Last Minute Gift Ideas
Four books for friends and loved ones, plus a few others that we love
🎄Good morning my friend, and Merry Christmas!🎄
In case you’re looking for last-minute gift ideas, or you need something to read while you’re traveling for Christmas, here are four book recommendations, and a few bonus books to consider for your friends and loved ones. Also, I’ve provided links to the author’s appearances on my podcast, and some of my appearances on theirs if you need something to listen to!
We’ll start with my books. I’ll show you the covers and then links with their Amazon descriptions, along with interviews I did with other people about my books. Since it’s close to Christmas, I’ve linked to the Kindle versions, but the audiobooks would be a great choice too (note that A Peek Under the Hood is ONLY available on Kindle and that Sacred Prayer by Ann Voskamp is ONLY available in hardback).
Note: Some email provider will truncate this post since it has a lot of video links. Just click on the “View Entire Message” button to see the whole thing! Also note that these are all Amazon affiliate links, and we will receive a small commission (at no extra cost to you) if you buy a book from this list.
1. No Place to Hide: A Brain Surgeon’s Long Journey Home from the Iraq War
In No Place to Hide, Warren tells his story in a brand-new light, sharing how you can:
Discover who you are under pressure
Lean on faith in your darkest days
Find the strength to carry on, no matter what you're facing
Whether you are in the midst of your own struggles with faith, relationships, finances, or illness, No Place to Hide will teach you that how you respond in moments of crisis can determine your chances of survival.
2. I’ve Seen the End of You: A Neurosurgeon’s Look at Faith, Doubt, and the Things We Think We Know
This gripping inspirational memoir grapples with the tension between faith and science—and between death and hope—as a seasoned neurosurgeon faces insurmountable odds and grief both in the office and at home.
WINNER OF THE ECPA CHRISTIAN BOOK AWARD®
“Beautiful, haunting, powerful.”—Daniel G. Amen, MD
Dr. Lee Warren, a practicing brain surgeon, assumed he knew most outcomes for people with glioblastoma, head injuries, and other health-care problems. Yet even as he tried to give patients hope, his own heart would sink as he realized, I’ve seen the end of you.
But it became far more personal when the acclaimed doctor experienced an unimaginable family tragedy. That’s when he reached the end of himself.
Page-turning medical stories serve as the backdrop for a raw, honest look at how we can remain on solid ground when everything goes wrong and how we can find light in the darkest hours of life.
I’ve Seen the End of You is the rare book that offers tender empathy and tangible hope for those who are suffering. No matter what you’re facing, this doesn’t have to be the end. Even when nothing seems to makes sense, God can transform your circumstances and your life. And he can offer a new beginning.
3. Hope Is the First Dose: A Treatment Plan for Recovering from Trauma, Tragedy, and Other Massive Things
A practicing neurosurgeon and award-winning author shares his roadmap to finding hope and even happiness when the worst happens—by placing trust in God—in this powerful memoir of personal tragedy, grief, and recovery.
NAMED AS OUTREACH MAGAZINE’S TOP RESOURCE FOR COUNSELING 2024
“There are no empty platitudes in these pages. No helium-filled, empty promises. Look elsewhere for plastic smiles. But look here for genuine hope.”—Max Lucado
The question isn’t whether you will face the hardest thing. It’s what to do when it’s staring you in the face.
Because whether in your past, present, or future, trauma will reconfigure your life. And it will do so as your massive thing: someone left, someone cheated, the biopsy was bad, the baby didn’t have a heartbeat, a loved one died, you suffered abuse, or your dreams ended abruptly. The devastation is both immediate and ongoing, leaving a wake of emotional, spiritual, and even physical pain.
4. A Peek Under the Hood: A Brain Surgeon Looks at Life
The human brain is more than just another organ; it holds your mind and your spirit as well. Meet real people and see how their neurological problems teach us about how we're wired and how we got here. A fascinating journey into the nervous system, and into the mind of God.
I don’t have an interview specifically about this book, but here’s one I did that’s all about neuroscience!
