Matt

Healing Depression For Life by Dr. Gregory L. Jantz and Keith Wall

I had not read a medical-related book in a long time, but, I was up for a challenge, while also diving deeper into a subject matter that has hit home for many friends and family members: depression.

Mental health issues are an ever-present reality, and, especially in these strange days of increased isolation, coupled with disruptions in routines and relationships, this book proved to be very helpful, and very accessible in its information, to guide me in things to consider when dealing with depression.

Dr Jantz and his writing partner, Keith Wall, approach depression from a “whole-person method” (xv), rather than one-dimensional treatment plans, be they pharmaceutical or talk-therapy. The whole-person method encompasses the physical, emotional, and spiritual. When someone is struggling with depression, they cast a wide net toward healing: Diet, sleep, exercise, hydration, emotional assessment, habit checks, community, prayer, faith, and reliance upon God-The Great Physician (p.9). Dr, Jantz dedicates a bulk of insights to the dietary needs and wellness of the body when depression has set in (chapters such as “Time To Take Out The Trash, and “Is Your Gut Stuck in a Rut?”).

Getting back to the accessibility of this read, the chapter and section headers are wonderful guides visually, as well as action-item information being broken down into lists, rather than clunky paragraphs. I would encourage anyone who is dealing with depression, looking for resources to support and minister those close to them with depression, or wanting to find healthy, preventative care measures, to read this as well.

To-Read: A Personal Odyssey by Thomas Sowell

Christine

When Did We Start Forgetting God? by Mark Galli

With a subtitle addressing the “evangelical crisis,” I knew I had to read this book. A lifelong evangelical myself, I’ve had a growing sense that, despite all the good and godly characteristics of evangelicalism, something was missing. That something, as Mark Galli postulates, might just be God.

A former Presbyterian pastor and editor of Christianity Today, Galli offers a perspective that is both authoritative yet compassionate. He does not suggest that evangelicals have intentionally forgotten God, but that in our sincere efforts to do more for God, we have veered away from the true purpose of the Christian life: to be in a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, to love God and to desire him. How exactly have we veered, and how do we go back? I look forward to seeing what Galli has to say in the rest of this book and what hope he sees for the future— not only for evangelicals but also for Christians everywhere.

To-Read:Your Story Matters by Leslie Leyland Fields

Charlotte

Reading While Black by Esau McCaulley

Reading While Black is a personal and scholarly testimony of Spirit-led hope within and the necessity of the Black biblical interpretation and African American church. McCaulley uses this book to support the belief that biblical reading from the perspective of the Black experience is crucial and valuable in providing a context in which we can address many divisive current issues. He argues that it’s important to interpret Scripture alongside ethnic and racial engagement to see the fullness of the love of God and hope that all of God’s children are given. This book provided me with a lense much different from my own that enlivened the Word of God in my heart in a new way during a time that has seen little hope. One of my favorite quotes from the book is this: What is it that unites this diversity? It is not cultural assimilation, but the fact that we worship the Lamb.”

To-Read: How to Raise a Reader by Maria Russo and Pamela Paul

 Tell us, what are you currently reading? What’s on your To-Read Pile?at W