I thought I’d start this week off with a bang and continue my Books To Buy For Christmas series with two reviews by Michael Perkins.

Michael is a great guy, an encourager, excellent writer and a man I’m very glad I’ve gotten to know this year. Check out his blog: ThePerkinsBlog.com

Michael recommends Messy Spirituality, by Michael Yaconelli and Drops Like Stars, by Rob Bell… and I’ll turn the stage over to him to explain why:

I like to read.  Actually, that is an understatement.  I love to read.  I love books and I love the written word.  I can verbalize things I like about certain books, but I’ve always had a hard time writing my thoughts about books.  I guess it’s because I don’t want to add or detract from what the author had written in the first place.  That being said, below I hope to review two books and explain why I think they would be a good gift for someone.

Messy Spirituality by Michael Yaconelli is probably one of the grittiest things I’ve ever read. The premise of the book is that life is messy.  He goes on to explain that one of the biggest issues that Christians face is that they think that once they become a Christian that everything should automatically become okay.  They will never have any problems.  And life is going to be perfect.  But when they realize that it is nothing close to that they become upset and discouraged.  Now, I don’t necessarily agree with everything he writes, but I think if we are trying to grow, then we should be open to at least listening to others.

Yaconelli basically states that no matter how messed up you are God can use you.  To be honest, I have purchased this book for several people and mailed it to them when they were going through a tough time.  I believe that the book is that good and liberating.

The second book that I would suggest is Drops Like Stars: A Few Thoughts on Creativity and Suffering
by Rob Bell. I know that not everyone is a fan of his, which is okay.  In this book, which is kind of a coffee table sized book, Bell explores the connection between creativity and suffering.

For example, Bell talks about the art of elimination.  Bell goes onto explain how loss brings people together, uniting them and how sculptors “take away” from whatever they are working with, to reveal what they are working on.  Thus showing beauty in elimination.

That was probably a very poor description of just a portion of the book, but it really is one of my favorites.  I guess it is because of the graphic pictures, art, and poetry in the book that speak to me creatively.  It’s an easy read, but it’s a read that will probably make you want to read several times.

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Thank you, Michael. I don’t know about anyone else but this series is causing me problems because it’s adding too many new books to my ‘wish list’!

Here are all the books that have been recommended thus far:

If you click on any of these book links and subsequently purchase one, I will get a small commission from Amazon. I have decided that all commissions will go toward my family’s Well Fund, to try to build a well for a needy community in Africa.