5. Lemons on Friday: Trusting God Through My Greatest Heartbreak by Mattie Jackson Smith
When your life is suddenly full of questions, how do you move forward in faith?
After being married for less than a year, country music legend Alan Jackson's daughter Mattie was faced with navigating a future that didn't include her young husband and the life they dreamed of together.
Ben Selecman passed away twelve days after suffering a traumatic brain injury--and three weeks before celebrating his first anniversary with his wife. Suddenly, twenty-eight-year-old Mattie had to find a way to reconcile herself with a good God, even when He did not give her the healing miracle she prayed for.
In Lemons on Friday, Mattie Jackson Selecman invites you to walk with her during the first years of grief following Ben's tragic death as she grapples with her loss and leans on a steadfast God.
Mattie wrestles with questions that we've all faced in the midst of grief and loss, including:
How did I get here?
Will this always hurt?
Who am I now?
Where can I find the strength to keep going?
Lemons on Friday will give you the encouragement you need to see life and love in a brand new light, no matter what you're facing.
6. Deeper: Real Change for Real Sinners by Dane Ortlund
“Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” —2 Peter 3:18
How do Christians grow? Few question the call of the Bible to grow in godliness, but the answer to exactly how this happens is often elusive.
In this book, Dane Ortlund points believers to Christ, making the case that sanctification does not happen by doing more or becoming better, but by going deeper into the wondrous gospel truths that washed over them when they were first united to him.
Drawing on wisdom from figures throughout church history, Ortlund encourages readers to fix their gaze on Jesus in the battle against sin, casting themselves upon his grace and living out their invincible identity in Christ.
7. Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy by Mark Vroegop
2020 Christian Book of the Year ECPA Winner!
Lament is how you live between the poles of a hard life and trusting God’s goodness.
Lament is how we bring our sorrow to God—but it is a neglected dimension of the Christian life for many Christians today. We need to recover the practice of honest spiritual struggle that gives us permission to vocalize our pain and wrestle with our sorrow. Lament avoids trite answers and quick solutions, progressively moving us toward deeper worship and trust.
Exploring how the Bible—through the psalms of lament and the book of Lamentations—gives voice to our pain, this book invites us to grieve, struggle, and tap into the rich reservoir of grace and mercy God offers in the darkest moments of our lives.
8. Sacred Prayer: 90 Days of Deeper Intimacy with God (A Guided Journal) by Ann Voskamp
Experience deeper connection with God through the six SACRED steps of prayer in this 90-day guided prayer journal.
Ann Voskamp shares her own personal prayer practice to help you discover the power and beauty of prayer:
SACRED
Stillness to know God
Attentiveness to hear God
Cruciformity to surrender to God
Revelation to see God
Examine to return to God
Doxology to thank God
Discover with Ann, that, when we retreat from the world to pray, to wait, to hope in God—we find true and beautiful perspective for our souls. Ann shares the six steps of SACRED prayer through this 90-day guided journey.
Prayer, communion, and connection with God is a life-changing discipline and gift. Prayer will enhance your life by:
Growing your relationship with and faith in God
Transforming you to be more like Jesus
Aligning your thoughts and actions with the Bible
Reducing stress and worry and increasing your peace
Take this sacred journey of prayer with Ann over the course of 90 days and see how God moves in your life and in your circumstances.
When you need hope, the first place you should go is down on your knees.
9. A Million Little Miracles by Mark Batterson
I had the honor of endorsing this book!
The New York Times bestselling author of Win the Day reminds us of the millions of miracles God performs every day and inspires us to live with a clearer sense of identity and purpose.
Think you’ve never experienced a miracle? With all due respect, you have never not. In fact, you are one!
There never has been—and there never will be—anyone else like you. That isn’t a testament to you. It’s a testament to the God who created you. Your fingerprint, eyeprint, and voiceprint are unlike anyone else’s. Simply put, you matter to God.
Most of us take everyday miracles for granted, including the one that stares back at us in the mirror. It’s time to take them for gratitude. Why is that so important? Because whatever you don’t turn into praise turns into pride. The miracle of life becomes mundane. We get so wrapped up in our own little world, we end up worshipping a god who looks like us, acts like us, and thinks like us.
