Book Recommendations
In a world that can often feel overwhelmed with content, it can be hard to determine what is worth your time. Here is a small list of books to help you along on your journey of faith. These books have helped people of all ages better understand and apply Scripture as they look to become more devoted followers of Christ. Happy reading!
Summaries below
Devoted: Great Men and Their Godly Moms by Tim Challies
A Place of Quiet Rest by Nancy Leigh DeMoss
The Biggest Story: How the Snake Crusher Brings Us Back to the Garden by Kevin DeYoung
Give Them Grace by Elyse Fitzpatrick and Jessica Thompson
Sing! How Worship Transforms Your Life, Family, and Church by Keith and Kristyn Getty
Spiritual Depression by Martyn Lloyd-Jones
The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones
Exploring the Bible: A Bible Reading Plan for Kids by David Murray
The Gospel by Ray Ortlund
Knowing God by J. I. Packer
Coronavirus and Christ by John Piper
Desiring God by John Piper
A Book of Comfort for Those in Sickness by P. B. Power
The Holiness of God by R. C. Sproul
The Gospel-Centered Life by Robert Thune and Will Walker
Shepherding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp
Making Peace: A Guide to Overcoming Church Conflict by Jim Van Yperen
Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald Whitney
Union with Christ by Rankin Wilbourne
Summaries
Devoted: Great Men and Their Godly Moms by Tim Challies
Women shaped the men who changed the world.
History tells of women whose love for the Bible shaped its earliest and most prominent teachers. It tells of women who were great theologians in their own right, yet whose only students were their own children. It tells, time and time again, of Christian men who owe so much to their godly mothers.
Raising children to honor and glorify the Lord is the goal of every Christian mother, but how can you do that? Who can teach you? One of the best ways to learn is to read examples of women who have succeeded at the very task you are attempting.
Come take a brief look at some of them. We will look to the church’s earliest days to find a man who owed his salvation to the careful biblical instruction he received on the lap of his mother. We will zoom forward a few centuries to a woman whose constant prayers were at last rewarded when her son came to faith and went on to become one of history’s most influential theologians. We will advance to recent centuries to see how the prayers, teaching, and examples of godly mothers have shaped evangelists, preachers, and stalwart defenders of the faith. We will learn together of Christian men and their godly moms, mothers who were used to shape the men who changed the world.
A Place of Quiet Rest by Nancy Leigh DeMoss
Daily time with the Lord Jesus is essential for an authentic relationship with Him. But so often, our lives interrupt this precious time. That's why Nancy Leigh DeMoss has written this compelling new book about developing a devotional life that will challenge and invite women into a deeper relationship with Christ.
The Biggest Story: How the Snake Crusher Brings Us Back to the Garden by Kevin DeYoung
Once upon a time there lived a man and a woman. They were the happiest people on the planet.
True, they were the only people on the planet, but they were still terrifically happy.
Unfortunately, things didn’t stay happy and wonderful for long . . .
The Bible is full of exciting stories that fill children with awe and wonder. But kids need to know how all those classic stories connect to Scripture’s overarching message about God’s glorious plan to redeem his rebellious people.
In The Biggest Story, Kevin DeYoung—a best-selling author and father of six—leads kids and parents alike on an exciting journey through the Bible, connecting the dots from the garden of Eden to Christ's death on the cross to the new heaven and new earth.
With powerful illustrations by award-winning artist Don Clark, this imaginative retelling of the Bible’s core message—how the Snake Crusher brings us back to the garden—will draw children into the biblical story, teaching them that God's promises are even bigger and better than we think.
Give Them Grace by Elyse Fitzpatrick and Jessica Thompson
All of us want to raise good kids. And we want to be good parents. But what exactly do we mean by "good?" And is "being good" really the point?
Mother-daughter team Elyse Fitzpatrick and Jessica Thompson contend that every way we try to make our kids "good" is simply an extension of Old Testament Law--a set of standards that is not only unable to save our children, but also powerless to change them.
No, rules are not the answer. What they need is GRACE.
We must tell our kids of the grace-giving God who freely adopts rebels and transforms them into loving sons and daughters. If this is not the message your children hear, if you are just telling them to "be good," then the gospel needs to transform your parenting too.
