Best Ministry-Related Reads of 2023

2022 was the first year a number of years where I did not reach my goal of reading 20 or more ministry-related books in a year.  It is just a challenge for me to find reading time during my ministry week.  But this year, I stumbled upon a way to inject more reading time into my day.  I started reading during my morning and afternoon walk breaks in our church gym.  Obviously, there are only certain books you can read this way, which is why you will find a great number of biographies, religious history and issue books on this list than most years.  But some of those books – like Remaking the World, and the Watts and Ryle biographies – were really great reads.

 

Remaking the World:  How 1776 Created the Post-Christian West by Andrew Wilson.  Easily the best book, apart from the Bible, that I read this year.  Wilson’s book is a remarkable synthesis of Western history in the last two centuries from a Christian worldview.  He explains how the West became WIERDER (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic, Ex-Christian, and Romantic) and how all of these movements were at a critical point in the year 1776.  Highly recommended!

Write It on their Hearts:  Practical Help for Discipling Your Kids by Chris and Melissa Swain.  What a great little book.  It is short, to the point and very practical.  The authors cast a powerful vision for actively discipling your children in your home, rather than just expecting church or Christian school program to do it for you.  It is a book I wish I had when our biological kids were younger, and I am looking forward to integrating many of their ideas into our family as Dawson grows up.

 Counterfeit Kingdom:  The Dangers of New Revelation, New Prophets and New Age Practices in the Church by Holly Pivec and R. Douglas Geivett.  Pivec and Geivett are serious scholars who have studied the New Apostolic Reformation movement, which is led by churches like Bethel Church in Redding, CA.  The authors expose their faulty theology, their strange and even at times cult-like practices and how their music provides a gateway to that leads unsuspecting people to their inadequate teaching.  This is a timely warning for all faithful believers. 

Forgive:  Why Should I and How Can I? by Tim Keller.  Before Tim Keller passed away in 2023, he published this, his final book.  Forgive is a typical Keller book – very biblical, well-reasoned and filled with thought provoking ideas.  Keller’s treatment of forgiveness is very accessible, even for those who are not believers and asks and answers some of the tough questions that come with the call to forgive those around us.

 

Isaac Watts:  His Life and Thought by Graham Beynon.  This one surprised me.  This is a really good biography about a fascinating man of God.  Most people would only know Isaac Watts for the hymns he wrote (When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, Joy to the World and many others).  Watts’ hymn writing did change worship in the evangelical church in England, but beyond that he was a faithful pastor, a children’s book author, and a philosopher, all the while battling ill health for many years of his ministry.

 

J. C. Ryle: Prepared to Stand Alone by Iain Murray.  This is another biography I really enjoyed.  Ryle was a 19^th century churchman in England who became a bishop of the Church of England at a time of great theological drift.  Ryle was a faithful pastor and best-selling author who was faithful amidst a church that he begun to truly lose its way theologically.  As such, Ryle becomes a model for our times as theological drift becomes more and more prevalent in the church in America.

 

The Holy Spirit by Gregg R. Allison and Andreas J. Koestenberger.  This is an excellent volume unpacking the theology of the Holy Spirit.  In the first half, Koestenberger provides a biblical theology of the Spirit, showing the progressive revelation of the Spirit and His work throughout Scripture.  In the second half, Allison gives the reader a systematic theology of the Spirit and His varied ministry in the world.  You may not agree with some of the theological positions taken in the volume, but it is still an excellent resource and a great store of knowledge.

 

Preaching as Reminding:  Stirring Memory in an Age of Forgetfulness by Jeffrey D. Arthurs.  This is another book that surprised me.  Arthurs’ premise is that we all forget what is important and true at time.   His argument is that a pastor’s role is to be the one who reminds the people of God about who God is and what He has done.  Arthurs’ fills his book with practical ways a pastor can do this through sermons, stories, songs and even the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

 

2^nd Tier Reads – still very good and highly recommended:

Lead:  12 Gospel Principles for Leadership in the Church by Paul D. Tripp

Has the Church Replaced Israel? By Michael J. Vlach

Scribes and Scripture:  The Amazing Story of How We Got the Bible by John D. Meade and Peter J. Gurry

The Art of Preaching Old Testament Narrative by Steven D. Mathewson

Belong:  Loving Your Church by Reflecting Christ to One Another by Barnabas Piper

Surprised by Jesus:  Subversive Grace in the Four Gospels by Dane Ortlund

Fault Lines:  The Social Justice Movement and Evangelicalism’s Looming Catastrophe by Voddie T. Baucham Jr.

God For Us:  Discovering the Heart of the Father through the Life of the Son by Abby Ross Hutto

Midnight Rider for the Morning Star by Mark Alan Leslie (historical fiction)

The Heresy of Orthodoxy:  How Contemporary Culture’s Fascination with Diversity has Reshaped our Understanding of Early Christianity by Andreas J. Kostenberger and Michael J. Kruger

The Rise of Christianity:  How the Obscure, Marginal Jesus Movement became the Dominant Religious Force in the Western World in a Few Centuries by Rodney Stark

Yours, Till Heaven:  The Untold Love Story of Charles and Susie Spurgeon by Ray Rhodes Jr.

