2011 Reading Challenge~~Book #34

It's been awhile since I posted about my reading challenge. With school starting and Dave's official installation as pastor of our church this past Sunday, September flew by like a lawn chair left out during a hurricane. I hope to post about the installation soon, but first I want to update you on a book I listened to and found beneficial, Adopted for Life: The Priority of Adoption for Christian Families and Churches by Russell D. Moore.

Though I'm Lutheran and he's Southern Baptist, I've appreciated everything I've ever read or heard from Russell D. Moore. I've read his articles in Touchstone magazine, and I've heard him on Issues, Etc. He is a gifted theologian and teacher, so I had high expectations for this book. I wasn't disappointed. As you might expect, Moore talks a lot about his experiences as an adoptive father and how to navigate the waters of adoption. I thought that last part might be kind of boring if a person isn't looking to adopt a child, but Moore clearly and simply weaves the biblical doctrine of our adoption into God' family through Christ into the nuts and bolts of how to adopt a child so that it is edifying reading for any Christian. Adopted for Life is as much a theology book as an adoption manual. His Baptist take on issues is evident but not so much so that anyone of any denomination could not benefit from reading this book.

Moore spends a lot of time talking about the pain of infertility. He helps infertile couples to look at this hard providence scripturally, and he instructs those who know infertile couples how to minister to them compassionately. He also gives considerable time to the idea of adoption as a means of fulfilling the Great Comission and what you can do if you are not called to adopt but want to help and encourage those who are. These aspects alone make the book worth reading.

I got this as a freebie from ChristianAudio. It was read by Moore himself, which gave it a personal, urgent tone. I enjoy listening to books read by their authors. It's like listening to music conducted or performed by the composer. Moore reads his book in a conversational style so that it feels more like he's in your living room talking to you than reading to you over your computer. And if you like the genteel, understated drawl of the Southern Gentleman, you will like listening to Moore's voice.

I am still hoeing away at Augustine's Confessions, but I expect to finish it this week. Alas, I will nevertheless be two books behind my goal of 52 books this year. With the help of a few audiobooks, I should be able to catch up. With my recent busyness and wrestlings with St. Augustine, I think I will pamper myself with a little fun reading for the next few weeks. Stay tuned . . .