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Thrift With Me! How Phylicia finds Theology books on a Budget (audio only)
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For those who followed me when I was on social media regularly, you know that I love a good thrift store! There is a special kind of joy in thrifting that can't be replicated online. You walk into the store not knowing what you'll find, and every shelf holds possibility. There's something especially satisfying about finding a beautiful theology book on a shelf for just a few dollars. Over the years, thrifting has become one of my favorite ways to build a library. Not only is it more affordable, but it feels like the true reflection of what I'm finding in a book about God: treasure.
In today's video, I'm taking you along and sharing:
• How I hunt for theology books in thrift stores.
• How I discern which books are worth bringing home.
• Why I recommend some books to others and keep different books for my own reading.
• Practical tips for thrifting theology books and building your own library on a budget.
If you'd like my theology book lists and recommendations, we'd love to hear from you! Email us at phylicia@phyliciamasonheimer.com.
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#ThriftingBooks #TheologyBooks #ChristianBooks #BookRecommendations #BibleStudy #EveryWomanATheologian #PhyliciaMasonheimer #ChristianYouTube #BookThrifting (edited)
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Transcript
Introduction to Thrift Shopping and Book Recommendations
00:00:00
Speaker
We have something special for you today. i thought, what if I combined my love for book recommendations with a thrift with me trip? Let's go thrifting.
00:00:16
Speaker
Hello friends, welcome back to Verity Podcast. So we've wrapped up our prayer series and we're waiting to start a new series on how to study the Bible. So in between these two series, I thought, I'm going to try something new.
00:00:33
Speaker
I get asked all the time for my book recommendations and especially how I find Christian books at discounted prices because we all know that we don't have a limitless budget for buying all of these glorious Christian books.
00:00:48
Speaker
I love to thrift and I also love thrift with me videos on YouTube. I got into them when I was postpartum with Olivera and they're still my favorite thing to watch on YouTube aside from theology videos, of course.
Launching a New Video Venture
00:01:02
Speaker
So I thought, what if I combined my love for book recommendations with a thrift with me trip?
00:01:09
Speaker
This is totally new territory for me. I'm not a lifestyle vlogger or blogger. And so please bear with me in my clunky way of doing this. This is my first time. but if you like this episode and you think it's fun,
00:01:25
Speaker
please comment. Please email me at felicia at feliciamasonheimer.com and let me know what you'd like to see. This particular thrift trip I filmed on my iPhone, so the audio might not be as good as usual, um but I hope that what I share is helpful. And I actually found quite a few interesting books on this thrift trip. So I hope it's interesting for you. It's pretty short, um and I can definitely do more themed thrift trips or book recommendations if it would be helpful for you.
Highlighting Theology and Specific Books
00:01:54
Speaker
so Without further ado, i hope you enjoy this Thrift With Me for Theology Books video. And if you're listening on the podcast, we are putting the audio up, but I would encourage you to actually watch this on YouTube so you can get the full experience.
00:02:11
Speaker
All right, let's go thrifting. Okay, off we go. We're headed into Goodwill to find some theology books.
00:02:36
Speaker
So I actually know Shannon personally, who authored Control Girl, and I did this book in a Bible study at a church I used to attend. This is actually a great look at different instances in scripture where control kind of pits you against the leadership of the spirit. So this is ah a really good one, especially in a group setting.
00:03:03
Speaker
So Shannon Breen is a Fox News anchor. She went to my alma mater, Liberty University, and this is the workbook that goes with
Evaluating Books for Scriptural and Theological Soundness
00:03:12
Speaker
this book. Now I haven't read this book, so when I am thrifting for Christian books and I am not familiar with the content of a book, what I usually do is of course, read through the back, but then i like to look inside and see how scripture is treated. So here we're looking at an example. This is the story of Jael. It's a really great story. So I like to see how often the author is actually putting you into the Bible itself. And I see that we start out real strong here, Judges 5, and that through that we're then observing the text
00:03:46
Speaker
Continuing here and then it looks like we're applying the text in prayer. So I really like how this looks. I think this would be really great in a mentorship, kind of beginner discipleship relationship.
00:04:07
Speaker
Okay, so this is an interesting little stack. Looks like maybe the same person donated all of these. um Forgotten God is by Francis Chan, and this is one of my top recommendations for theology of the Holy Spirit.
00:04:17
Speaker
Radical by David Flatt came out years ago, but if you're someone who wants to learn more about missions and the motivation to missions, this is a really good book. Now, I actually haven't read this book by John Mark Comer. Also was very, very popular, and I know that people have different opinions about his work right now. But one of the things that's important to do when you are thrifting for theology books is to kind of try to get an understanding of where an author is coming from to help discern is this something that I can read with my eyes open um or is something that I can be taught by this person. Now, I personally don't have any issue with John Mark Homer's teaching. but it's something that's worth sitting with and thinking about. Can I discern through this or am I trying, am I in a season where I just want to read and not worry about that?
00:05:07
Speaker
well This is an interesting combo. so We've got Dangerous Calling by Paul David Tripp. This is about pastoral ministry. um I love Paul David Tripp's parenting book, so I know that I would probably enjoy this even though I'm not in a pastoral role.
00:05:20
Speaker
But look what's right next to it. The book that keeps on giving. If you want to know my feelings and thoughts and theological treatment on this book, you can look at the podcast and scroll back to my episode on redeeming love.
