“Very Brief and Meaningful”
This brief book addresses the core things that people desire showing how hope, peace, purpose, and confidence are central to our ideas of the good life even when we disagree about how to get there. Evangelist Rico Tice shares brief anecdotes and stories from the gospels to illustrate these different ideas, showing how Jesus provides all of those things and more. Unlike some Christmas books, Tice doesn't mainly focus on the Nativity story, but gives a sense of the scope of Jesus's life, earthly ministry, death, and resurrection.
"The Ultimate Christmas Wishlist" is a great book for people who are curious about the Christian faith and want a short, highly readable way to explore ideas related to Jesus. It can also encourage longtime Christians, exalting the hope of Christ even when life is difficult and never lives up to our best hopes. I appreciate how many recent Advent books face sadness directly, instead of trying to help the reader drum up festive and joyful feelings that may be out of sync with their circumstances.
This is a great book for adults and teenagers, and because it is so brief and inexpensive, churches can buy it in bulk to hand out at an event. I would definitely recommend it for that purpose, because it covers so many universal themes that anyone will be able to relate to it, regardless of their specific background and life circumstances. This book is so short that busy people can feasibly read it during the holidays, and it can serve an evangelistic purpose and encourage people who are already Christians.
Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
