she started studying the Bible, got married, and had to disentangle her faith from the legalism under which she grew up. In this book, Vuolo gives readers an inside look at how Gothard manipulated his followers with health/wealth teaching, led to Vuolo living a fear-filled life for quite some time. Vuolo writes time and time again about how she couldn’t leave her faith in spite of all this. Instead, she had to dismantle and rebuild, leading to a life of freedom through saving faith in Jesus. This might not be a book by or everyone, but it certainly is interesting and timely considering all who are deconstructing their faith and not becoming free indeed.
36) Through His Grace by Kelly Eileen Hake—God's grace brings Eric Nichols to church. Grace Willard brings in her second cousins Lizzy and Jake after their parents die. The four meet and grow to love each other, but can there be forever? I found a few typos in this book, and the story was predictable and lacking in a few areas. Still, the story was sweet, and had a few unexpected additions that helped showcase God's grace. The author appears quite young, and if I take this as one of her first works, I have to give it a thumb's up!
37) The Purifying Power of Living by Faith in Future Grace by John Piper—This is a treatise, a treatise on how believers should live not only out of gratitude for what Jesus has done, but for what God is doing, and will do through the grace provided by Jesus in his sinless sacrifice. Piper asserts that faith in future grace sanctifies by producing obedience. It helps fight sin. Piper goes into how grace cannot be grace if people try to pay it back, and how that should humble believers. This was a bit of an intense read. I only made it through two chapters a day (and normally I can read more quickly), and that is probably because Piper wrote it to be read as a daily devotional for a month. While I am sure I missed a lot, I did come away very encouraged by some of the content. Specifically, I appreciated how Piper wrote about anxiety, saying that having anxiety does not mean a person is faithless. How the person deals with anxiety demonstrates faith. The idea that disobedience is rooted in unbelief in the sufficiency of God's future grace convicted me. The ending chapter on the work of Jonathan Edwards asserted that men cannot be miserable when happiness is to be found in God, a strong argument against asceticism. While I struggled a bit with some of the strong deterministic language in this book, I did learn, and that learning edified my faith, so amen to that!
38) Bakerita by Rachel Connors—I like reading cookbooks to get new ideas. This is a unique cookbook in that it is gluten-, dairy-, and refined-sugar free. Connors does a great job of not making it fun-free, though, recreating many of her childhood favorites based on her dietary needs. I do not cook with things like coconut flour, almond flour, or psyllium husk, but if I needed to, this would tell me how to do it. Connors uses coconut milk and soaked cashews for things like frosting, and even figured out how to make white and regular chocolate bars without dairy. She is creative to say the least! Her photos are clean, pretty, and plentiful (though not for every recipe), making this a visually appealing read. Not for everyone, but for those with dietary restrictions, this might help them feel more like everyone!
39) A Touch of Grace by Linda Goodnight—Ian Carpenter and Gretchen Barker both come from troubled pasts, only they don't know it. They meet because of an untimely death and Gretchen wanting to do a news story on the mission Ian runs. In the process, they learn more about each other, the needs of their community, and grace. Ian seems a bit too perfect in his reliance on grace, but the book does depict his struggle to give it, as well as the benefits that result. This was a fairly short read (a day and a half for me), and worth it! It had just enough suspense and romance to keep me turning pages, and enough meaningful truth to make me consider God's grace, trust, and faith in some important ways.
40) Amazing Grace in the Life of William Wilberforce by John Piper—This short book, with a forward by Jonathan Aitken, chronicles how the faith of William Wilberforce motivated him to pursue abolition of slavery in England. Wilberforce thought of becoming clergy, but his friend and mentor encouraged him to follow God while serving in Parliament. Piper focuses on not just the abolition of slavery, but shows how Wilberforce’s relationship with Christ motivated all efforts for the common good. Piper portrays Wilberforce as more joyful than the movie Amazing Grace, and perhaps he was. Since this book was more excerpts pertaining to Wilberforce’s theology than it was anything else, I think I might want to read a biography to find out more about the actual man.
41) One Thousands Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are by Ann Voskamp—It only took me almost five months to read this book, and I have read it before. Voskamp's words are thick, beautiful, but a lot to unpack when I really take time to think about them. What struck me this time in reading was the connection between thanksgiving and grace. As believers, all God gives us are graces, and we should give thanks as such. I do find that Voskamp uses a lot of hyperboles, “only” this, and “only” that. That bothered me a bit in reading, because God's graces are vast and varied. The only time I want to use the word only is of Jesus, the only Savior. Anyway, this was overall a good read, probably one I will continue to come back to time and time again, as it hits me differently in each season, daring me to live there, rather than anywhere else.
42) Amazing Grace: The Story of America’s Most Beloved Song by Steve Turner—This was a fascinating book (more the first half about John Newton than the last half about the song, but both were good). Following John Newton's story from womb to tomb, and then the evolution of the famous hymn he wrote, this book is well-researched and extremely thorough. There is way more to John Newton than simply being a slave trader (his sins before he became a slave trader were likely far “worse”). The song has been changed and altered through many cultural phases and stages. Informational and inspirational, this book is likely to cause readers to think differently about the famous hymn.
43) It's Not Supposed to Be This Way: Finding Unexpected Strength When Disappointments Leave You Shattered by Lysa TerKeurst—Life is disappointing. More then that, its circumstances are often discouraging, even devastating. In this book, TerKeurst explores some of her own painful experiences (health complications, marital issues, and breast cancer) and writes of how God’s truth keeps her anchored. She exhorts readers to look at disappointment as a tool of God used for sanctification. It is, and I wonder if TerKeurst would write so confidently now, in the face of a marriage that ultimately ended in divorce. This is a good read, but ultimately best read in the context of knowing we need God’s strength not just in disappointing or shattering seasons of life, but always!
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