These are the books from my favorites shelf, and I want to go through each of them in summary fashion today.
Henry and the Great Society, Killing Jesus, and Killing Patton
First is Henry and the Great Society. Not everybody likes this book, but I like the simplicity of life it portrays. It does not exactly tell you what to think. It just exposes the hustle and bustle of life and makes you want to go back to a simpler time. We do not live in that simpler time now, but I appreciate its focus on slowing down, and we had our interns read it this summer. It is an interesting book. This one is Killing Jesus by Bill O’Reilly, a great historical account of the life of Jesus. The author is Catholic, so he would not come at it from the same perspective we would. But I really appreciated the history and research that went into the life of Jesus as a Jewish rabbi who was a threat to the Roman government, how He fit into the Roman scheme of things, and how God used the Roman government of the time to bring about His sovereign purpose in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. It goes into fascinating detail about Herod and all the political unrest and turmoil between Caesar and the local regional governors. It is a very interesting book, and I really, really like it. Next is Killing Patton. It is on my favorites shelf only because it is by the same author. I have not actually read it; it just looks pretty on my shelf.
Seabiscuit and Extreme Ownership
Next is Seabiscuit. What a thrilling book. Oh my goodness. As with any secular book, there is some language in these Laura Hillenbrand books. But it is one of those come-from-behind stories you would never expect. You kind of know the ending, but you love the process, and you learn so much about horse racing throughout the book. I like the learning aspect and the entertainment aspect. It is an excellent, excellent book. I have mentioned Extreme Ownership before; we have used it with our interns. It is very, very good, from a Navy SEAL. I also like the look of the book; it is up there partly for its looks. It is by Jocko Willink, and he is all about empowering junior officers, junior leaders, to take control. Be the owner. Do not expect somebody else to fix it; you be the one who fixes it. He tells a Navy SEAL story and then gives a business lesson drawn from what he learned in the Navy SEALs, and each chapter is very, very good. His follow-up book, The Dichotomy of Leadership, goes into the negative side of this, counterbalancing some of the things in Extreme Ownership. But this was the one that put him on the map, and it is a great book.
The Boys in the Boat and Unbroken
Next is The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown; I believe they have made a movie of it as well. It is another thrilling book. Maybe you already know the end of the story, I do not know, but I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. It is one you cannot put down, and another one where you learn so much. It is about the rowing team at the 1936 Olympics in Germany, how much of an underdog they were, and yet what an incredible story: The Boys in the Boat, the drive, and the backstories of all the boys involved. Next is probably my favorite book of all time, Unbroken, also by Laura Hillenbrand. It has five distinct parts. There are Louis Zamperini’s growing-up years, his years as an Olympic athlete, the rough-and-tumble years, and then his years in the army. He gets shot down, and there is the whole survival story on a life raft. Then he is captured by the Japanese and is in a prisoner-of-war camp seemingly forever, tortured in there. He gets out and comes back and becomes a drunk, and he gets married, and you would think his life would get better, but it gets worse back home. And then there is a glorious redemption arc at the end of the story. It is just an incredible story. Each of the main sections of the book is worth reading on its own, but put them all together and it is almost unbelievable. So Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand is a wonderful and encouraging book.
Up from Slavery
And the last one here I picked up from, I forget where, some antique store or something. It is a special edition of Up from Slavery by Booker T. Washington. It tells his story of being freed from slavery and starting an institute to help other freedmen get established on their own and go out into a free world, learning how to do what we would consider simple things: how to make a bed, how to brush your teeth, how to comb your hair, how to clean a house. He trained them at this school to be some of the most upstanding citizens, an incredible display of leadership and care and concern. I learned a lot about pastoring just by reading about his leadership of an institute. It is a wonderful, wonderful book, and I love Up from Slavery. It was one of the earliest books I read once I finally got out of Bible college and started reading on my own, and it is an excellent read. Well, that is my favorites shelf. Maybe next time I will go through some of the other shelves in the office. I am excited to share the new office redesign, some of which you can see behind me. We are not quite done yet; we are still adding some lighting and changing some things around. In the meantime, maybe I will show you one shelf at a time and give you some of the book highlights. I have not read them all. As I said in today’s video, there was one in there I have not even read yet; some of the books back there just look pretty. But I have gotten all the way through most of them. Anyway, that is what might be in some future videos. God bless you. That is it for today. We will see you in the next video.
