Staff Reviews: 5 Books to Help You On Your Journey
October 19, 2020 - January 1, 2030
Staff Reviews: 5 Books to Help You On Your Journey
Staff Reviews: 5 Books to Help You On Your Journey
Here at Marine Reach, we love to learn more about Jesus and what it means to follow Him. One of the ways we do that is by reading books…not just the Bible. Living in community means you can always go to someone for some book tips. In a community as diverse as ours, one person will give a tip for a moving novel, another will recommend an inspiring missionary biography, another a book on how to live faithfully as a follower of Jesus and yet another will give you an obscure tip about a nerdy book that will help you understand the Bible better (if you would like to get a better grip on the full story of the Bible, come join us and do our Discipleship Bible School!).
So, in this article, we will give you some book recommendations from some of our lovely staff members. There are 5 books reviewed here on pretty diverse subjects, but all able to equip you to follow Jesus more faithfully. We hope that these books will bless you and help you in your walk with Jesus.
Book #1: A Loving Life: In a World of Broken Relationship
Author: Paul E. Miller
Staff Comment: “This book taught me so much about the unconditional love of God.”
Page count: 176
Review: “This book is an expository study of the book of Ruth that will transform your understanding of its impact in the biblical story as well as how it relates to us in our everyday lives. It’s filled with real-life stories and examples of how God’s unrelenting love can look in practical terms. The book is so gripping!”
Links: Amazon, Bookdepository
Book #2: The Jesus Creed: Loving God, Loving Others
Author: Scot McKnight
Staff Comment: “Really brings the commandment of Jesus to ‘love God and neighbor’ to life.”
Page count: 296
Review: “This helped to reflect on Jesus’ command to love God with my all, and neighbor as self. In this book, the author looks at Jesus’s first-century setting. Some of the characters in the New Testament are looked at through the lens of living out the greatest commandment. It is written with the knowledge of a New Testament scholar but with plenty of pastoral sensitivity, and keeping it to a level that is easy to follow as it is written for the church. It changed much of how I viewed not just the characters in the bible or what Jesus meant with the greatest commandment, but how I viewed and lived out my own following of Jesus. A great resource! It is also the unofficial first book in an unofficial series of books by the author.”
Links: Amazon, Bookdepository
Book #3: Captivating: Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman’s Soul
Author: John & Stasi Eldredge
Staff Comment: “This book has helped in transforming the way I see myself as a woman of God.”
Page count: 256
Review: “This book has truly unraveled what it means to be a woman created by a loving, perfect Father. It has started me on a healing journey into deep, old wounds that have impacted me to this day. I am seeing Jesus use this book to transform the way I see myself as a woman of God and those around me through this greater understanding of our purpose. This book is full of personal stories and testimonies that stick with you and assure you- you are not alone on this journey.”
Links: Amazon, Booksdepository
Book #4: Messy Grace: How a Pastor with Gay Parents Learned to Love Others Without Sacrificing Conviction
Author: Caleb Kaltenbach
Staff Comment: “Jesus opened up my perspective on how to love others without sacrificing conviction.”
Page count: 224
Review: “Reading this book really convicted me and made me realize some hard truths in my life. The author has had experiences with the LGBT community and the church, and therefore laid out both perspectives in such an honest way. It brought me to understanding and repentance through learning more about God’s love.”
Links: Amazon, Booksdepository
Book #5: Love Your God with All Your Mind: The Role of Reason in the Life of the Soul
Author: J. P. Moreland
Staff Comment: “If you’re a thinker and love Jesus, read this book.”
Page count: 305
Review: “Growing up I struggled to believe that God was for me. Asking hard questions was not discouraged by my parents but it was frowned upon in the churches I grew up in largely. Eventually, Jesus got hold of me but then I struggled whether I belonged in the church and how. Being told to keep quiet at times, the struggle is still real. However, this book helped me to see that Jesus was the smartest person to ever live and that thinking done in the way of Jesus is a good thing. This book is gold not just for the person that thinks deeply but for anyone in any kind of church. The book also has a book recommendation list for all kinds of subjects, from politics to biblical worldview and from business to education, which is worth the price of the book alone.”
