Nearing Home - Billy Graham

Life, Faith and Finishing Well.
Billy Graham needs no introduction. Even those vaguely familiar with Christianity will recognize the name Billy Graham. He has been an advisor to many presidents and preached to many thousands in his lifetime.
 This book was written for for people at every stage of life, not just for old people. At just over 93 years of age, Billy Graham has seen and experienced many years of service to God. He admits that there is still a reason why he is here on this earth. We should all realize this, that God has us all here, for as long as He does for a reason.
Chapters deal with issues such as retirement, work, influence on others, and leaving a legacy. This book along with "Just as I am", his previous auto-biography, one gets a complete picture of a man used by God in so many ways to help so many people. He also addresses the grief he felt with the death of his wife, Ruth, and how he has dealt with it at the time, and continues to look forward to the day when he will see her again.
I would recommend this book to anyone, even if they have not read any of Mr. Graham's other books. This one is worth the time, and will influence many for many years to come.

Quote from Randy Alcorn

God has his people everywhere. Many vocations are more important than football. But regardless of what it is, when God gives His people a platform to stand on, and a voice that can be heard, He expects them to represent Him faithfully. When they achieve something He calls upon them to give Him glory. You may not have as many people watching you as pro athletes, but innumerable angels, saints and the Lord himself are watching. And that raises the question: what are you doing to honor Him, and to give Him credit for your successes, in your own unique sphere of influence? - Randy Alcorn

The Lucado Inspirational Reader - Max Lucado

Hope and encouragement for your daily life. This is a collection of stories, selections and quotations from Max Lucado's previous books, such as God Came Near, Next Door Savior, Fearless, and Outlive Your Life. At over 400 pages, there is a lot of material to cover, and it is organized by subject and indexed for easy reference.
The chapters are organized alphabetically into subjects such as Comfort, Encouragement, Faith, and Peace.
The author has written so many books that it is good to have a greatest hits collection all in one volume. The reader will have the option to spend a few minutes or a few hours with this book. It is the kind of book that you may want to keep around for reference and can begin and end at any point.
Most readers of non-fiction Christian books will have read at least one of his books in the past. I would recommend this volume to those that are already familiar with Max Lucado books, as well as an introduction to those that are not.

More Lost Than Found - Jared Herd

Finding a Way Back to Faith. The author grew up as a pastor's kid, then after his parent's divorced, he began to question everything about the institution of the church and what he believed as a child. This is an honest search for answers to questions that a lot of people, even Christians, are asking. Jared serves as Creative Director for XP3, a division of the Rethink Group, and a well traveled speaker. There are discussion questions to be used in a group or individual setting.
I enjoy reading an author's honest search for the truth, but was concerned about references to Rob Bell books.
Jared makes a point that secular entertainment and ideas sometimes contain kernels of truth that can be helpful to  even Christians. Too many Christians are too isolated in the fishbowl for fear to be contaminated by "the world."
I'm reminded of a Steve Taylor lyric that states "I'll bet you only drink milk from a Christian cow."
Some interesting titles to chapters are, Tylenol and Duct Tape, Painting Over the Mona Lisa, and Christian Soup for the Christian Soul, which will bring some readers in just to see what it's all about.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is asking questions about our culture and Christianity, and how it is related.

We Shall See God - Randy Alcorn

Charles Spurgeon's classic devotional thoughts on Heaven. I must first admit that Randy Alcorn is one of my favorite authors. I have enjoyed all of his non fiction works including this one. Randy has divided each chapter into 50 daily readings from Spurgeon with commentary from the author after each one. Spurgeon's material has not been widely available in our day, but was very popular in his time.
Charles Spurgeon has left quite a legacy of speaking and writing. He lived from 1834-1892, and preached 3,561 sermons that have been compiled into 63 volumes and totals over 20 million words. Until now, a lot of this material was not found easily. It is good to see these updated sermons in one volume.
It is not a book one would read once straight through, but should refer to chapters as reference. This is as much a Alcorn book as a Spurgeon one, which is not to downgrade the quality of the material at all. To those that are not aware, 100% of the royalties from all of Randy's books go to further Christ-centered causes. Randy is also founder of Eternal Perspective Ministries. I would recommend this book as a reference tool for any pastor, or anyone interested in church history in general, and Spurgeon in particular.