What’s On Your Shelf?

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In a typical year, I’ll read somewhere between ten-plus books. The year of my heart surgery, I read seventeen books! This year started slowly. By the time summer hit, I’d read maybe three books, albeit with about ten more on my list! My thinking was that with me retiring (aka graduating) from my career in May, I’d have more time over the rest of the year to read.

That has partially been the case. I’ve read four books in seven weeks!

“Brown-noser, you!”  

Before you write me off and cut this article short, you gotta know I’m not a fast reader. I cannot read without a pen in hand. I’ll mark, underline, and add side comments back to the author in the margins. Frankly, that slows me down. It also, however, helps me process what I’m reading. Helps my comprehension go up.

Here’s a list of the books I’ve read this summer and a brief synopsis of each.

Your Story Has A Villain by Jonathan Pokluda.  OK, how I found out about this book is kinda funny. Alex and I were meeting at a downtown coffee shop for breakfast when we noticed two young warrior-aged guys a couple of tables over discussing this book.  After the second week of noticing them, Alex and I introduced ourselves and asked what they were studying.  I bought the book and soaked it in.

The author, JP, gave the book a byline: “Identifying spiritual warfare and learn how to defeat the enemy”.  The reality is that there is a war going on. Yes, Jesus won, but the battles the enemy uses to attack Christ-followers are real.  Harsh, brutal, addictive.  Anything to get our eyes off of Jesus and onto ourselves or any other idol he can distract us with.

JP outlines six ways the enemy attacks us:

1. Destruction
2. Distractions
3. Deceptions
4. Disunity
5. Desensitizing
6. Deconstructing

You and I, as Christ-followers, are being attacked with one or more of these all the time. Becoming aware of his tactics is half the battle.  Being blind to his underhanded ways will stunt your spiritual maturity. 

JP then gives us four ways to fight back:

1. The Armour of God
2. Prayer
3. Resisting Temptation
4. Guarding your heart

Living by the power and presence of Jesus in you enables you to experience victories.  Believe me when I say, regardless of your age, these tools are supernaturally available.  Get the book!

What If It’s True?  by Charles Martin. Women largely author the Christian fiction world. My wife has read tons of them. Charles Martin is a bit of an anomaly in that few men write Christian fiction, and fewer men read such fiction. 

What surprised me about this book is that it is NOT FICTION!  In this book, Martin outlines his faith in Christ and works through a host of lessons God’s taken him through that have deepened and matured him as a man. 

His premise is that if Jesus is who he says he is, ie, if all this Bible and Gospel is true, then what difference should it make in your life?  Charles is gut-level honest, weaving in Gospel accounts with how he is handling life. 

In chapter 9, Charles outlines something tragic that happened and his deep-seated anger over being taken advantage of; apparently, his entire family was affected.  There is a section in that chapter where he and God have a deep conversation. A conversation where God meets him in the depth of his soul, experiencing freedom while still facing tribulation.  Honestly, it’s reminiscent of those deep spiritual wrestlings I’ve had with Jesus.

Order the book. You won’t lose your man-card by ordering from a very popular Christian fiction author. 

Practicing the Way by John Mark Comer.  For millennia, followers of Jesus have been on a quest for spiritual formation. There are spiritual ancients that have influenced the way you and I pursue Jesus, many of which we know nothing about. John the Cross, Teresa of Avila, Thomas a Kempis. Even more moderns, such as the late Francis Schaeffer. 

Truth is, if you are not developing spiritual disciplines in following Jesus, you are not following Jesus. 

Three things Comer spells out in his book:

1. Be with Jesus
2. Become like Jesus
3. Do as Jesus did

Simple, right?  Christ living his life through you is the key to spiritual formation. Comer wraps up the book with two final thoughts:  Develop a Rule for your life. That is, a lifestyle that incorporates those three key aspects of spiritual formation.  What are practical ways you can be with Jesus? As you go through your days, how can Jesus be seen in your character? And, finally, if Jesus were in your situation, your place, your relationships, what would he do? Then, go do it (fueled by the Holy Spirit in you).  Comer concludes with how this is all about taking up your cross and following Jesus.

Here’s the cool thing about how I got this book!  As I wrapped up my final month at the office, one of my employees, who openly admits he knows very little about Jesus and tends towards Buddha, gave me the book for my retirement.  “David,” he said, “I know little about who Jesus is, but I can say this. When I see you, I see Jesus in you.”  I am sincerely humbled by his comments. It made reading the book that much more motivating. 

Beyond the Trees by Adam Shoalts.  I am by far a non-fiction reader. I love truth and like to sink my teeth into true adventure stories. I recall years ago being enthralled with Earnest Shackleton and his adventure to Antarctica.

This book by Adam Shoalts caught my eye while I was at the Algonquin Provincial Park Visitor Centre in Ontario, Canada. Having a love for hiking with my own stories to tell, this book caught my eye.  In 2017, Canada turned 150 years old as a country.  In celebration, Adam was commissioned by the Royal Geographic Society to hike and canoe across Canada’s Arctic Circle from west to east, solo.  We’re talking a 4000 kilometre trek by himself across tundra, canoeing upstream on huge rivers like the MacKenzie in Yukon and the Coppermine in the Northwest Territories.  

Shoalts was 31 when he did this solo trip. His book details through great word pictures encounters with grizzlies, muskox, and wolves.  Sometimes the headwaters of a river get so narrow that he has to portage his supplies and canoe for kilometres just to reach the next river or lake. A one-kilometre portage would turn into seven kilometres, because he couldn’t carry all his packs, bear barrels, and canoe in one trip. 

Adam canoed across Great Bear Lake through ice floes. The 8th largest lake in the world!  Larger than Lake Erie or Lake Ontario in North America. Larger than Lake Malawi, which my wife and I experienced in Africa.

Four months after Adam started his trek, he canoed into Baker Lake, Nunavut, with little fanfare. No band, no CBC news. 

There’s no indication in the book whether Adam knows Jesus or not, but I would not let that deter you from picking up a copy. As you read it, imagine yourself in Adam’s place. The tenacity this young man had to canoe upstream, withstand millions of blackflies, and have virtually no human contact for four months (other than a floatplane pilot dropping off resupply barrels).  As I read it, I imagined how my faith in God would have been tested and strengthened through this endeavor.

There’s a caveat to this book. Amazon Prime has a documentary of his trip. READ the book before you watch the documentary! Check out the documentary here on Amazon

Okay, there you have it. Four books I’ve read so far. If something here “trips your trigger” then go buy the book and crack it open!  It doesn’t matter if it takes you four months to read one book. Just do it; for yourself and your relationship with Jesus.

Warrior On!

MW Editor’s note: You can always read Mentoring Warriors, by our own David Riffel. Every man needs to read about mentoring.  Buy the book Mentoring Warriors here