Links: Amazon, Booksdepository
Against The Tide
Next to these book tips we also would like to offer this tip: Against the Tide is a book about the origins of Marine Reach. Written by our very own David Cowie, who together with his wife Linda, both are also part of our base leadership team.
We hope you enjoyed some or all of our book tips. We will be sharing more of our book tips in the future. If you know any specific subjects you would like a book tip for let us know.
If you are interested in growing in your relationship with Jesus while having a community to encourage you, then come and join us for a Discipleship Training School. If you don’t love reading, but listening to someone talk is more your thing, we also have a blog post with our podcast tips.
“Doing The Cover to Cover DTS at Marine Reach was one of the best things I’ve decided to do. Reading the Bible from Genesis to Revelation helped me see more of the different characteristics and nature of God. The Cover to Cover DTS was great. It taught me how to be diligent, manage my time properly, and helped me have a more sturdy foundation and in my beliefs. “
Talon Jernigan, 20, USA
“I decided to do a DBS because I wanted to know as much about the Bible as I could. And yes, I learned a lot about the Bible, the historical background and so on. But my biggest gain from the DBS was to learn and see the Bible come alive and active in my own life. The Bible used to be a boring book to me, with a bunch of unrelatable stories and letters. During DBS I got to know how to apply God’s Word to my life and how to be discipled, transformed and guided by it. My life changed so much through that and is still changing. I believe that’s what the Bible is for, to lead us closer to God and to help us to become more like Him.”
Silas Bauer, 22, Germany
“Prayer and Passion completely changed my outlook on the true power that prayer has. It had always been something that I knew worked and I did, but it was boring. Being a part of this stream gave me new understanding of how prayer is worship and fuels the power of heaven connecting with earth. It will move you to a place of praying out of your relationship with the Lord rather than giving him a list of things you want. You will gain a newfound intimacy with God as your prayer life is propelled.”
Tilly Logan, 21, Australia
“SPHC is such an incredible gateway to seeing the world with God’s eyes. To see how His heart breaks at the brokenness of this world, and to see how the lack of education about little things such as germs and washing hands causes so much illness and suffering in the world, to then be equipped and sent to BRING THAT CHANGE! It is such a life changing/ perspective shifting program that has really changed my life!”
Antonio Wolfe, 20, Alberta, Canada
“God showed me that true worship always comes out of a place of intimacy and revelation of what Jesus has done for me. I realized that this is were I want to be – sitting at His feet and pouring out my love and affection before Him, because He’s so worthy.”
Julianna Suter, 20, Switzerland
“Being a Kingdom Come student was an awesome experience. We learned a lot about the kingdom of heaven and how to live it out in our daily lives.”
David Lindner, 21, Germany
“In the Kingdom Come stream, we really focused on what the kingdom of God is and how to live that out on earth. The most impactful aspect of this was walking out a miraculous lifestyle and being in an intimate relationship with God, where you can expect miracles to happen.”
Peter Seip, 25, Virginia, USA
“Before coming to DTS I had a fixed view on what it meant to be a follower of God. Being on the Wild Heart Stream completely demolished every box I put God in and taught me to have reverence for the Lord. I learned that God doesn’t want a slave, he wants a best friend, a daughter and a relationship.”
Jessica Bryant, 19, England
“Being a part of the Pilgrimage Stream impacted my life for the better. Not only did it teach me how to function in a small community (as we shared the burden of climbing those mountains together), but also how to rely on one another, have fun and worship together, and, most importantly, how to be vulnerable with each other. The focus of our Stream taught me what it looks like to be on a pilgrimage for God. God calls us out of our homes to the wilderness, where we’ll see Him face-to-face, and are forced to fully depend on Him before we receive His inheritance.”
Harty Dumalagan, 21, B.C. Canada
“Being a part of the Justice Movement Stream has really challenged the way I see and define justice. It has made me more passionate and aware of the help this broken world needs, and what I can do to bring a stop to the injustice. I can now confidently say that I am able to take on the world, seeking justice and mercy for people in need.”
Chelsea Logan, 19, Newcastle, Australia
