Sunday, January 6, 2019

Best Reads of 2018 - Christian Ministry and Living


This continues my series on the best books I read this past year.  In this post, we cover the books relating to Christian living and ministry.

Sexual Sanity for Men:  Recreating your Mind in a Crazy Culture by David White.  Sexual Sanity is workbook designed for men struggling with sexual sin.  The focus is very gospel oriented.  White does a great job, chapter by chapter, of exposing the ugliness of our sexual sin and then applying gospel principles to bring change in that area of life.

Martin Luther:  The Man who Rediscovered God and Changed the World by Eric Metaxas.  Metaxas’ biographies are always well done – I especially recommend the ones of Bonhoeffer and Wilberforce.  Luther is another excellent effort.  Metaxas is quick to lay bare the facts of Luther’s life, even if it means exposing some of what we think we know as myth, to give us a wonderful portrait of this flawed but vital man.

The Glory of Christ:  His Office and Grace by John Owen.  Originally titled Meditations of the Glory of Christ and published in 1684, one year after Owen’s death, this wonderful book is a slightly modernized edition of Owen’s classic work.  Even after all these years, it is still rich in theological truth.  It is a slow read with much to digest, but it is well worth it.

Christ Formed In You:  The Power of the Gospel of Personal Change by Brian G. Hedges.  My associate and I read this book together and both of us were struck by its wisdom and power.  Hedges has written a wonderful handbook for anyone who is serious about applying the gospel to their lives and seeking spiritual transformation as a result.

Out of a Far Country:  A Gay Son’s Journey to God, A Broken Mother’s Search for Hope by Christopher Yuan and Angela Yuan.  I had the privilege of hearing the Yuans in person at a conference this past year.  This is their  autobiographical story, a tale of the power of Christ to change lives.  Christopher’s story forms the springboard for his new book, Holy Sexuality and the Gospel: Sex, Desires and Relationships Shaped by God’s Grand Story, which I am reading currently.

Missions:  How the Local Church goes Global by Andy Johnson.  This little book is part of a series put out by the 9 Marks Ministry.  It was recommended to me by my daughter – thanks Kyla – and is an excellent volume on how a church can begin or re-examine its support for missions.  It was so good, I bought copies for my elder board and we are reading it right now.

2nd Tier Reads, still very good, recommended:

Faith Alone:  The Doctrine of Justification by Thomas Schreiner
Encountering God Through Expository Preaching by Jim Scott Orrick, Brian Payne,  and Ryan Fullerton
The Mingling of Souls:  God’s Design for Love, Marriage, Sex and Redemption by Matt Chandler
Living Life Backward:  How Ecclesiastes Teaches Us to Live in Light of the End by David Gibson
2000 Years of Christ's Power, vol 2 – The Middle Ages by Nick Needham
The Gospel for Real Life by Jerry Bridges
Christ Alone:  The Uniqueness of Jesus as Savior by Stephen Wellum
Long Before Luther:  Tracing the Heart of the Gospel from Christ to the Reformation by Nathan Busenitz 
The Emotionally Healthy Leader by Peter Scazzero
Conscience:  What it is, How to Train it, and Loving those who Differ by Andrew D. Naselli and J. D. Crowley
A Vine-Ripened Life:  Spiritual Fruitfulness through Abiding in Christ by Stanley D. Gale
The Fruitful Life:  The Overflow of God’s Love through You by Jerry Bridges
The Fruit of the Spirit:  Becoming the Person God wants You to Be by Thomas E. Trask and Wayde I. Goodall
Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit:  Growing in Christlikeness by Christopher J. H. Wright
Parenting:  14 Gospel Principles that can Radically Change your Family by Paul David Tripp
The Imitation of Christ:  Classic Devotions in Today’s Language by Thomas a Kempis and James Watkins
The One True Light:  Daily Reading for Advent from the Gospel of John by Tim Chester
Love Came Down At Christmas:  Daily Readings for Advent by Sinclair B. Ferguson
Grace Alone:  Salvation as a Gift of God by Carl R. Trueman
Benjamin Franklin:  The Religious Life of a Founding Father by Thomas S. Kidd


3rd Tier Reads, somewhat disappointing:

Recovering Eden:  The Gospel According to Ecclesiastes by Zack Eswine
Craftsmen:  Christ-Centered Proverbs for Men by John Crotts
Spirit Life: Living, Loving, Learning and Growing in the Lord by Stuart Briscoe








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