Do you ever have five minutes to read? I know that there is a certain room in my house that I visit frequently and have a few minutes to thumb through a magazine or hunting catalog. On a recent trip I visited a church where a family gave me a book called The Five Minute Church Historian by Rick Cornish. I have fallen in love with this little book, which is now located in my reading room. I love history, but I also hold the conviction that most followers of Jesus are unaware of the people who have gone before them, the movements that changed the world in the name of Jesus, and the struggles that Christianity has endured throughout the ages. Whether you love history or not, it is such a helpful discipline to study and learn about our story through the ages, and glean from those who have shaped Christianity. What Cornish has done is taken the major issues, movements, controversies, and people and written very short two to three page chapters explaining the historical impact. The chapters are so easy to read and are memorable. Very much worth the effort.
I was also given a copy of his companion book, The Five Minute Apologist which uses the same approach to defending the Christian faith. Haven’t read it, but a quick thumb through looked very good. The third book has questions about theology. None of these books are designed to give the reader all they can know but will give the reader good overviews and prime the pump for more learning. Well worth the effort.