10. How to Hear God by Pete Greig
You were created to enjoy a real, conversational relationship with God.
The Bible says that hearing the voice of our Creator is both central and natural to our existence as humans.
When life falls apart, we need God's comfort.
In moments of cultural turmoil, we need his clarity.
Facing difficult decisions, we need his guidance.
Desiring a deeper faith, we need God to say something, anything, to turn the monologue we call prayer into a genuine conversation.
But how do we really hear God?
Nothing could possibly matter more than learning to discern his authentic voice, and yet few things in life are more susceptible to delusion, deception, and downright abuse.
Having addressed God's silence in God on Mute, and then How to Pray in his previous bestseller, Pete Greig is back to bring wisdom and guidance to one of the most pressing and perplexing aspects of universal Christian experience—How to Hear God.
Exploring the story of Christ's playful, poignant conversation on the road to Emmaus after his resurrection, Pete draws deeply from the insights of a wide range of Christian traditions; weaving together the evangelical emphasis on hearing God in the Bible, and the charismatic commitment to hearing God in the prophetic, with the contemplative understanding of God's "still, small voice" within.
"Pete transcends the Christian tribalism of our day… rooting us in something far more ancient, unchanging, timeless. What the early Christians called the Way. This ancient form of Christianity is the antidote to much of the modern church's pain. The cure for our ills." —John Mark Comer
11. Closer Than Your Next Breath: Where Is God When You Need Him Most? by Susie Larson
God is omnipresent—meaning He's here, there, everywhere all at the same time—so no matter what you're going through today or worried about facing tomorrow, He is closer than you can imagine, and His presence changes everything.
The God of creation cares deeply about every detail of our personal lives. He's in charge of every galaxy and has named every star. He also knows about the hurts in our hearts and the hairs on our heads. He's near and far. His glory fills the universe, and yet He's up close and involved.
Though we believe in our minds that God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-present, sometimes we don't feel his closeness. How can we walk boldly in our faith, expecting Him to draw near to us as we draw near to Him, as promised in the book of James? In Closer Than Your Next Breath, bestselling author, speaker, and radio host Susie Larson helps readers experience God's trustworthiness and love—even when they feel far from Him. In this book, readers will explore these questions and more:
How do I know if I'm hearing the voice of God?
Is feeling good the same as feeling God?
Is there anything I can do when God seems silent?
How should God's presence impact me?
There's nothing like God's presence in our lives, but sometimes we chase the sensational and miss the supernatural. Worship services, retreats or conferences, and mountaintop experiences are great, but too often we rush right by the nuanced, miraculous ways God shows up in our story every day. When we pursue the heart of God through the Word of God, that's when we experience the presence of God—and it makes all the difference in our lives.
12. You’ll Get Through This (Re-Released as Never Give Up) by Max Lucado
We all fear that the depression will never lift, the disappointment will never stop, the pain will never leave. Here in the pits, surrounded by steep walls, we wonder if our gray skies will ever brighten. Though these unprecedented and challenging times may bring a load of uncertainty and fear that feels too heavy to bear, God gives us this promise: You'll Get Through This.
In You'll Get Through This, pastor and New York Times bestselling author Max Lucado traces the story of Joseph as told in the book of Genesis. The Bible tells us that Joseph was tossed into a pit by his brothers, sold into slavery, wrongfully imprisoned, forgotten and dismissed. Yet Joseph's story is proof that we can flourish even in this broken world. On his darkest days, Joseph may have thought that the sun would never shine again, but God ultimately used these hardships for a greater purpose.
Whether you find yourself in the pit of financial downturn, job loss, health crisis, or relationship stresses, God has a plan and a path forward designed just for you. Max reminds readers God doesn't promise that getting through trials will be quick or painless, but he does use our mess for good.
