A Year In Review: Book Reading List 2024

The year 2024 came with its own surprising twists and unexpected events. Early on, I transitioned from one job to a series of consulting roles until I landed what seemed to be a stable position—but only time will tell. Throughout this major professional shift, my family grew as my wife and I welcomed our fourth son. This new addition to our family brought unexpected demands on our time, more than I had bargained for. Raising four boys is no easy feat, especially when two of them have strong-willed personalities.

Despite the increased family responsibilities, I managed to continue some of my usual activities. I attended some of our weekly Bible Study with the Living Word Association (LWA) and made an effort, though limited, to fulfill my role as a Catechist for confirmation classes at my parish. Though these two commitments took a backseat, two other activities took center stage throughout the year. First, I continued joining Father Raphael and Tigana in offering a monthly Bible Study in our local parishes focused on the Gospel of St. Mark. Second, we launched a series of spiritual journeys for an ecumenical audience (both Catholics and Protestants) with a special emphasis on Charismatic gifts. This latter initiative gained remarkable momentum, growing from an initial 21 participants in 2023 to a regular gathering of 40+ attendees each month.

In addition to the monthly spiritual journey, which began in July 2024, two major retreats were conducted with guest speakers from South Africa: Br. Nesbert, Sr. Olivia, and Dr. Thierry L. Both retreats, one in June and the other in November, provided profound spiritual experiences. Unlike the 2023 event, where we played a supporting role while our guest speakers led the prayers for healing and the in-filling of the Holy Spirit (a term used in Charismatic circles to describe a profound encounter with God's love, often accompanied by physical manifestations in those receiving prayer), this time, we actively involved the participants in praying for one another. Many powerful testimonies emerged from these spiritual gatherings. People shared stories of physical healing, emotional liberation, and spiritual renewal. Some close friends who had embarked on this journey with me, seeking a greater manifestation of the Holy Spirit, were overjoyed to witness the Lord answering their longing in unexpected way.

As I do each year, I am sharing my reading list of books I was able to complete. However, I noticed a significant drop in my reading this year due to my increasingly demanding schedule. This year, and possibly going forward, I will drop the scaling I used to give to my readings:

Catholic Authors:

1. The Signs of His Coming: An Examination of the Olivet Discourse from a Preterist Perspective by David J. Palm

2. Healing - Revised and Expanded (The Bestselling Classic) by Francis MacNutt

3. Hostile Witnesses: How the Historic Enemies of the Church Prove Christianity by Gary Michuta

Protestant Authors:

1. The Quest for the Radical Middle: A History of the Vineyard by Dr. Bill Jackson

2. Nine O'Clock in the Morning by Dennis J. Bennett

3. Angels Are for Real: Inspiring, True Stories and Biblical Answers by Judith MacNutt

4. Understanding Spiritual Gifts: A Comprehensive Guide by Sam Storm

Miscellaneous Books:

1. Testing Prayer: Science and Healing by Candy Gunther Brown (Harvard University Press)

As I look forward to the new year 2025, I do so with hope, praying that it will be better than the last, all for the glory of God the Father.

"I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus." - Philippians 1:6 (NABRE)

A Year In Review: Book Reading List 2023

We finally crossed the year 2023 over to 2024. Last year was an intense year for me on many fronts and I am glad to have survived it. As I have done each year, I have continued my regular weekly Bible studies with the Living Word Association (LWA) which is an inter-denominational association which strive at understanding the Bible and practice its precepts. This year marked an important shift in our bible study protocol. A new study method was introduced that has enriched everybody's learning curve. The method is coined, C.O.C.A. This acronym stands for Context, Observation, Comprehension, Application. Yes, it is easy to remember and even easier to apply. This method was introduced into our local scenery by Father Raphael Manikiza, the Dominican Vicar Provincial of the Provincial Vicariate of Rwanda and Burundi. 

This method, COCA, was initially introduced in our monthly Bible Study at the Dominican Chapel where I have been honoured to work alongside with Father Raphael and the lay theologian Tigana Birasa as we offered our reflection on the Gospel of Matthew for the Liturgical Year-A to the Community. For 2024, we will continue our study and focus on the Gospel of Mark.

Half a dozen year ago, I went into a quest to better understand my Christian faith as a Catholic and I have come enriched and better for it. After completing the reading of the Bible and the Catechism of the Catholic Church, I turned to the official teaching documents of Vatican II. I have made a slow inroad this last year, after reading the 4 Dogmatic constitutions (Lumen Gentium, Dei Verbum, Sacrosanctum Concilium and Gaudium et Spes) and read the 3 Declarations of the council Vatican II:

1. Gravissimum Educationis, it is the Declaration on Christian Education
2. Dignitatis Humanae, it is the Declaration on Religious Freedom
3. Nostra Aetate*, it is the Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions (this one was read the year prior*).

