Recommended Reading List
Worship Matters: Leading Others to Encounter the Greatness of God
Bob Kauflin
This book focuses on the essentials of God-honoring worship, combining biblical foundations with practical application in a way that works in the real world. The author--a pastor and noted songwriter--skillfully instructs fellow pastors, musicians, and worship leaders to root corporate worship in unchanging scriptural principles rather than divisive cultural trends.
In My Place Condemned He Stood: Celebrating the Glory of the Atonement
J.I. Packer and Mark Dever
Combining three classic articles by J. I. Packer with a recent article by Mark Dever and a foreword by the four principals of Together for the Gospel, this compact yet penetrating anthology takes an unwavering, classically biblical stance on the increasingly controversial doctrine of substitutionary atonement.
Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood: A Response to Evangelical Feminism
Crossway Books
A controversy of major proportions has spread through the church. Recent generations bear witness to the rise of “evangelical feminism”—a movement that has had a profound impact on all of life, challenging some of our basic Christian beliefs.
In this new edition of an influential and award-winning best-seller, more than twenty men and women have committed their talents to produce the most thorough response yet to this modern movement. Combining systematic argumentation with popular application, this volume deals with all of the main passages of Scripture brought forward in this controversy regarding gender-based role differences.
Anyone concerned with the fundamental question of the proper relationship between men and women in home, church, and society will want to read this book.
Bible Doctrine
Wayne Grudem
How do we know the Bible is Gods Word? What is sin and where did it come from? How is Jesus fully God and fully man?What are spiritual gifts? When and how will Christ return?
If
you've asked questions like these, then "systematic theology" is no
abstract term. Its an approach to finding answers every Christian needs
to know.
Bible Doctrine takes a highly commended upper-level
textbook on systematic theology and makes it accessible to the average
reader. Abridged from Wayne Grudems award-winning Systematic Theology,
Bible Doctrine covers the same essentials of the faith, giving you a
firm grasp on seven key topics:
- The Doctrine of the Word of God
- The Doctrine of God
- The Doctrine of Man
- The Doctrine of Christ
- The Doctrine of the Application of Redemption
- The Doctrine of the Church
- The Doctrine of the Future
The Forgotten Ways
Alan Hirsch
Alan Hirsch is convinced that the inherited formulas for growing the Body of Christ do not work anymore. And rather than relying on slightly revised solutions from the past, he sees a vision of the future growth of the church coming about by harnessing the power of the early church, which grew from as few as 25,000 adherents in AD 100 to up to 20 million in AD 310. Such incredible growth is also being experienced today in the church in China and other parts of the world. How do they do it? The Forgotten Ways explores the concept of Apostolic Genius as a way to understand what caused the church to expand at various times in history, interpreting it for use in our own time and place. From the theological underpinnings to the practical application, Hirsch takes the reader through this dynamic mixture of passion, prayer, and incarnational practice to rediscover the dormant potential of the modern church in the West.
Biblical Eldership: An Urgent Call to Restore Biblical Church Leadership
Alexander Strauch
With over 150,000 copies sold, this comprehensive look at the role and function of elders brings all the advantages of shared leadership into focus. Beginning with the four broad categories of eldership (leading, feeding, caring, and protecting), Biblical Eldership explores the essential work of elders, their qualifications (including why qualifications are necessary), their relationships with each other, and each of the biblical passages related to eldership. Written for those seeking a clear understanding of the mandate for biblical eldership, this full-length, expository book defines it accurately, practically, and according to Scripture.
The Externally Focused Church
Rick Rusaw, Eric Swanson
"Good deeds, in spite of all the wonderful things they can accomplish, are not sufficient to lead a person to saving faith in Jesus. Good works can be the bridge or the road, but they are not the saving message that crosses that bridge or travels that road. Good works are the complement but never the substitute for good news." (p 120)
Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality
Donald Miller
"I never liked jazz music because jazz music doesn't resolve. . . . I used to not like God because God didn't resolve. But that was before any of this happened." In Donald Miller's early years, he was vaguely familiar with a distant God. But when he came to know Jesus Christ, he pursued the Christian life with great zeal. Within a few years he had a successful ministry that ultimately left him feeling empty, burned out, and, once again, far away from God. In this intimate, soul-searching account, Miller describes his remarkable journey back to a culturally relevant, infinitely loving God.
Let the Nations Be Glad!: The Supremacy of God in Missions
John Piper
This book was key in helping me understand what it means to be in mission with God. I would highly recommend this book by John Piper.
For Women Only: What You Need to Know about the Inner Lives of Men
Shaunti Feldhahn
For Women Only offers fascinating insights into the secret lives of men. Based upon a landmark nationwide poll, Shaunti Feldhahn offers ground-breaking information and advises how to convert her revelations into practical application.
The Radical Reformission: Reaching Out Without Selling Out
Mark Driscoll
As I think back over Radical Reformission, my mind returns to the core message: passion for the gospel, passion for the church, passion for our culture. Caring about our culture is a sort of spiral, either upward or downward. The less we are involved in the culture, the less we see the need for Christ in our culture; and the less we see the need for Christ in our culture, the less passion we have to be involved in the culture for the sake of the gospel. But the spiral also works the other way, so that as we participate in our culture and see its need for Christ, and as we humbly come before Christ in repentance of our own sins, our passion for sharing the salvation of Christ with the culture will increase.
Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger
Ronald J. Sider
Do you want to make a true difference in the world? Dr. Ron Sider does. He has, since before he first published Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger in 1978. Despite a dramatic reduction in world hunger since then, 34,000 children still die daily of starvation and preventable disease, and 1.3 billion people, worldwide, remain in abject poverty. So, the professor of theology went back to re-examine the issues by twenty-first century standards. Finding that Conservatives blame morally reprehensible individual choices, and Liberals blame constrictive social and economic policy, Dr. Sider finds himself agreeing with both sides. In this new look at an age-old problem, he offers not only a detailed explanation of the causes, but also a comprehensive series of practical solutions, in the hopes that Christians like him will choose to make a difference.
The Treasure Principle: Unlocking the Secret of Joyful Giving
Randy Alcorn
In this short but sweet book, Randy Alcorn covers a subject that is touchy in Christian and non-Christian circles. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to find the joy in giving.
The Gutter: Where Life is Meant to be Lived
Craig Gross
Why did an all-knowing, all-powerful God send the perfection of His kingdom—His only Son—to the earth through the gutter? Why did Jesus spend so much time, reaching out to people in their own secret, dark places? Why do His followers so often turn away from those very same situations? The Gutter chronicles the author's journey to the gutter, telling the stories and sharing the insights he gained while spending time with the people who dwell there.
The Gutter serves as a manifesto for all different types of people in the Church: those who yearn to impact the culture around them, those who have reassessed their discovery of Christ and want to make their story known, and those who are seeking out new, fresh ways of exhibiting Christ's love to the poor in spirit.