In this book, Max will help you:
Find comfort in the knowledge that you are God's child and God cares deeply for you
Remember that God is near you and has never left you
Look for hope in each hardship that you face
Lean on your loving community in challenging times
Take courage that God will restore even the most painful circumstances and use them for good
Each copy of You'll Get Through This includes thoughtful questions for reflection designed to give you a chance to dive deeper into the hard yet hopeful story of Joseph's perseverance.
With the compassion of a pastor, the heart of a storyteller, and the joy of one who has seen what God can do, Max explores the story of Joseph and the truth of Genesis 50:20: what Satan intends for evil, God redeems for good.
13. The Question That Never Goes Away by Philip Yancey
Why does God allow suffering?
In his classic book Where Is God When It Hurts, Philip Yancey gave us permission to doubt, reasons not to abandon faith, and practical ways to reach out to hurting people.
In this sequel, written 30 years later, Yancey revisits our cry of "Why, God?" in the wake of increased violence and natural disasters the world over. It's a cry that many of us take up with more urgency each year as we sit stunned by the calamities devastating our world, our communities, and our personal lives.
Acknowledging that Christians have not always responded to the problem of pain and grief with grace, Yancey helps us find meaning in the midst of the deepest suffering. The Question That Never Goes Away is a deep and personal reflection on the ways that suffering both challenges and affirms our faith and how we can respond to the existence of evil in a manner that doesn't dismiss it.
"In the face of suffering, words do not suffice. We need something more: the word made flesh, actual living proof that God has not abandoned us, that he shares in our distress," Yancy writes. We find this proof in Jesus, whose own story is one of suffering voluntarily accepted. No other religion has this model of God identifying so deeply and compassionately with humanity—and this changes how we see it and respond to it.
Timely and heartfelt, Philip Yancey has once again offered readers a powerful response to some of the toughest questions that will never leave us in this life.
14. Happiness by Randy Alcorn
Do you ever wonder whether God even cares if we’re happy?
This world can be so hard, and we aren’t promised an easy road. But that’s not the whole story. The Bible is filled with verses that prove that ours is a God who not only loves celebrations but also desperately wants his children to experience happiness. Why else would he go to the lengths he did to ensure our eternal happiness in his presence? We know that we will experience unimaginable joy and happiness in heaven, but that doesn’t mean we can’t also experience joy and happiness here on earth.
In Happiness, noted theologian Randy Alcorn (bestselling author of Heaven) dispels centuries of misconceptions about happiness, including downright harmful ideas like the prosperity gospel, and provides indisputable proof that God not only wants us to be happy, he commands it. Randy covers questions like:
How can I cultivate happiness in my life?
What’s the difference between joy and happiness?
Can good things become idols that steal our happiness?
Is seeking happiness selfish?
How can I achieve happiness through gratitude?
What does it look like to receive God’s grace?
The most definitive study on the subject of happiness to date, this book is a paradigm-shifting wake-up call for the church and Christians everywhere.
I’ve created a free BRAIN Goals™ Guide for you! It will help you align your mindset to your mission and set goals to make 2025 your best year yet!
Will You Share Your Story?
Your story of transformation could inspire someone to take the first step toward hope and healing. If Self-Brain Surgery™ has impacted you, please share your testimonial with us by clicking the box below:
Share this message with someone who needs encouragement this holiday season, and let’s spread the joy and wonder of Christmas together.
We’re going all in on believing that we have the tools to change our minds and change our lives. Living from a mind-down perspective changes everything, and it will help you harness the transforming power the Bible promises in Romans 12.
And the good news is, you can start today.
Be sure to check out last week’s letter if you missed it!
I hope this list has been helpful to you, but if you’re STILL looking for something else to read, here’s a list of some of the best books I read this year*.
Lisa and I are praying for you.
Dum spiro spero, and Merry Christmas,
Lee
Psalm 71:14 ("As for me, I will always have hope.")
From the banks of the North Platte river on Moon River Ranch in Nebraska, USA
If you would like to support this work with a one-time gift, use the button below (Note: support for Self-Brain Surgery™ is not tax-deductible)
This week’s newsletter is sponsored by Adapt Naturals.
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Great great list!