I also started reading the list of Vatican II Decrees. So far, I have read two of them and I am slowly going through the rest:

1. Apostolicam Actuositatem, it is a Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity
2. Ad Gentes, it is a Decree on the Mission Activity of the Church

As I said in my last review, "reading what the Church says in its own words is so refreshing and so encouraging and it sounds at time quite different from what people out there says about the Church teaching", I would now add, it is also so different from what some Catholic clergies have said about the Church teaching, 100% different. I remember in the year 2000 and 2001 when I had first read my whole bible systematically from Genesis to Revelation, I was in shock. The initial shock was not what I found but what I didn't found in it. Things I have heard so many times in popular platform, TVs, Radio, Conferences, etc., about what "the bible say's" but were nowhere to be found in the Bible. Neither did I find them in my second reading, nor the third time I read it. It became clear there are many things' people passes for biblical teaching which can't be found in the Bible itself. It is the same with the official Church teachings. I will dare, even challenge, anyone who has an issue with the Catholic Church teachings to first stop and ask themselves, where did I get these views about the Catholic Church teachings? And then after such honest introspection, I invite you to read the Church OFFICIAL teachings for yourself, either doctrinal or moral or social and find out the truth for yourself. You ought it to yourself!

For example, in Gaudium et Spes, I was gladly surprised, two years ago, to see that the Church takes her evangelistic mission seriously to the point of including it into one of its 4 Constitutions. And this aren't a unique occurrence, similar texts can be read in its Declarations and Decrees:

"It is necessary never to lose sight of the fact that the objective of the Church is to evangelize, not to civilize. If it civilizes, it is for the sake of evangelization." - Footnote Part II, Chapter II, No.7. 

In the same effort to strengthen my understanding of Christianity, I completed a Certification course with Harvard Divinity School on "Christianity through Its Scriptures". There are many reasons I pursued such endeavour, and one of them was to get a neutral view about my faith and to be challenged, and it was challenging to say the least. In our introduction, the professor clearly let us know that we would be studying the Christian sacred scriptures from a standpoint of Academia and not from a Devotional starting point. The message was clear, and we found out soon enough that not only we studied the Canonical texts found in our Bibles, but the Academic view of the Christian scriptures included also other early writings not found in the Bible such as the Gnostic writings of the earlier Centuries. We read them and made dissertations about them. Overall, it was a stimulating intellectual experience, and inadvertently despite the exposure to other competing writings presented to us as Scriptures, I came out of it more convinced of the Christian faith as it is articulated in its orthodoxy.

There is one important item that I should add to my list of memorable activities, namely 'The Strength of Witnesses' conference. It was a 3-day Charismatic Conference organized and hosted at the St. Dominique Parish ahead of the Feast of Pentecost and it was animated by our guests, Dr. Thierry Luhandjula, Sister Olivia Jani and Brother Nesbert Muzamba. This was followed by The Philip Course, a 3-day retreat in October 2023 at the Convent of the Dominican Sister, this retreat delved deeper into the meaning of the Christian Life. It was animated by Brother Nesbert Muzamba and Brother Giovanni Valerio Svegliati. These two events have left participants with no voice and deeply moved both emotionally, spiritually and in some cases bodily. We have come out of these events, better Christians, and more committed as Christians. It is hard to properly describe what transpired without causing misunderstanding so I would simply recommend for a better understanding of what was experienced by participants, both Catholic and non-Catholic Christians, please do refer to Encounter Ministries which is the Catholic apostolate which was our inspiration in the design of this charismatic event.

I will end with my yearly tradition which consist in sharing the list of books I read during the previous year. Each book comes with a scoring metric. This scoring doesn't necessarily mean that the book was either perfect or poor. It simply reflects my enthusiasm at the moment of reading it based on the book content and the appeal of the writing style. These are the books that I read in 2023: 

Religious Books

Catholic Authors

1. "Hostile Witnesses: How the Historic Enemies of the Church Prove Christianity" by Gary Michuta (5/5)
2. "Introduction to Spiritual Life: Walking the Path of Prayer with Jesus" by Brant Pitre (4/5)
3. "Supernal Saints: A School of Ministry from the Saints" by Patrick Reis (4.5/5)

Protestant Authors

1. "Why I Am Still Surprised by the Voice of God: How God Speaks Today through Prophecies, Dreams, and Visions" by Jack Deere (4/5)
2. "Why I Am Still Surprised by the Power of the Spirit: Discovering How God Speaks and Heal Today" by Jack Deere (4/5)
3. "Are Miraculous Gifts for Today? - Four Views" - Edited by Stanley N. Gundry and Wayne A. Grudem (4/5)
4. "The Case for Miracles: A Journalist Investigates Evidence for the Supernatural" by Lee Strobel (5/5)
5. "Investigating the Resurrection of Jesus Christ: A New Transdisciplinary Approach" by Andrew Loke (4.5/5)

