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My Top 10 Books of 2020

by Marci Ferrell
Book Reviews Christian Living Encouragement

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Who doesn't love book recommendations? I'm always looking for the next book to add to my wishlist. Sharing my top ten picks from this year. @mferrell

Who doesn't love book recommendations? I'm always looking for the next book to add to my wishlist. Below are my top ten picks from this year. They didn't necessarily all come out this year, but ones I read and ones that stood out to me. The first one on the list is my top pick; the others are in no particular order. I read from various categories, so it's a bit of a mix; they are not all Christian books.

 

Becoming Elisabeth Elliot by Ellen Vaughn

I've shared many posts on my site on the influence Elisabeth Elliot has been in my life and I sat absorbed by this book. What an undertaking Ellen Vaughn took on and I'm so grateful she did. If you only sit with one from my list, let it be this one. 

Up from Slavery by Booker T. Washington 

Booker T. Washington was born a slave and he is known as one of the most influential African Americans during the period right after the Civil War ended. I honestly don't remember reading about him in high school but this should be a recommended read to all students. Mr. Washington was hard-working, highly influential, made the best of his circumstances, and blamed no one. This was a well written easy to read biography. 

The Creaking on the Stairs: Finding Faith in God Through Childhood Abuse by Mez McConnell 

A hard read but a hopeful read. There were areas I couldn't get through because of the tears flowing. Mez points us to the great grace of God. 

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Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World by Cal Newport 

Read this one slow, work through it and ponder areas in your life where you know you need to change. My life is online because of my time on the blog and podcast so it was helpful for me to work through boundaries I wanted to set for myself. I also recommend his book Deep Work (Rules for Success in a Distracted World). 

Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers by Dane C. Ortlund 

We listened to this one on audiobook on a recent trip and it's read by the author, which I so appreciate. The Puritan, Thomas Goodwin, is quoted most in this book and it's on a theme that is so lost at times from the writings of the Puritans: the great love Jesus has for His church. Sit with this one and grasp Christ's great compassion. 

God, Greed, and the (Prosperity) Gospel: How Truth Overwhelms a Life Built on Lies by Costi Hinn 

I first heard Costi Hinn speak in person at the G3 Conference on Worship. The Lord saved him out of the prosperity gospel and his uncle is the well-known false teacher Benny Hinn. If you have been saved out of the prosperity gospel or you have family members still in it—this book is a must-read and a good one to have on hand to pass along. 

All Things for Good by Thomas Watson 

This is my book recommendation from an old dead guy. We should all at least put one of these classics on our list each year. I worked through it early on in the pandemic when the Thankful Homemaker Facebook group was going through an online study on contentment. It is an exposition on Romans 8:28. 

 

Maturity: Growing Up and Going On in the Christian Life by Sinclair Ferguson

I've shared many times on social media that I'm studying through this one with a group of ladies from our church. It's working through the New Testament and how clear the writers were that the purpose of their writing was for the early church (and us!) to grow in spiritual maturity. You won't regret picking this one up and working through it alone, with a friend or a small group. 

Seasons of the Heart: A Year of  Devotions from One Generation of Women to Another by Donna Kelderman

This book has been a favorite for years. I don't sit with it daily but when I get those moments to sit with a cup of coffee late morning or early afternoon this is one I turn to. I keep it on my phone in the Kindle app so when I find myself getting really to aimlessly scroll social media I instead open the Kindle app and read a selection from this gem. 

A Company of Heroes: Portraits from the Gospel's Global Advance by Tim Keesee 

On the back of the book: “Across the globe, the gospel is advancing through the work of Christians willing to risk everything in the hardest places.” It's a story about ordinary heroes sharing the gospel in hard to reach places all around the world. Let me share one more quote, this one from Rosaria Butterfield and it's the reason I read it earlier this year: “All Christians should read this book.” A great one to read together as a family. 

 

Please share with us in the comments some of your favorite reads from 2020.

Related posts:

  1. Simple Tips to Reading More Books
  2. Spiritual Priorities for the New Year: 2014
  3. How I Have Benefited From Having A Reading Plan
  4. My Reading List for 2014


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Comments

  1. Amy Irvin says

    at

    Great list. I see several I want to pick up! Thanks.

    • Marci Ferrell says

      at

      Thank you Amy xo

  2. Jenni says

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    Learning Contentment by Nancy Wilson
    (Gold mine!)

    100 Bible Verses Every Christian Should Know by Heart, by Robert Morgan
    (So inspiring and enriching!)

    The Man in the Dark by Douglas Wilson (great fiction)

    Hints on Child Training by Trumbull (over 100 years old and so very sweet and applicable today)

    Safe in the Arms of God by John MacArthur (Biblical explanation of what happens to our babies/young children who die early)

    Nothing to Envy, Barbara Demick (true stories of North Korean defectors)

    That’s my top titles out of 50+ books read in 2020.

    • Marci Ferrell says

      at

      Jenni – wow! 50 books that’s great. Safe in the Arms of God was such a good read. I need to put Nothing to Envy on my list and The Man in the Dark. I didn’t know Doug Wilson wrote fiction. Thanks so much for sharing.

