My 2025 Reading Journey: Charles L. Allen Books Reviewed

The very first books on my bookshelf… yes it is in alphabetical order by author, were inherited books from a pastor I served with for many years. He seemed to like them very much as he had several copies of each of these books by Charles L. Allen (1913-2005). I kept one copy of each of the following books and gave away the rest.

I read both of these as 2025 has begun and got them both read in a few days as they are both easy reads. Charles L. Allen is definitely a man who loved his Reader’s Digest stories about historical admirals, unknown far-flung nobles, and unnamed friends and acquaintances who just so happen to illustrate his points.

“GOD’S PSYCHIATRY” BY CHARLES L. ALLEN

The first book I read by Charles L. Allen is “God’s Psychiatry” (1953). I would recommend this book. I would recommend this book because it attempts to help the reader to frame, re-frame, and take thoughts captive for Jesus Christ. What, Why, and How we think is just as much a big deal today as it was in the 1960s in Atlanta when this pastor penned his thoughts.

The book references the Twenty-Third Psalm, the Ten Commandments, The Lord’s Prayer, and the Beatitudes as the background for training the mind towards faith in God. Christians will find his suggestions helpful. There is a little bit of “just pray your problems away” in this book now and again, but overall, he does not strike that chord. What you may not find helpful are the illustrative stories in-between the nuggets of gold.

HIGHLIGHTS:

“God tells us not to do wrong. but there are some things we want to do, right or wrong. So we create a God who doesn’t care what we do. We think of the God of the blue skies, majestic mountains, and lovely flowers, but turn our backs on the God who said, “Ye have robbed me in tithes and offerings (Malachi 3:8), or the God who said, “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Galatians 6:7). It has been well pointed out that Christ was not crucified because He said, “Consider the lilies, how they grow,” but rather because He said, “Consider the thieves, how they steal.” It is so much easier to whittle God down to our size instead of repenting, changing our way of living, and being Godly ourselves.” (page 50)

“Sorrow is a wound. It cuts deeply and hurts terribly, but it is a clean wound, and, unless bitterness, resentment, or self-pity gets into the wound, it will heal. But when I do wrong the result is an unclean wound, which will not heal. It robs me of my peace of mind, it makes my conscience hurt, it distorts my thinking, it sets up conflicts within me, it weakens my will power, it destroys my soul.” (page 70)

Overall, I found this book helpful for mental health in that it frames how to think in a world that tears up how we think. Christians were assaulted in their minds when Reverend Allen wrote this book. We are assaulted all the more now. A solid read even if it is a bit dated.

“ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE THROUGH PRAYER” BY CHARLES L. ALLEN

The second book I read by Charles L. Allen is “All Things are Possible Through Prayer” (1960). I would not recommend this book.

A nice aspect of this book is that he covers twenty-four related topics to prayer. Those topics are covered quickly and are easily referenced in the contents if the reader has a specific question about some area of prayer.

I would not recommend this book for two reasons. First, there are other (better) books on prayer that I have read in my time as a believer in Jesus. Second, this book is absolutely one reader’s digest story, anecdote, and historical-tidbit page after page and one after another. I can only read about an unnamed friend in New England and a Civil War General so much. In my opinion, the illustrations make it unreadable.

SUMMARY

So… my journey of reading thru my personal library in 2025 has begun. One book I would recommend and the other I would not. I shall continue to read!

TMB