Non-Religious Books

1. "Global Pentecostal and Charismatic Healing" by Candy Gunther (Oxford University Press) (5/5)
2. "Reconciliation Is My Lifestyle: A Life's Lesson on Forgiving and Loving Those Who Have Hated You" by Antoine Rutayisire (5/5)
3. "Even in Our Darkness: A Story of Beauty in a Broken Life" by Jack Deere (5/5)

Note: These last 3 books can hardly be labelled as religious books even though their authors may be known for their religious convictions.

...

The year 2023 was an intense year both in my workplace and in my family with its share of challenges. My family has known series of illnesses with different degrees of intensity, from major surgery for my boy earlier in the year to a medical trip at the end of the year. Sickness and Illness became a permanent feature of our household from the beginning of the year to the end. So much so that my wife once told me with an aggravated tone that pharmacists in our neighbourhood now know who we are. It is a miracle that with all these health constraints and intense workload in my job, I was able to read this much and done so much in my community. I guess it comes with the territory, I aggressively attacked the kingdom of darkness, and it expectedly struck back. 

Nevertheless, in all these, I praise the Lord that my wife and I never went through this fire alone. The Lord was always there comforting my family during those long sleepless night with kids fighting with uncontrollable fevers, bizarre diseases and those long hours at the hospitals' queues. 

"Therefore, my beloved brethren, stand firm and immovable, devoting yourselves completely to the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain." - 1 Corinthians15:58

Endurance: A Year In Review (2019)

The year 2019 was an unexpectedly difficult year for me and my loved ones (family and friends). My family went through a heart-wrenching experience with the quasi-sudden death of my beloved Mother. How sudden you may wonder? Well, in the month of March 2019 we were discussing an important document to present to an interested third party investor who had confirmed to meet with us during the month of July 2019. The very first week of July, she had passed away from this life into the Eternal City, and we never had that planned meeting. Her sickness was a traumatic short-lived illness to all who were close to her. The wound left behind by her sudden departure hasn't been healed. It is too soon. And yet, the faith I have learned from her has carried me through this difficult past year, and I still cling to it to carry me throughout the year 2020. My Mother's death has put many of my personal projects on a halt and slowed down others. Despite the deep sadness experienced when She passed away to eternity, my family was comforted by the birth of two awesome and cute little Boys (Noah B. and Josh G.). The timing couldn't be more awkward but we received them as divine signs, as a rumor from another World which reached out to our hearts to appease our sorrows and anoint our hurting wounds!

Much more had happened in 2019 but this is no place nor the right time to speak about them. Nevertheless, I'd like to make an exception by pointing out one particular thing though. Something that I have learned from my parents, especially from my late Mother - the habit to learn through reading. She loved reading, especially Her Bible. Her favorite book of the Bible was the book of Psalm. I have developed a similar reading habit from my beloved Mother and I read the Bible and study it on a weekly basis with a group of dear friends from the Living Word Association (LWA).

To my regular bible reading, I also do some additional readings. Last year, I gave my 2018 reading list of books that shaped my mind and invigorated my spiritual commitment to the Lord. I want to follow on that new tradition and list the 2019 list of books that have reinforced my understanding of Christianity. The year 2019 also introduced me to a series of online debates with atheists and agnostic(s)? on different aspects of science, ethics, spirituality, politics, and other themes that intersected with religion. The debates have been spirited and at time pleasant, saved for some unavoidable toxic exchanges which are expected from the most virulent and militant atheists. These unexpected encounters led me to diversify some of the reading materials I was exposing my mind to. Below is the list of books I read and which I would also recommend with different degrees of enthusiasm. The rating simply reflects the way the book contents moved me at the time I read them. It is not an indictment of the quality of its content, but simply a reflection of my emotional response to the way it intrigued me.

