Start of 2024: Books to Read

In the last article, End of 2023: Book Read, I listed all the books I read last year, and highlighted some that I thought would be good reads for all of you. Many of these books were deeply theological, some were recommended to me, while others like Letters to the Church by Francis Chan were ones that a blog reader asked my opinion on.

After publishing the article, several of you requested that I post the books I plan on reading for 2024. Though the following is a shorter list, I can say without a doubt these are the ones I definitely want to read this year.

Real-Life Discipleship Training Manual by Jim Putman, Avery T. Willis Jr., Brandon Guindon, and Bill Krause.

This is a book that I am currently working on through a men’s discipleship class I am taking at Calvary Chapel Des Moines where I attend. It helps me to spot discipleship opportunities, and as a mentor how to deal with the spiritually dead, infant, child, young adult, and parent. I like the systematic structure of the book, with lots of graphics and ways to remember what you learn; but so far it is weak in never mentioning sin and hell, with many opportunities to do so, filling in those gaps with “separation from God because of bad choices.” I am not finished with the book, and the authors may get into it later. Right now, I am in week 10 of a 12-week study.

Published by NavPress, I look forward to finishing it along with the class and hope to add it to my knowledge of Christian discipleship.

Another Gospel: A lifelong Christian Seeks Truth in Response to Progressive Christianity by Alisa Childers

A few months ago, my wife attended a women’s conference with several ladies from our church. It was a fantastic weekend for them, and she couldn’t wait to share all that she had learned. The headline speaker was author, singer, and songwriter — Alisa Childers.

In it, she explains her story of how she was a solid Bible-believing Christian who got caught up in the Progressive Christianity movement, when she met a pastor who called himself a hopeful agnostic. This movement, which is not Christian at all, teaches people how to deconstruct their faith, but in reality, teaches how to dismantle the faith. She wrestled with doubts and questions about Christianity and came out with a more solid foundation in the truth of God’s Word. The book clearly teaches how to spot the evils of Progressive Christianity and how to combat it.

So far, I have read four chapters and I cannot put it down. I love her style of writing and very easy to understand with lots of examples, and practical lessons every Christian should learn. Because I like this book so far, I plan on reading two more of hers: Live Your Truth (and Other Lies): Exposing Popular Deceptions That Make Us Anxious, Exhausted, and Self-Obsessed, and The Deconstruction of Christianity: What it is, Why it’s Destructive, and How to Respond. I don’t know if I will get to them all this year, but Another Gospel will be completed by the end of this month.

On the Origin of Kinds, by Dr. Anthony Silvestro, Jr. and Jonathan Eckel, Ev.

I bought this book at the Pella Tulip Time Gospel Outreach in the beginning of May, that I annualy attend. Hosted by Jon Neifert of Tulip Gospel Outreach, he combines the evangelism training of a local outreach with a Christian Conference that brings headline speakers who are leaders in evangelism and Creation Sciences, all taking place during the Pella Tulip Time Festival, in Pella, Iowa. In May of 2023, the headline speaker was Dr. Anthony Silvestro, D.D.S…

During the festival, my wife and I spent some time talking with him one-on-one about health, wellness, and of course — evangelism. He shared so much insight and his knowledge on these issues far exceeded my expectations. His talks were absolutely amazing; a straight-shooter, he held nothing back, used the Bible and history throughout and followed up everything he spoke on with practical application we can take into the world. I had to have his book. You may be wondering why I haven’t read it yet? Well, the book is packed with so much information and application that I wanted to give it my undevided attention. So, here we are.

Dr. Silvestro’s talks can be seen on Tulip Gospel Outreach’s YouTube channel, along with many other great speakers of past events.

When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor…and Yourself by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert

This past summer, the Calvary Chapel’s in the area got together for a day of outside worship at Bandshell Park in Ames, Iowa. It was a great time of fellowship, worship, and meeting brothers and sisters we never met.

During the event though, many of the city’s homeless heard the music and came out to see what was going on and invited themselves to a free meal. While spending some time talking with them as we ate together, I realized how ill-equipped I was in the area of helping the homeless. Not only that, I but I got a rude-awakening to the spiritual darkness surrounding the homeless when I and a friend shared the gospel in some of their camps camps in Des Moines. I wanted to help them, but how do you help those who don’t want your help?

After talking to my pastor about my concerns he recommended this book for me to read. It is long, deep, and has a lot of practical insight into the area of helping those without hurting them. I started to read it last year, but had to put it down because other books needed my attention. But I plan on finishing it this year because I believe it will give me the tools I crave to be a help and not hurt those around me.

Will Our Generation Speak? A Call to Be Bold with the Gospel by Grace Mally

Why I have put off reading this book I will never know. It is a sin for sure. Grace is not only a very talented and inspirational writer, but an evangelism powerhouse with her family at Tomorrow’s Forefathers, educating people to be better soul-winners.

Written with teens and young adults in mind, this book is packed with so much information about evangelism, sharing the gospel, and practical tools to help anyone from the novice to the experienced share their faith. I’ve used this book many times in research, but never read through it. But this year I plan on not only reading the book, but also doing the workbook associated with it.

You can find these at: https://tomorrowsforefathers.com/will-our-generation-speak/

The Practice of Creative Writing by Heather Sellers

For several years I wanted to take Creative Writing adult learning class at the Des Moines Area Community College (D.M.A.C.C.), but I don’t have $400 to enroll. One day this past year I was searching through our local used bookstore and lo and behold I found this gem, which is the textbook for the class I wanted to take. This is an amazing book, and I I hope to gain a lot of knowledge from it. The problem is that there are a ton of practice writing and stories to analyze that it would take a long time for me to go through it. But, if I can use some progressive consistency, I can get out of it what I wanted from the class over a longer period of time and possibly read a chapter every week or two.

The Mule of Mud Hollow by Jessica Cook

Not all the books I want to read are for information purposes or trying to solve a problem. Some of them are for fun. Of those, the number one fun book I want to read is Jessica Cook’s debut novel, The Mule of Mud Hollow. It is a middle-grade story about a fourteen-year-old girl during the Great Depression that seizes an opportinity with work and adventure in the Kentucky mountains.

Jessica and her husband, Jared, are a fantastic couple who attend our church and faithfully serve the Lord. We’ve gotten to know them more over the years and Jessica has shared lots of writing resources with me as well as editing short stories I’ve written for contests. Even though this book is written for girls, she is a very talented writer with a B.A. in English with minors in Creative Writing and Interactive Digital Studies. I can’t wait to read it.

You can find The Mule of Mud Hollow available in paperback or eBook on Amazon. Check it out and her website: https://www.jessicacookauthor.com/

So, what about you?

What are some books you plan on reading this year? Are they to help with a problem you are facing, information you are needing, or maybe some fiction just for fun? Please share some of them in the comments section. We would love to check them out.

If you would like to view a complete list of the books I’ve read and would like to read, go to my Goodreads page at: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/42859095-frank-chirico

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