Hey just thought I’d mention the new sidebar widget that features the books I am currently reading or have recently read. Web 2.0 is so much fun. (Did I mention I hate coding? I like copy and paste though which is all I have to do to benefit from a lot of Web 2.0 technology)
I’ve been reading through an interesting collection of brief anecdotes by Dorcas Smucker about her and her husband Paul’s experiences raising a family of six children, on a grass seed farm in Oregon. She does an amazing job of creating “snapshots” of the dynamic tapestry of life. I have found it to be a particularly interesting read, because while I have never met her or her family, I know many people who grew up in the same area as Mennonites. Yesterday, I mentioned I was reading Ordinary Days and there were smiles, and nods of recognition while one couple mentioned “We were at Paul and Dorcas’ wedding”. The intricacies of the family and social ties among the crowd of Mennonites from “the Valley” is quite something to observe. During the process of introducing and welcoming some visiting “Oregonians” yesterday at church, our pastor was attempting to explain the way so-and-so was related to so-and-so, causing someone (from a non-Mennonite background) to quip, “Can I be adopted?” 
Well, getting back to the book, it’s the kind of reading that makes a great gift for the reader that has read all the usual genres and is looking for something unique, joyous, and full of the everyday happenings of life. I encourage you to get a copy by clicking on the link below. Dorcas also has a blog and writes a column, “Letter from Harrisburg”, for the Eugene, Oregon, Register-Guard.
I was thinking recently of the effects of the written word on our lives as people. Books have shaped my understanding of the world I live in profoundly, more so than the average American I think. Growing up without internet, television, movies, public school, and for the most part without public libraries, any book that crossed the threshold of our home was voraciously devoured. Life was simpler, values were… well valued, and I believe I was able to do more “creative thinking” than if I had been raised on treehouse, sesame street, and disney.
How has your life been influenced by print, film, public media etc? Feel free to comment.
For fun, I decided to compile a “Short List” of a few of the books that have shaped my childhood and young adult years. The ones with links take you to Amazon.com where you can read reviews and purchase the individual book. There are a total of 200 books which if my memory serves me right would probably represent a mere 10-20% of all the books I’ve read in my life. (If you are searching for a particular book hit CTRL+F and enter the title in the search field)
ENJOY!
- Bible
- Robinson Crusoe
- Swiss Family Robinson
- Pilgrim’s Progress
- Holy War
- Little House Books
- Soun Tetoken
- The World Is Flat
- Brighty of the Grand Canyon
- Cheaper by the Dozen
- Five Little Peppers and How They Grew
- House at Pooh Corner
- Ink on His Fingers
- Johnny Tremain
- Jungle Doctor
- Lassie Come Home
- The Secret Garden
- Star of Light
- Treasures of the Snow
- Winnie the Pooh
- Heidi
- Little Women
- Treasure Island
- McGuffey’s Readers
- Anne of Green Gables
- The Hiding Place
- Oliver Twist
- All Creatures Great and Small
- The Cross and the Switchblade
- Child’s Garden of Verses
- Now We Are Six
- When We Were Very Young
- Animals of Farmer Jones
- Corduroy
- Curious George
- Emperor’s New Clothes
- Poky Little Puppy
- Richard Scarry’s Please and Thank You Book
- Shy Little Kitten
- Tale of Peter Rabbit & others
- Cat in the Hat
- Dr. Seuss’s ABC
- Green Eggs and Ham
- Amelia Bedelia and others
- Animals Do the Strangest Things
- Frog and Toad are Friends and others
- Greg’s Microscope
- Little Bear
- Bears on Hemlock Mountain
- Billy & Blaze
- Box-Car Children and others
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
- Least of All
- Augustine, The Farmer’s Boy of Tagaste
- William of Orange - The Silent Prince
- When The Morning Came
- Dispelling the Tyranny
- The Lonely Sentinel
- Hideout in the Swamp
- The Grim Reaper
- The Partisans
- Sabotage
- The Escape - The Adventures of Three Huguenot Children
- How They Kept The Faith
- The Young Huguenots
- Judy’s Own Pet Kitten
- Tekko and the White Man
- Tekko the Fugitive
- Anak, the Eskimo Boy
- The Secret of the Swamp
- Wambu Series
- Jessica’s First Prayer & Jessica’s Mother
- Probable Sons
- Pilgrim Street
- The Kingdom That Turned the World Upside Down,
- Little Pete and Other Stories
- Dannie of Cedar Cliffs
- Lucy Winchester
- For One Moment
- Light from Heaven
- Not Regina
- Hidden Rainbow
- Coon Tree Summer
- Ice Slide Winter
- Eyes for Benny
- The Little Missionaries
- More Little Missionaries
- God’s World and Johnny
- Kitten in the Well
- Olive
- Hannah Is a Helper
- Story Time With Grandma
- Under His Wings
- The Choice Is Yours
- War-Torn Valley
- Henry’s Red Sea
- Whom Shall I Fear?