Catholic authors:
1. "Evangelical Exodus: Evangelical Seminarians and Their Paths to Rome" by Douglas M. Beaumont (5/5)
2. "Diabolical" by Milo Yiannopolous (3.5/5)
3. "Christian Initiation & Baptism in the Holy Spirit: Evidence from the First Eight Centuries" by Kilian McDonnell & George T. Montague (4/5)
4. "Bad Shepherds: The Dark Years in which the Faithful thrived while Bishops did the Devil's work" by Rod Bennett (4/5)
5. "Jesus the Bridegroom: The Greatest Love Story Ever Told" by Brant Pitre (4/5)
6. "Born Fundamentalist, Born Again Catholic" by David B. Currie (5/5)
7. "Teaching with Authority: How to Cut through Doctrinal Confusion and Understand what the Church really says" by Jimmy Akin (3.5/5)
8. "Making Sense of Mary" by Gary G. Michuta (4/5)
9. "Salvation: What Every Catholic Should Know" by Michael Patrick Barber (4.5/5)
10. "The Salvation Controversy" by Jimmy Akin (3/5)
11. "Answering Atheism: How to Make the Case for God with Logic and Charity" by Trent Horn (3.5/5)
12. "The Myth of Religious Violence: Secular Ideology and the Roots of Modern Conflicts" by William T. Cavanaugh (4/5)

Protestant authors:
13. "Against Calvinism: Rescuing God's Reputation from Radical Reformed Theology" by Roger E. Olson (5/5)
14. "Stealing From God: Why Atheists Need God to Make Their Case" by Frank Turek (4/5)

Non-Christian author:
15. "Did Jesus Exist? The Historical Argument for Jesus of Nazareth" by Bart D. Ehrman (4/5)

As I look back to the year 2019, I am full of gratitude to all who have contacted me (international calls), wrote to me and visited me during my beloved Mother's funeral. God has shown His goodness toward me through family and friends. God had given me a fantastic support system that I didn't even know existed until tragedy struck home!

Thank you to all from the bottom of my heart for your love, friendship, words of affirmation and comforts, spiritual counsel and heartfelt prayers during those terrible moments. When my heart will be a little bit lighter and the wounds a little bit painless, I will write some more about my Mother and give Her a fuller tribute! Until then, God Speed!

My Mother was a Heroine of faith, and now She surrounds us with all the other Heros of faith. Though She is gone to Her Lord, I know by God's grace She is also still with us, surrounding us and witnessing my race and the good fight I continue to fight in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ whether in favorable or unfavorable time (Jeremiah 42.6)!

Hebrews 12:1-3;

"1 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."

Adios Bubba!

I felt a bit tired and also a bit stressed when i walk through the gate of my house. It was a chilly late evening. The house sounded a bit deserted. No particular noise around me. I should have known that something was amiss. It was too quite. I effortlessly moved my leg across the stairs and went into the house. My dad was working on his computer. My young brother Steve was doing some autodidact work on 3-D animation with his unfinished meal plate by his side. Nothing was particularly unusual but i still felt the growing silence in the house as still unsettling.

I went through the usual evening routine, I took my evening supper, and then gathered the meat and chicken bones that i couldn't eat to my plate then I spoke to my young brother:

"Don't forget to give your bones to Bubba".

That is all i needed to say to finally realize what was wrong with all this picture. Steve looked at me with quite a sadden face, and injected me the poisonous information:

"There is no more Bubba. Bubba is dead!"

I just felt the hurt for a split second, and i re-organized my emotion that was still vacillating and my brain which was still trying to process the information. "What?" i thought to myself. How can she die just like that. No matter how i turned it in my head, it was clear my dog was dead. Even though she was an old dog, part of her death was the fault of a Veterinary that was brought home to assess and cure her of a particular ailment she contracted sometime this year. Sniff, anyway - she is gone!

We have had quite a long history with Bubba. She came to our lives in the year 2000-2001. Steve wasn't even a teenager then, and now he is past his teenage-hood years. Of all of us, he is certainly the one who must be feeling the big emptiness of its death. As for me, my dog has always been my faithful and loyal companion. Even though she never prayed, she almost was by my side during my frequent solitary time of outdoor prayers.

She used to wag her tail observing me curiously as i prayed. Sometime, when the night was pitch black, just knowing and sensing her presence by my side gave me some form of comfort to stay out of the house for long hours, as i sat, on my veranda, thinking and gazing at the emptiness above me made of a starless sky and a moonless night.

It is just sad as i now realize that i have also lost a long time friend so to speak, a silent partner and an always loyal companion who never expressed verbal judgement.

I have to also admit that not everybody will share my feelings here. Especially the countless people who have been brutalized by her for trespassing on our private propriety. I can only shake my head in disbelief and smile as i remember all the amusing scenes of people running around with Bubba at their trails or the sometime bizarre stories such as a run away thief who was jumping through walls, going house to house. He got rescued by the police that were chasing after him when he landed in our private land. I was told that never before did a thief felt so happy to see the police arrive. The house got woke up by the odious screams that was emanating from the garden. I guess that is when the police knew on which gate they should go to exercise their protective skills.

Oh, so much funny, good and Happy memories with Bubba. I can't tell them all.

Anyway, this is the circle of life! Adios Bubba!