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Marci Ferrell
I know we can all relate to self-pity as women, wi I know we can all relate to self-pity as women, wives, and mothers.  How many times do we focus on our needs that aren’t met?  Unfair situations or circumstances?  Self-pity is a selfish tendency that takes our eyes off Christ and puts them on ourselves.  We forget that “God works all things together for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.” Are we able to give God “thanks in all things”?⁣
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Come take a listen to EP 105: Practical Steps to Overcome Self-Pity at the link in my profile (click on the link under the blue arrows and then this image).
"Your household is the most important schoolroom y "Your household is the most important schoolroom your children will ever know. And the lessons they learn don't begin and end when you crack open the family Bible. They are always watching and learning from your example—often without even realizing it. That's a tremendous responsibility and opportunity for Christian parents—one that we must make the most of, for God's glory and our children's good."⁣
 ~ John MacArthur⁣
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Come listen to EP 20: The Blessings of Loving Our Children at the link in my profile @thankfulhomemaker (click on the link under the blue arrows and then this image).
"The visible church is where you will find Christ' "The visible church is where you will find Christ's kingdom on earth, and to disregard the kingdom is to disregard its King."⁣
~ Michael Horton⁣
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Read - Building Loving Relationships In Your Church Family at the link in my bio @thankfuhomemaker (click on the link under the blue arrows and then this image).
Isaiah 48:10:Behold, I have refined you, but not a Isaiah 48:10:Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver;  I have tried you in the furnace of affliction.⁣
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Israel is being refined for the honor and glory of the Lord. I need the reminder that everything the Lord allows in my life is for my good and His glory. All that He does and allows is to further His eternal purposes. ⁣
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He continues to remove the dross from my life in the furnace of affliction, and through each trial and circumstance of my life, the hope is I'm becoming more and more molded and shaped into the image of Christ. ⁣
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Susan Huntington shared on this passage:⁣
"...if our blessed God sees that the disciple, like his Master, must be made perfect through sufferings, ought we not to welcome every means which will conduce to this blessed end? Can we desire to be babes in Christ all our days? If it is a proof of sonship to be chastised, may it not prove a special favor to be greatly chastised? ⁣
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If we were asked what the greatest good is, should we not answer that it is conformity to God? If we were asked what the best circumstances are for the Christian to be placed in, should we not answer that they are those that will, most constantly and most effectually, promote his conformity to God? Shall we then pray for afflictions? By no means. We are weak, and are crushed before the moth. We should not pray for what we do not know that we could bear. ⁣
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We should habitually pray for conformity to God, and quietly leave it to Him to determine by what means He will effect this blessed end."⁣
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-Excerpt taken from my favorite devotional - Seasons of the Heart: A Year of Devotions from One Generation of Women to Another by Donna Kelderman (link to the book is in my profile @thankfulhomemaker - click on the link under the blue arrows, and then this image).
Preaching the gospel to yourself. It's a phrase we Preaching the gospel to yourself. It's a phrase we've all heard, and we all agree with, but deep down, we're like, okay, what does that look like? Or how do I make that practical in my day-to-day life when my marriage is hard? Or the kids are out of control? Or there's an illness in my family, or I'm just stuck in a sinful pattern? Or the house is in chaos, and I don't know where to begin? ⁣
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The reality is we're always saying something to ourselves in our minds, especially in those moments of chaos or difficulty. ⁣
Is what we're speaking to ourselves centered on the truths of God's Word, or are we buying into the lies of the world? ⁣
We need to be talking to ourselves and not just listening to ourselves. But what do we need to be talking to ourselves about? ⁣
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This is what we're going to work through together in EP 69: Preaching the Gospel to Yourself - link in my bio @thankfulhomemaker (click on the link under the blue arrows and then this image).
"Your worst days are never so bad that you are bey "Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God's grace. And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God's grace."⁣
~ Jerry Bridges⁣
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Read more at God's Blessing Does Not Depend On Our Performance at the link in my bio @thankfulhomemaker (click on the link under the blue arrows and then this image).
How many times at church do you find yourself disc How many times at church do you find yourself discussing non-spiritual things? As believers, our relationships with others in the body of Christ are unlike anything non-believers will ever experience. It is such a joy when you come across another Christian that you haven't met before, and because of the common bond of Christ, it is as if you have known them forever.⁣
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I have a favorite book that gets used quite often by Donald S. Whitney called Simplify Your Spiritual Life. In the section, Simplifying our Spiritual Life with Others, he guides us to drive the conversations into the spiritual. Wouldn't we all as believers like our conversations with other believers to be directed towards things related to knowing God, Bible reading and application, theology, evangelism, and prayer, to name a few.⁣
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Mr. Whitney shares some questions that are a natural help in directing your conversations with your brothers and sisters in the faith to the spiritual.  This is a handy list to keep in your Bible, planner, or purse.⁣
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The link to the questions is in my bio @thankfulhomemaker (click on the link under the blue arrows and then this image).
"If there is one maverick molecule in all the univ "If there is one maverick molecule in all the universe, then God is not sovereign. And if God is not sovereign, He is not God."⁣
~R. C. Sproul
Thoughts to ponder on the resurrection from John M Thoughts to ponder on the resurrection from John MacArthur:⁣
The basic truth of the resurrection undergirds a number of other truths.⁣
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1. It gives evidence that the Word of God is totally true and reliable. Jesus arose precisely when and in the way He had predicted (see Mt. 12:40; 16:21; 17:9, 23).⁣
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2. The resurrection means that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, as He claimed to be, and that He has power over life and death.⁣
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3. The resurrection proves that salvation is complete, that on the cross Christ conquered sin, death, and hell and rose victorious.⁣
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4. The resurrection proves that the church has been established. Jesus had declared, “I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it” (Mt. 16:8)… His resurrection proved that death itself could not prevent Christ from establishing His church.⁣
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5. The resurrection proves that judgment is coming. Jesus declared that the heavenly Father “has given all judgment to the Son” (Jn. 5:22), and since the Son is now risen and alive, His judgment is certain.⁣
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6. The resurrection of Jesus Christ proves that heaven is waiting. Jesus promised, “In My house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you” (Jn. 14:2). Because Christ is alive by the resurrection, believers have the assurance that He is now preparing a heavenly dwelling for them.⁣
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~Above via John MacArthur - Matthew Commentary 24-28, Moody, 1989, p. 314-315.
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