Books | His Glory My Joy, a blog of Author Luana Ehrlich

Birthdays and Books

April 5, 2012 Leave a comment

I just celebrated another birthday (not a milestone, but close) and one thing I do enjoy about having another birthday is that someone usually gives me a book. Birthdays and books just seem to go together in my life. This year was no exception when a friend gave me a new devotional book, plus I gave myself a book, or rather downloaded a new fiction book to my iPad.

From the moment I learned to read, books have played an enormously important role in my life. In my elementary school years, we lived in a very small town of less than 1,000 people, and the town’s library was located in a tiny, one-room building. From third grade through sixth grade, I managed to read every biography they had, plus all the Hardy boys and Nancy Drew mysteries in their collection.

From that small Missouri town, our family moved to a large city near Chicago. Their library was an impressive brick building located downtown, containing stacks upon stacks of books, several reading rooms, an entire room devoted to children and racks of magazines and newspapers. I was there every week, often taking the city bus from my house in the suburbs to get there. Sometimes I imagine I can still smell the slightly musty odor of that place.

I read today for both pleasure and entertainment (mysteries and thrillers mainly) and also as a means of spiritual growth. I doubt if I could name five fiction books that have changed my life, but I can easily name the top five non-fiction books that have changed my life. Besides the Bible, these books have done more to shape my life and draw me closer to the Lord than any other reading material.

1. Knowing God by J. I. Packer: This book, first published in 1973, has had a resurgence since the 1990’s. I first read it around 1980, and for several years after that I read it once every year. Packer is able to do what the title suggests–he helps you to really know God, with each chapter drawing you closer to His majesty and glory. I know God better because of this book.

2. Desiring God by John Piper: Piper opens up a whole new avenue of pleasure–the absolute mind-boggling joy of glorifying God by finding your pleasure in Him. I read this book again and again and get more out of it each time. This is Piper’s signature work.

3. Future Grace by John Piper: Because I have a sinful tendency toward worry, this is another of Piper’s writings that I return to every few years. In this book, he urges believers to believe in God’s grace for the future even as we have believed in God’s grace for our past. There is much insight here on our sinful nature.

4. The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges: None of us take holiness seriously even though God said, “Be holy for I am holy.” In this book, Bridges challenges us to seek after holiness, to recognize our own sinfulness, and to learn the ways of Satan. Although it was first published in 1978, I didn’t read it until the latter part of the 1980’s, but it still stands today as a classic work, highly recommended by evangelical writers.

5. Experiencing God by Henry Blackaby: To know and do God’s will is the core desire of every growing Christian. How can we know His will and thus do it? That’s the question Blackaby explores in this study. His answer is found in a study of Moses and the basic premise is to “join God where He is working.” I found much practical truth in this study.

Prophecy Posting 12/7/11

December 8, 2011 Leave a comment

As I mentioned in a previous post (see My Love Of Prophecy ), I take seriously the study of prophecy, of End Times, and of our Lord’s Second Coming, and I also believe Paul’s exhortation in 1 Thessalonians 5:4 that we as believers in Christ and students of His Word, “are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. ”

One of the surest ways to understand today’s prophetic events in God’s calendar is to remain alert and vilgilant about what is transpiring in Israel, for this little sliver of land (not much bigger than the state of New Jersey) plays an integral part in God’s plans for our future. God has promised the Jewish people He will allow them to live in the land given to their forefathers (Ezekial 36:24-28). Yet He also noted in Zechariah 12 that Jerusalem itself would be a “cup of trembling” and a “burdensome stone.” to all the nations. Seldom a day goes by that Jerusalem is not on our national news, whether it’s the Islamic nations of the world threatening to annilate Israel and her people or it’s the leaders of the world calling on Israel to make concessions, negotiate a peace treaty and relinquish control of Jerusalem itself.

I believe Islam will probably play a significant role in the Tribulation (the seven years of turmoil on the earth just prior to Christ’s Second Coming, prophesied by Daniel and described by Jesus as a time of horror like the world has never experienced before or ever shall again–Matthew 24). The key to the possible role Islam may play in these events is found in its own prophetic beliefs, for the very individual they call Mahdi or the 12th Imam, who is to appear before the end of the world and is considered to be the Muslim savior, shares many of the same characteristics of the individual described in the Bible as the Antichrist.

Joel Rosenberg, an author and lecturer who has written and spoken extensively on the subject of Israel, Islam and prophectic events and has served as an advisor to both American and Israeli leaders alike on these subjects, has written several fiction books depicting possible scenarios of events that could begin to unfold in the coming days. The Twelfth Imam is his first book in a series of books about the Muslim messiah. You can read more about the book on my Book Review page on this blog. Here’s a trailer about the book:

Categories: Bible, Books, Prophecy Tags: Israel in the news, Mahdi, Prophecy, Rosenberg, Twelfth Imam

Contact With The Author

August 23, 2011 3 comments

In a recent Bits and Pieces post in this blog, I shared a new devotional book called The Heavens: Intimate Moments With Your Majestic God written by Kevin Hartnett, NASA Deputy Science Operations Manager for the Hubble Space Telescope. A few days after I wrote that piece, I was surprised to receive an email from Kevin. While trolling through the internet, he had come upon my notice of his book and, since I had mentioned I was intrigued by the title, he wanted to share with me how the Lord had worked in his life to bring this book to publication.

I love how Hartnett ended his correspondence with me: “Through intimate moments of revelation I pray that the Holy Spirit might refresh, strengthen and inspire the readers with a view of the Lord’s countless and majestic excellencies.” He also included a sample of the book’s contents in PDF format. You can read my review of the book here.

As exciting and enjoyable as it was to hear from this author, how much more exciting it is to have contact with the author of life itself, with The One who breathed into Adam’s nostrils and made him the first living soul. As beneficial and enlightening as it was to hear this author’s story of how he came to write this book, how much more beneficial it is to hear God’s voice on every page of His book and to understand the purpose for which He wrote it.

Perhaps the best explanation of what The Author intended for us with His Words is given in Deuteronomy 8:2-3 and then repeated by Jesus in Matthew 4:4, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” His Word, like bread, is meant to both satisfy us and to give us life. Those are The Author’s own words about His Book.

Categories: Books, Devotionals Tags: Author of life, Kevin Harnett, Majestic God, The Heavens

Our Childhood Bedroom

August 8, 2011 Leave a comment

I was intrigued recently by a new photography book entitled Where Children Sleep by James Mollison. You can view about twenty of the pages here. There’s an obvious stark contrast between the children born into poverty and those born into an abundance (or over abundance in some cases). In fact, the project was undertaken by Mollison in order to represent needy children around the world. Yet, he has approached this assignment in an insightful way. He notes that each child’s sleeping area is “. . . your little space within the house.”

So, where did you sleep at about 8 years of age? My sleeping space was in a bedroom I shared with my two younger sisters in a church parsonage in Gideon, Missouri. They had bunk beds, but I slept in a twin-sized bed with a headboard. That was important, that headboard, because it held my “things.” My things mostly consisted of books given to me by my grandmother who lived in Texas and who shared my love of reading. There was also a radio, a stuffed black and white dog named Spotty, and a musical jewelry box that held only pens for writing. As I think back on it now, those things still represent me. I love technology (the radio), dogs (Spotty), writing (the pens) and, of course, good books. Mollison is right, this was “my little space.”