Amillennialism and the Age to Come:  A Premillennial Critique of the Two-Age Model by Matt Waymeyer

Jack:  A Life of C. S. Lewis by George Sayer

Tried by Fire:  The Story of Christianity’s First Thousand Years by Willam J. Bennett

Galileo by Mitch Stokes

The Truth and Beauty:  How the Lives and Works of England’s Greatest Poets Point the Way to a Deeper Understanding of the Words of Jesus by Andrew Klavan

Anatomy of the Soul by Curt Thompson

Five Lies of our Anti-Christian Age by Rosaria Butterfield

God Shines Forth:  How the Nature of God Shapes and Drives the Mission of the Church by Daniel Hames and Michael Reeves

Lincoln’s Battle with God:  A President’s Struggle with Faith and what it meant for America by Stephen Mansfield

The Christmas We Didn’t Expect by David Mathis

 

 

Best Fiction Reads of 2023

As I look back at my fiction reads for 2023, I see that for the second year in a row, science fiction was quite popular with me.  I still read some good fantasy novels – see below – and at least one thriller, but for some reason over the past few years I have re-discovered how fun good sci-fi can be.

 Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson.  It is always a good year for a new Brandon Sanderson book – and since he broke Kickstarter with his 4 “secret projects”, we get 4 of them.  Tress is a bit different than any other Sanderson novel.  His inspiration was the William’s Goldman’s classic novel The Princess Bride, but he then asks the question – what would it look like if the princess went in search of her lost love?  This is a wonderful, light-hearted and surprisingly humorous read.

 

Murtagh by Christopher Paolini.  Christopher Paolini burst on the scene years ago as the teenage bestselling author of Eragon.  After four Eragon novels, he moved into science fiction.  With Murtagh, he returns to the world of Eragon with a stand-alone novel after the events of the inheritance cycle.  The book stars Eragon’s half-brother and his dragon Thorn.  The plot is rather simple, but Paolini adds character depth and brings it to life nevertheless.

 

Old Man’s War by John Scalzi.  This is a great little science fiction novel.  Human beings have spread throughout the universe and have encountered many alien races, some very dangerous.  As a result, soldiers are always needed.  As every human on Earth approaches retirement, they get offered a choice.  Live on subsistence until death or, volunteer as a soldier and receive a newly rejuvenated body.   This is the story of a group of those soldiers.

 

The Waking Fire by Anthony Ryan.  Ryan has built another intriguing world with this series, of which The Waking Fire is the first installment.  The series has a unique “magic” system and lots and lots of dragons to go along with all the adventure, combat and world building.  What is not to like?

 

Fairhaven Rising by L. E. Modesitt Jr.  I am not sure why I love Modesitt’s Recluse series of books so well.  My son thinks they are boring and slow moving.  They are slow moving and even at times formulaic, but I find them deeply immersive, although I find his fascination with food a bit strange.  This book – the 22^nd Recluse novel!! – is about the origins and growing power of the wizard city of Fairhaven.

 

2^nd Tier Reads – still very entertaining.

Lesser Evil by Timothy Zahn (Thrawn Ascendency #3)

Old Bones by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

Foreigner:  A Novel of First Contact by C. J. Cherryh

Caliban’s War by James S. A. Corey (The Expanse #2)

Abaddon’s Gate by James S. A. Corey (The Expanse #3)

The Thousand Deaths of Ardor Benn by Tyler Whitesides (Kingdom of Grit, #1)

Cibola Burn by James S. A. Corey (The Expanse #4)

Nemesis Games by James S. A. Corey (The Expanse #5)

 

3^rd Tier Reads – I finished them, but they were disappointing on some level:

Babel:  An Arcane History by R. F. Kuang

 

Best History/Biography Reads of 2023

As I review the history and biography books I read this year, I notice, as is frequently the case, that I read a lot of Canadian history again this year.  As well, some of my favorite historians ended up the list again – Sean McMeekin, David Kertzer, Allen Guelzo, Tim Cook, Adrian Goldsworthy, John McManus – along with a few new “favorite” authors like Ronald C. White.  Overall, I read a lot of good, serious
s history this year, as well as a few “just for fun” books like the story of the Princess Bride movie and a history of the World Hockey Association.  Choosing a handful of the best books was difficult.

 

On Great Fields:  The Life and Unlikely Heroism of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain by Ronald C. White.  Ever since I read Michael Shaara’s classic novel Killer Angels, I have been fascinated by Joshua Chamberlain, the hero of Little Round Top at Gettysburg.  White’s excellent biography traces all of Chamberlain’s life, from his early days to his time as President of Bowdoin College and as Governor of Maine.  The book also places Chamberlain’s faith in proper perspective, something many modern biographies fail to do.