Give Them Grace is a revolutionary perspective on parenting that shows us how to receive the gospel afresh and give grace in abundance, helping our children know the dazzling love of Jesus and respond with heartfelt obedience.
Sing! How Worship Transforms Your Life, Family, and Church by Keith and Kristyn Getty
Sing! has grown from Keith and Kristyn Getty’s passion for congregational singing; it’s been formed by their traveling and playing and listening and discussing and learning and teaching all over the world.
And in writing it, they have five key aims:
• to discover why we sing and the overwhelming joy and holy privilege that comes with singing
• to consider how singing impacts our hearts and minds and all of our lives
• to cultivate a culture of family singing in our daily home life
• to equip our churches for wholeheartedly singing to the Lord and one another as an expression of unity
• to inspire us to see congregational singing as a radical witness to the world
They have also added a few “bonus tracks” at the end with some more practical suggestions for different groups who are more deeply involved with church singing.
God intends for this compelling vision of His people singing—a people joyfully joining together in song with brothers and sisters around the world and around his heavenly throne—to include you. He wants you, he wants us, to sing.
Spiritual Depression by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
This enduring collection of twenty-one sermons, each originally delivered at Westminster Chapel in London, carefully and compassionately analyzes an undeniable feature of modern society from which Christians have not escaped -- spiritual depression.
"Christian people," writes Lloyd-Jones, "too often seem to be perpetually in the doldrums and too often give this appearance of unhappiness and of lack of freedom and absence of joy. There is no question at all but that this is the main reason why large numbers of people have ceased to be interested in Christianity."
Believing the Christian joy was one of the most potent factors in the spread of Christianity in the early centuries, Lloyd-Jones not only lays bare the causes that have robbed many Christians of spiritual vitality but also points the way to the cure that is found through the mind and spirit of Christ.
The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones
If you are a parent, grandparent, pastor, or teacher looking for a way to teach the children in your life about God’s “Never Stopping, Never Giving up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever Love,” look no further than The Jesus Storybook Bible.
What makes The Jesus Storybook Bible different from every other Kids’ Bible?
While other Kids’ Bibles contain stories from the Old and New Testaments, The Jesus Storybook Bible tells the Story beneath all the stories in the Bible, pointing to Jesus as our Savior. From the Old Testament through the New Testament, as the Story unfolds, children will clearly see that Jesus is at the center of God's great story of salvation—and at the center of their story too.
Exploring the Bible: A Bible Reading Plan for Kids by David Murray
God has given us an immeasurable gift--his very words, recorded in the Bible for us to read. Structured reading plans provide a great way to read through the whole Bible, but they're usually not designed with kids in mind. In Exploring the Bible: A Bible Reading Plan for Kids, David Murray presents a simplified way to read the Bible by offering younger readers a plan tailored just for them. His 365-day plan guides children through key passages from Genesis to Revelation, helping them see and appreciate the big-picture storyline of the Bible. Each passage is also followed by a question to answer or a verse to write out, as well as space to write out a prayer-- encouraging interaction with the text. This book will instill in children the habit of being in direct contact with God's Word each day, equipping the next generation by laying the groundwork for a lifetime of Bible reading.
This video series accompanies the book.
The Gospel by Ray Ortlund
Ortlund says, “The purpose of this book … is simple. I want to show how Christ puts his beauty into our churches by his gospel. That explains the title of this book: The Gospel: How the Church Portrays the Beauty of Christ. Beauty is powerful. Our churches long for it. You and I long for it. And we can help our churches see it. We possess, in the gospel alone, God’s wonder-working resources for the display of Christ among us. As you I read, I hope you find yourself thrilled with the beauty of Christ.”
Free Ebook here
Knowing God by J. I. Packer
For over 40 years, J. I. Packer's classic has been an important tool to help Christians around the world discover the wonder, the glory and the joy of knowing God. In 2006, Christianity Today voted this title one of the top 50 books that have shaped evangelicals. This edition is updated with Americanized language and spelling and a new preface by the author. Stemming from Packer's profound theological knowledge, Knowing God brings together two important facets of the Christian faith― knowing about God and also knowing God through the context of a close relationship with the person of Jesus Christ. Written in an engaging and practical tone, this thought-provoking work seeks to transform and enrich the Christian understanding of God. Explaining both who God is and how we can relate to him, Packer divides his book into three sections: The first directs our attention to how and why we know God, the second to the attributes of God and the third to the benefits enjoyed by a those who know him intimately. This guide leads readers into a greater understanding of God while providing advice to gaining a closer relationship with him as a result.
