The following list consists of devotional or theological books that I have read or am currently reading. These are books through which I have been particularly impacted, blessed, or generally ministered to. I highly recommend each of these books to you for your consideration.
◊ Knowing God – J.I. Packer
This book has been one of the most life changing and perspective altering influences in my life in recent memory. Dr. Packer is a wonderful theologian, and truly captures the essence of what knowing God entails. It is true that too few Christians have any idea what it’s really like to know their God, and Packer details reasons for this fact, and the remedies for it, all along the way giving the reader a heightened understanding of the God revealed in the Bible. Many devotional books that I love are really somewhat horizontal – dealing with me and what is going on around me. This book is mainly vertical – dealing with Who God is and what He has done. Knowing God has been both a refreshing blessing and a startling conviction to my soul.
◊ Living the Cross Centered Life – C.J. Mahaney
Living the Cross Centered Life is a book that I went through with a local weekly men’s Iron Sharpening Iron accountability group. The book is not a difficult read in any way (it should take the average reader no more than 10 or 15 minutes to read each chapter), but it is a tremendous reminder and encouragement to live life in light of the objective truth that Jesus Christ came to earth, lived a perfect life, died a death that sinners like you and me deserve, and conquered death by resurrecting from the dead.
◊ Resolutions and Advice to Young Converts – Jonathan Edwards
An extremely brief read, this compilation of thoughts from America’s greatest theologian is an excellent supplement to a normal Bible reading and/or prayer time. Both the Resolutions and the Advice to Young Converts could be read in handfuls or one at a time. The resolutions are commitments Edwards made as a young man, age 19, on the brink of beginning his pastoral ministry. The advice is addressed specifically to a young woman in his congregation some years later who had evidently asked for some counsel. Both of these short readings have given me great insight and perspective on the spiritual issues he discusses.
◊ The Screwtape Letters – C.S. Lewis
The Screwtape Letters is a C.S. Lewis classic. It’s written from the first-person perspective of a demon named Screwtape to his up and coming nephew, Wormwood. The book is filled with creative insight into what Satan and his allies think of God, His plans, and His people. Screwtape is constantly trying to get Wormwood to persuade the every-man subject, which the reader will do well to interpret as himself, that he has been assigned to to stay away from God and His will for the life of the every-man. This books gives a blend of conviction and refreshment, reminding the reader both of the realities of the power of the Devil and the of the greater power of God.
◊ The Passion of Jesus Christ, Fifty Reasons Why He Came to Die – John Piper
This was actually the first book I ever read by John Piper, and it sparked my interest in reading some more of his works. He takes two or less pages per reason, so this also would make a good supplement to regular Bible reading and/or prayer time. Each of the reasons in some way points back to the simple fact that the whole message of the Bible leads to the suffering of Jesus Christ in the place of mankind, and what He achieved by doing so. This small book was one of the instruments God used in my life to forever change the way I look at the cross and the Man crucified on it.
◊ Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life – Donald S. Whitney
This book is one that I began to go through with a couple of close friends not too long ago. The premise of the book is that growth in godliness is largely “dependent on a deliberate cultivation of the spiritual disciplines.” Whitney outlines 12 spiritual disciplines that will actually free the believer, not legalistically bind him, to become more like Christ. In a time where grace and Christian liberty are words that are thrown around without really knowing what they mean, believers especially should remind themselves of the legitimacy of spiritual discipline. This is not a book that condemns the soul and piles on guilt for the disciplines that are lacking, but one that encourages the believer to be diligent in discipline and blessed by their results.
◊ Why Small Groups? – Edited by C.J. Mahaney
My Shepherding Group has been going through this book together, discussing a new chapter on each first Wednesday of the month. What we’ve gone through thus far has been equally encouraging and sobering. Specific topics pertaining to small group ministry are discussed throughout by several different authors, and the importance of discipleship through small groups is communicated very effectively. I highly recommend reading this book, particularly to one who does not have much experience with small groups or who is looking to start a small group of some kind.