00:05:33
Speaker
Okay, so I found this book. I don't recognize the title and I don't recognize the author. So when I'm looking at theology books and I'm in that kind of a situation, what I like to do is immediately look at the back at where the author went to seminary. It says he went to Westminster Theological Seminary. So I am guessing that he is probably reformed in his theological perspective, which is totally fine. I read from a wide variety of perspectives, but it kind of helps me to understand where he might be coming from and how he talks about this process. I also look at the publishing house. This is Zondervan, but it looks like it's a long time ago. um So this gives me some information on, you know, it's probably evangelical and reformed. Looks like he's involved in Christian counseling. So he might be in the AAC in regard to, you know, Christian counseling perspectives. So this this information just helps me know, okay, this is what to expect if I were to read this book.
00:06:25
Speaker
Okay, here's an oldie, Ephesians Self-Study Guide beth Irving Jensen. Not familiar with this author, and honestly, i was not super familiar with the seminaries either, so in that case... I'm just going to look inside and kind of see how he approaches the text. So somebody was actually writing in it. That's really sweet. So let's go to a part that's not written in.
00:06:46
Speaker
Looks like it's verse by verse and is asking some really good questions. So this would be something that I might pick up and just kind of, depending on the price, I think it's four bucks.
00:06:58
Speaker
Kind of just check it out and see, is this something that I could use or I could teach from? Okay, another series I didn't recognize, but I do recognize Nav Press and I do like Nav Press. So they kind of sell this one right on the front. Personal Discovery of God's Word, Application of Scripture, Leaders' Guides for Small Groups. What I might use a book like this for is to refer to or look at when I am writing my own studies of John, just to kind of see like,
00:07:24
Speaker
What are the questions that they're asking? How are they dividing out the word? How are they suggesting it's used in a group setting? So sometimes I grab books like this because I want to kind of learn from how the author broke broke it down, maybe not necessarily use it for my own study process.
00:07:40
Speaker
Now this is a find. I love Hannah Anderson and this book is fantastic. I already own it, otherwise I would grab it. But sometimes I'll grab books like this just to put in a gift basket or to give to somebody who also loves reading Christian nonfiction.
00:07:58
Speaker
Okay, so here is a book I remember when
Diverse Theological Perspectives and Community Building Resources
00:08:00
Speaker
this one came out. I can see that it's edited by Sarah Bessie and I recognize a few of other authors who are um involved in this collection. So with a book like this, I know that I have some pretty significant theological disagreements with several of the authors who are involved in this.
00:08:16
Speaker
Does that mean I'm not going to read it? Not necessarily. i think we should be, depending on your spiritual maturity, able to read from a variety of perspectives. However, this is not a book that I would give to someone else. um It might be something I would read to kind of understand someone's viewpoint, but it's not something that I would be using as a teaching text or using in a group setting or and or anything like that because our theological disagreements are just too big.
00:08:41
Speaker
Well, here is a classic How Now Shall We Live by Charles Coulson and Nancy Piercy. It's also by Tindale. So again, keeping track of some of the publishers that I know and trust really helps me to discern, oh is this a book that I would pick up that I might, you know, benefit from? i actually already own this one. um But if I didn't, I would grab it.
00:09:03
Speaker
I couldn't help but grab a couple books that have nothing to do with scripture or Christian nonfiction because they've been on my list for a while. Louise Penny is one of my favorite fiction writers. I usually listen to her on Audible. And then this one by Karen Abbott on a Civil War woman is really cool. And then this Heads and Ben's book. I think it has been on my list for no joke, 12 years.
00:09:27
Speaker
And i just want to read it. Okay, I always check the racks before I leave and there were a ton of Christian books on this rack. So Matthew Kelly is a Catholic author, so I'm not Catholic. I do read some Catholic books, but um generally I don't pick up his stuff. There's a lot of Joel Osteen here, which obviously, um,
00:09:46
Speaker
due to his prosperity gospel teachings, I'm not going to grab those. Danny Silk is associated with Bethel. And while I know there are some of my readers who probably either attend there or enjoy their their stuff, I generally don't buy anything from them due to theological disagreements and concerns. So because I know who these authors are associated with and what they teach, it kind of gives me some tools for discerning what books I'm going to pick up and what I'm going to leave.
00:10:15
Speaker
Okay, down here we've got one by Louis Giglio. I really like his stuff, especially for beginner believers. I think it's a really approachable way of talking about things. So this one could be a good resource. Here's another Matthew Kelly book, obviously from a Catholic perspective. now This is a fun find. Jenny Allen wrote this book on building community. has a study and the book. So that's a really great resource for somebody.
00:10:37
Speaker
i think this kind of topical study can be good for for a group that really wants to kind of study an issue. insecurity or thoughts or community and so this might be a really good resource for somebody who is kind of into you know studying a topic and maybe is new to studying the bible and so i'm going to leave this for somebody to find this would make a really good advent wreath i don't need it but That would be really cute in the center of a table during the
Conclusion and Preview of Upcoming Content
00:11:05
Speaker
Advent season. Hey friends, I'm home now. I hope you enjoyed this thrifting theology books video. I know it's a little bit out of my norm and not the usual on Every Woman A Theologian's channel, but I hope that it gave you some tips for when you go thrifting, how to find some great Christian books to build out your own library. And if you have any questions or you want book recommendations, please feel free to email me at felicia at feliciamasonheimer.com. Also subscribe to our channel. If you liked this video, comment and let us know, and maybe we'll do another one.
00:11:38
Speaker
In the meantime, we have a new series coming on Verity Podcast very soon on how to study the Bible. So be sure to subscribe so you're notified of that, whether you're listening in iTunes or watching on YouTube. And I'll see you next time on Verity Podcast.