Mark Watson

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Between the love of my new Kindle and the fact that I’m out of town most everyday, reading has become my comfort.  I’ve read three (almost 4) books the past couple of weeks.  Two of the books were good, the other one was a chore to even finish.  The choice of my books may give you a clue to my state of mind right now, but I’ll save that for another time. 

The first good book that I will give 4 out of 5 stars was O Me of Little Faith by Jason Boyett.  If you struggle with your faith at times like I do, this book will give you new hope.  I love the honesty and candor as Jason talks about his own doubts and struggles.  The nugget I got from the book is there can be no faith without doubt.  Doubt makes faith possible.  

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The second good book (I might even say great!) was In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day by Mark Batterson.  The book is taken from an obscure passage in 2 Samuel 23:20-21.   The cool thing about this passage is I had just read this in my One Year Bible reading plan.  Even though I read the story and posted on my readings, I never mentioned the story of Benaiah.  The verses reads like this:

  ^20-21Benaiah son of Jehoiada from Kabzeel was a vigorous man who accomplished a great deal. He once killed two lion cubs in Moab. Another time, on a snowy day, he climbed down into a pit and killed a lion. Another time he killed a formidable Egyptian. The Egyptian was armed with a spear and Benaiah went against him with nothing but a walking stick; he seized the spear from his grip and killed him with his own spear. (The Message)

Did you get the part where on a snowy day, he climbed down in a pit and killed a lion?  He didn’t run from the Lion.  He chased the lion into the pit to kill it!  The nuggets I got from this book is this:

1. What is the lion in my life right now?
2. Am I complaining about the lion or am I chasing it to kill it?
3. Could the lion in my life right now be there to prepare me for a great challenge/opportunity yet to come?

I highly recommend both books.  They are both challenging but in a good way.  Give them a try and tell me what you think.

The last book and quite possibly the worst Christian book I’ve ever read in my life was The Christain Atheist by Craig Groeschel.  If you weren’t an atheist before you read this book, my fear is that you would be by the time you finished.  Don’t get me wrong, I love to hear Craig Groeshel speak but this book (in my opinion) should have never been put in print.  The book came off arrogant and self promotional.  This is not the real Craig Groeshel.  Here were the negative points I got:

1. Craig is handsome.  He looks like Tom Cruise.
2. He was major cool in high school and college and had his way with the girls.
3. He is successful and has a perfect family.
4. Blah, blah, blah.

I don’t normally write negative book reviews.  Maybe this says more about me and my state of mind than it does about the book.  It just didn’t work for me.