You ever rip open that package on Christmas morning and find socks? Now, maybe somebody out there genuinely enjoys getting socks on Christmas. That person, like Saint Paul, has apparently learned the secret to being content in all circumstances.
But when you go shopping for all other members of the human race, think beyond the old standbys. This year, why not give the gift of engaging, exciting and worldview-enriching reading?
I've got a few recommendations - a sort of BreakPoint shopping list for the readers in your life - one that emphasizes the importance of standing for the truth of our faith in a time when it is under attack.
First up, something for parents who feel lost trying to raise their children and teenagers in an age of smartphones, social media and everywhere-all-the-time connectivity. My BreakPoint co-host, John Stonestreet, and Brett Kunkle of Stand To Reason, have written a manual for befuddled parents, grandparents, teachers and pastors who are trying to understand that bewildering and ever-changing thing we call "culture."
Their book, "A Practical Guide to Culture," charts the treacherous waters surrounding your home and church, into which you and your kids venture every day: It explains the powerful influence of things like pornography, the hookup culture, sexual orientation, consumerism, addiction, entertainment and racial tension.
More importantly, the book is exactly what it claims to be: practical. John and Brett provide specific strategies, discussion questions and action steps.
Next, something for the kids, themselves - especially the 8- to 12-year-olds who are just beginning to make their parents' Christian faith their own. It's a time in life they need to learn not just what they believe, but why they believe it. How do they know the biblical accounts of Jesus, his life, miracles, death and resurrection really happened? How do they talk about their faith to others? And most practically, how do they stay interested in a book long enough to learn more about the faith at all?
Well, longtime Los Angeles cold-case detective J. Warner Wallace, along with his wife, Susie Wallace, take a brilliant and truly original approach. Jim, a former atheist and now a Colson Senior Fellow, has written several other books for older teens and adults, including "Cold-Case Christianity," "God's Crime Scene" and "Forensic Faith." Like these, "Cold-Case Christianity for Kids" applies the skills he learned as a criminal investigator to Christianity.
It turns out evaluating the claims of the Bible is remarkably similar to evaluating testimonies about a crime. For instance, kids will learn how to recognize and rule out a conspiracy theory, how to test the reliability of witnesses and what constitutes compelling evidence in a courtroom. The Wallaces teach all of this with surprising depth and accessibility. This book will keep young readers riveted.
Last, but I'd like to say not least, there is my new book, "Martin Luther: The Man Who Rediscovered God and Changed the World." This one is for history and theology buffs on your list. But I like to think anybody who cracks it open will be as captivated as I was by the character and faith of this gutsy German monk who sparked the Reformation. And on this 500th year since Luther posted his Ninety-Five Theses, there's no better time to learn about the figure behind not only Protestant Christianity and its re-emphasis of the Gospel, but much of the world as we know it. And of course, Luther's courage in standing on the Word of God no matter the consequences is precisely what we need in a culture increasingly hostile to our faith.
Come to BreakPoint.org, click on this commentary, and we'll tell you how to pick up copies of all of these great books, so those hard-to-shop-for loved ones can find more in their stockings this month than more stockings.
From BreakPoint, Dec. 7, 2017; reprinted by permission of Prison Fellowship, www.breakpoint.org.