- Thrilling Escapes by Night
- Deliver the Ransom Alone
- Angels Over Waslala
- Sandi’s Anchor of Hope
- Awaiting the Dawn
- Circle of Love
- From Wealth to Faith
- In the Whale’s Belly
- Safe in His Care
- The Drunkard’s Children
- Sunshine Country
- Year of Doubt
- Year of Growth
- God’s Detour
- The Bible in the Wall
- Coals of Fire
- The Secret Church
- The Beggars’ Bible
- The Bible Smuggler
- Night Preacher
- Trouble at Windy Acres
- Markie and the Hammond Cousins
- Ricky and the Hammond Cousins
- In Memory of Michael
- Dilek
- Storytime With the Millers
- Wisdom and the Millers
- Missionary Stories With the Millers
- Prudence and the Millers
- School Days With the Millers
- The Locust Story
- Caterpillar Green,
- God Made the Firefly
- God Made the Opossum
- We Should Be Thankful
- God Made Us
- God Made Me
- God Made the Animals
- God Makes Seeds That Grow
- Gone to the Zoo
- Across the Rose Hedge With Aunt Merry
- Days on the Farm With Annette and Samuel
- Adventures of Mohan
- Happy Days With Pablo and Juanita
- David and Susan at the Little Green House
- David and Susan at Wild Rose Cottage
- Daryl Borrows a Brother
- God Cares For Timothy
- The Little Woodchopper
- The Weed With an Ill Name
- At the Little White Cabin
- Mohan in the Jungle
- All on a Mountain Day
- Trapped by the Mountain Storm,
- Home Fires Beneath the Northern Lights
- Home Fires at the Foot of the Rockies
- Shepherd of the Highlands
- Three Months Under the Snow
- Stand By, Boys!
- Mary Jones and Her Bible
- Young Man, Be Strong
- Evangelists in Chains
- Worth Dying For
- The Sprouting of God’s Seed
- Beautiful Joe - The Autobiography of a Dog
- Black Beauty: the Autobiography of a Horse
- 52 Simple Ways to Build Family Traditions
- Apples for a Teacher: Lesson Plans for Life
- Children in Amish Society
- Creative Teaching Methods
- Jungle Pilot In Liberia
- How Children Fail
- How Children Learn
- Some Seed Fell on Good Ground
- The Heavenly Man
- Saved at Sea
- Scamper Squirrel
- More Adventures in Animal Land!
- Critter The Class Cat
- Backpacks and Bumblebees
- The Last Safe House
- The Walton Boys book series
- Open Highways readers
- American Adventures reader
- Day of Glory
- Rich Toward God
- The Inquisitor’s Secret
- Homeschool Fugitives
- Widening Horizons - Abeka reader
- Better Bridges - Abeka reader
- Of America - Abeka reader
- Frontiers to Explore - Abeka reader
- Willie’s Garden
- Amos Fortune, Free Man
- Seesaw - Abeka reader
- Finding New Neighbors
- Little Peewee and Sylvester
- The Two Helens
- Jim Forest and Lone Wolf Gulch
- Jim Forest and Dead Man’s Peak
- Dirk’s Dog, Bello
- Kitty, My Rib
- The Silver Sword
I recently finished reading a truly amazing book dealing with a slice of history from the Chinese house church movement called, The Heavenly Man
. It had an impact on my life like perhaps no other book other than the Bible itself. To see how God worked in the lives of individuals through the Holy Spirit there in the midst of severe persecution is staggering. I was inspired by the way God led people to find their very own copy of His Word many times through miraculous means, and then spread that Word house to house, door to door, and individual to individual through beatings, imprisonment, cruel torture and worse. Two things that I gleaned from the book that I found powerful were:
- Inspite of (or should I say due to) the persecution, China’s population of real, dynamic Christians is estimated to be over double the entire human population of my native country, Canada!
- A quote from Brother Yun: “It is not those in prison for the sake of the gospel who suffer. The person who suffers is he who never experiences God’s intimate presence.†So true.
Read it for yourself. It will affect you deeply. In fact, you’ll have a hard time putting it down before you reach the end of the book.
Technorati Tags: christianity, chinese house church, Brother Yun
I came across this interesting book entitled 20 Most Asked Questions About the Amish & Mennonites. First published in the late 1970’s, it deals with the most commonly asked questions, some of which I hear all the time, about Anabaptist-type groups such as the Amish, Mennonites, Hutterites, and so forth. I found it a fascinating read. As succinctly as possible this book tries to answer such questions as “What is the difference between Amish and Mennonites?”, “Are they a Christian group, or do they represent another religion?”. Even odd ones like “Is food a part of their religion?” is dealt with clearly and fairly honestly. I was impressed by the way the authors were able to handle some pretty detailed issues in such a short-and-to-the-point way. Also, the book is written by Christians as opposed to an “outside” look from a secular viewpoint the way so many of these types of books are written. I highly recommend it. You can buy it from Amazon.com by clicking on the linked title above.