 

Rendezvous with Destiny:  Ronald Reagan and the Campaign that Changed America by Craig Shirley.  Enough time has passed for historians to begin to write balanced history of Ronald Reagan’s time in office.  Shirley’s book is about Reagan’s 1980 campaign for the presidency.  The book is remarkable; understated at times and sarcastic at others.  There are times he criticizes Reagan and other times he gives him the utmost praise. But through it all, the book is very incisive, not only with regard to Reagan but also about his competitor, Jimmy Carter.

 

The Fight for History:  75 Years of Forgetting, Remembering and Remaking Canada’s Second World War by Tim Cook.  This was a fascinating book for me to read.  I was never taught much about the Canadian experience during World War 2, and this book explains why.  From the hallowing of the great national sacrifices of World War 1, the power of the Canadian Legion vets, the overshadowing of the Canadian effort by the Americans and the British and the battle for the new Canadian War Museum, Cook explains why Canada has struggled for decades to tell at tale that needs to be told.

 

The Pope at War:  The Secret History of Pius XII, Mussolini and Hitler by David I. Kertzer.  David’s Kertzer’s specialty is the history of the papacy in the last couple of centuries.  Having access to newly opened archives, Kertzer shows that Pope Pius XII did all he can to stay in the good graces of the Germans and Italians during World War 2, which naturally means that he did not have the courage to speak up to protect Jews from the Holocaust.  Kertzer’s portrait is balanced and scholarly, but ultimate so very sad and disappointing.

 

Hundred Days:  The Campaign that Ended World War 1 by Nick Lloyd.  I read Lloyd’s amazing book on the Western Front in World War 1 a few years ago.  This volume pre-dates that one, is shorter and is focused on the final 100 days of combat during the war.  Over the years, historians have argued that the Germans were not truly defeated on the field of battle, but surrendered for other reasons like strife at home.  Lloyd proves otherwise – that by the end of the war, the German army was a beaten force in every way.

 

Ottoman Endgame:  War, Revolution and the Making of the Modern Middle East, 1908-1923 by Sean McMeekin.  Sean McMeekin is one of my favorite historians.  This book is a history of the end of the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire, from the years leading up to World War 1, through the war, the dismantlement of the Empire and finally it’s revival (in part) by Mustafa Kemal as the nation of Turkey.  Fascinating, well-told history.

 

At the Sharp End:  Canadians Fighting the Great War 1914-1916 and Shock Troops:  Canadians Fighting the Great War 1917-1918 by Tim Cook.  This is Cook’s 2-part history of the Canadian military during World War 1.  Cook leaves no stone unturned, speaking of the corruption and megalomania of Sam Hughes (Canada’s Defense Minister), the raising and training of units, their first experiences in combat to the days when they were among the finest troops serving overseas under the leadership of the brilliant Canadian General Sir Arthur Currie.

 

2^nd Tier Reads, but still great books:

Blood and Iron:  The Rise and Fall of the German Empire, 1871-1918 by Katja Hoyer

The Making of Oliver Cromwell by Ronald Hutton

The Anglo-Saxons:  A History of the Beginning of England, 400-1066 by Marc Morris

The Rebel League:  The Short and Unruly Life of the World Hockey Association by Ed Willes

The Fleet at Flood Tide:  America at Total War in the Pacific, 1944-1945 by James D. Hornfischer

Thomas Jefferson:  A Biography of Spirit and Flesh by Thomas S. Kidd

As You Wish:  Inconceivable Takes from the Making of the Princess Bride by Cary Elwes and Joe Layden

The Wager:  A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Gramm

To the End of the Earth:  The US Army and the Downfall of Japan, 1945 by John C. McManus

Everest 1953:  The Epic Story of the First Ascent by Mick Conefrey

The Ghosts of Medak Pocket:  The Story of Canada’s Secret War by Carol Off

King:  William Lyon MacKenzie King, A Life guided by the Hand of Destiny by Allan Levine

Jungle of Stone:  The Extraordinary Journey of John L. Stephens and Frederick Catherwood and the Discovery of the Lost Civilization of the Maya by William Carlsen

The Marshall Plan:  Dawn of the Cold War by Benn Steil

Rome Resurgent:  War and Empire in the Age of Justinian by Peter Heather

The Mad Trapper of Rat River:  A True Story of Canada’s Biggest Manhunt by Dick North

The Berlin-Baghdad Express:  The Ottoman Empire and Germany’s Bid for World Power by Sean McMeekin

Lincoln and Douglas:  The Debates that Defined America by Allen C. Guelzo

The Last Outlaws:  The Desperate Final Days of the Dalton Gang by Tom Clavin

American Sanctuary:  Mutiny, Martyrdom and National Identity in the Age of Revolution by Roger Ekirch

Longstreet:  The Confederate General who Defied the South by Elizabeth R.  Varon

Rome and Persia:  The Seven Hundred Year Rivalry by Adrian Goldsworthy

 

3^rd Tier Reads, good but somewhat disappointing as well.

Ravenna:  Capital of Empire, Crucible of Europe by Judith Herrin

A New World Begins:  The History of the French Revolution by Jeremy D Popkin

The Attack on the Liberty:  The Untold Story of Israel’s Deadly 1967 Assault on a US Spy Ship by James Scott