Bekah's Bookshelf: My 2025 Reads So Far

 

Earlier this month, while reading this post on Callie’s blog, she talked about one of the things that didn’t work for her in 2024 was reading too many “stiff” books at once. She said stiff books are challenging books, and even as I read the post, I glanced at my own current-reads pile and realized I was engrossed in a lot of stiff books myself. So my list of books read in January 2025 is short…because these (truly excellent) reads were deep, required a lot of thought and note-taking, and couldn’t be rushed.

                I reminded myself, though, that one of the points of reading is to learn and grow, and I needed to take my time with these topics and deepen my own understanding of the topics. So I don’t apologize for a short list. There are literally no prizes for reading the most books in a year, so…

                The first book I finished was Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus by Ann Spangler and Lois Tverberg. Several years ago, I read Reading the Bible with Rabbi Jesus by Lois Tverberg and found it so helpful in understanding the Bible in context to the time frame in which Jesus lived. (Honestly, I should reread that one. It’s been a while, and I’m sure I could stand to relearn.) Anyway, I loved that book so much, I knew I wanted to read everything Lois wrote, and I was confident I’d love them all. I had this book on my wish list for literally years and finally bought it from the used bookstore late last year.

                It was the perfect time to read it, really. I had just finished studying Practicing the Way by John Mark Comer and the principles in the two books are very similar. (Comer quoted Tverberg in his writing!)

                Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus explains how to understand the gospel message by learning more about what it meant to be a Jewish disciple in Jesus’ day. The authors teach about the customs, words, traditions, and beliefs of the first century world, and that heavily impacts how to understand the words and teachings in the four gospels.

                Parables, for example, hit the ears of Jesus’ listeners differently than they hit our present-day, American ears. Knowing how they interpreted the stories Jesus told changes the way I understand those same words!

                It’s important, when learning about these sorts of things, to know your source, and I believe the years Lois spent learning in and studying the Holy Land and the customs of Jesus’ day make her worthy of trust.

                I underlined so many sentences throughout the book, I made notes in my Bible, and I love the extensive appendix, which includes information on prayers, liturgies, and feasts. This is a rich resource that I will return to again and again in personal study and in preparing to share with others – and probably even in my work at the church.

                I have one more book by Lois to read: Walking in the Dust of Rabbi Jesus. I continue to be impressed by her understanding and her ability to relay that to her readers. If you want to learn more about the customs of Jesus’ life and day, I highly recommend Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus.

                Tip: Read it slowly. Savor it. Take notes. You can’t rush this read. And you’ll be glad you took your time.

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                I hesitated to even share about this second book because it was a very specific read for me and one that I can’t imagine many/any of you would want to read. So I’ll keep my thoughts on it short, but I will list it because I keep this record as much for myself as anyone else!

                My second book this month was Women in the Church by Stanley J. Grenz and Denise Muir Kjesbo. Jonathan loaned me this book to read after my recent hiring, and he told me he thought it might be helpful in understanding both sides of the views toward women in ministry. He wasn’t wrong!

                If this is a topic that intrigues you, I can tell you that this book is both challenging to read (somewhat textbook in feel) and also written conversationally enough that it can be understood. To be fair, you’ll have to put some concentration into it, but it’s a good read.

                This topic can be polarizing, and I appreciated how the authors put significant effort into fairly representing both sides of thought. They present respectfully and thoroughly with pages and pages (44, to be exact) of sources cited.

                I learned many helpful insights as I read, but the bottom line of thought that settled over my heart when I finished the book was overwhelming sadness. I’m sad that this is a subject that creates so much animosity, so much division, and so much hurt, when there are so many urgent topics that could be capturing our attention instead. This and other subjects push in and distract us from the main thing, and that just straight up hurts my heart.

                My hope is to remain versed on this topic that does directly and significantly impact my daily life, but not to let this become my main focus or agenda.

                If this subject does interest you, I can recommend this book as a good, understandable, and fair read. But I imagine this isn’t the main event for most of you, and that is okay.

                Next month I’m aiming for some lighter reads, so I’ll be back in a month with more bookish updates!