Coronavirus and Christ by John Piper
In Coronavirus and Christ, John Piper invites readers around the world to stand on the solid Rock, who is Jesus Christ, in whom our souls can be sustained by the sovereign God who ordains, governs, and reigns over all things to accomplish his wise and good purposes for those who trust in him. Piper offers six biblical answers to the question, What is God doing through the coronavirus?—reminding us that God is at work in this moment in history.
Note: The audiobook is available under “download” as an MP3. You can also listen on YouTube.
Desiring God by John Piper
For a generation now, John Piper has been provoking Christians with the simple but paradigm-shattering truth that God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.
Satisfaction. Happiness. Joy. The pursuit of pleasure in God is not only permissible; it’s essential.
Building his message on hundreds of Scriptures, especially from the Psalms, the apostle Paul, and Jesus himself — and echoing the likes of Blaise Pascal, Jonathan Edwards, and C.S. Lewis — Piper beckons us to approach God with the hedonist’s abandon. Finally, we are freed to enjoy Jesus not only as our Lord and Savior, but also our all-surpassing, soul-satisfying Treasure.
Desiring God may turn your Christian world upside down. And that will be a good thing, for the glory of God, and for your deepest joy.
A Book of Comfort for Those in Sickness by P. B. Power
Suffering need not be a dark experience…
While illness brings time to think, the natural tendency of our thoughts may not be comforting.
Sickness may end activities we once enjoyed; it will make us dependent upon others; and feelings of pain, or of uselessness, or of anxiety about the future, may be very real. To those who are in sickness the author does not underestimate the strength of those hindrances to comfort.
Far from offering superficial advice, P. B. Power's position in A Book of Comfort for Those in Sickness is that no comfort is obtainable unless there be, first, true knowledge of ourselves and, second, right knowledge of God.
His main aim is to state what this knowledge needs to be, and to show how with faith in God's character and presence, suffering need not be a dark experience.
The Holiness of God by R. C. Sproul
Central to God's character is the quality of holiness. Yet, even so, most people are hard-pressed to define what God's holiness precisely is. Many preachers today avoid the topic altogether because people today don't quite know what to do with words like "awe" or "fear." R. C. Sproul, in this classic work, puts the holiness of God in its proper and central place in the Christian life. He paints an awe-inspiring vision of God that encourages Christian to become holy just as God is holy. Once you encounter the holiness of God, your life will never be the same.
Click here for Dr. Sproul's video series on Youtube
The Gospel-Centered Life by Robert Thune and Will Walker
Lots of Christians talk about the gospel, but how many really understand the gospel and know how to apply it to their lives? Featuring nine self-contained lessons with discussion questions, articles, practical exercises, and comprehensive leader s notes in the back, The Gospel-Centered Life helps participants understand how the gospel shapes every aspect of life.
Shepherding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp
Shepherding a Child's Heart is about how to speak to the heart of your child. The things your child does and says flow from the heart. Luke 6:45 puts it this way: "...out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks." Written for parents with children of any age, this insightful book provides perspectives and procedures for shepherding your child's heart into the paths of life.
Making Peace: A Guide to Overcoming Church Conflict by Jim Van Yperen
Conflict abounds in the church of Jesus Christ. Reconciliation within the body, however, will not happen with the right "method" or "set of principles". In Making Peace, readers are challenged to place their church and all of its dissension under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald Whitney
Drawn from a rich heritage, "Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life" will guide you through a carefully selected array of disciplines, including: Scripture reading, Prayer, Worship, Scripture meditation, Evangelism, Serving, Stewardship of time and money, Scripture application, Fasting, Silence and solitude, Journaling, Learning. By illustrating why the disciplines are important, showing how each one will help you grow in godliness, and offering practical suggestions for cultivating them, this book will provide you with a refreshing opportunity to become more like Christ and grow in character and maturity.
Union with Christ by Rankin Wilbourne
To experience why the gospel is good news and answer life’s most foundational questions about identity, destiny, and purpose, we must understand what it means to be united to Christ.