This is the second of three blog articles about the best
books I read in 2019. This list is about
the ministry-related books I read, which span from church history to theology
to analysis on current cultural trends.
Love Thy Body:
Answering Hard Questions about Life and Sexuality by Nancy R.
Pearcey. Hands down the best
ministry-related book I read last year.
Pearcey does what she claims in her title – she unmasks the evils of
personhood theory and relates in stark, logical detail how a denial of our created
body affects many areas of life, including abortion, sexuality, marriage and
even parenting. This should be required
reading for any Christian serious about understanding our times.
Holy Sexuality and the Gospel: Sex, Desire and Relationships Shaped by God’s
Grand Story by Christopher Yuan. I
heard Dr. Yuan speak at Montana Bible College’s Pastors conference a few years
back and was eagerly awaiting his book.
Yuan is a celibate, same-sex attracted believer who teaches at Moody
Bible Institute. His book speaks to
same-sex attraction, marriage and singleness, as well as the need for all
believers to find their primary identity in Christ above all else.
Union with Christ:
The Way to Know and Enjoy God by Rankin Wilbourne. I read Union with Christ with my
associate pastor and we both enjoyed it greatly. Wilbourne blows the dust off the doctrine of
union with Christ, a reality that all believers enjoy but few understand or
truly embrace. The book is very
practical and applicable in many ways.
Gospel Eldership:
Equipping a New Generation of Servant Leaders by Robert H.
Thune. This short book will likely
become a wonderful tool in developing and training elders. It has some great homework at the end of each
chapter. It is so good it might replace
my usual go-to book – They Smell Like Sheep.
The Question of Canon:
Challenging the Status Quo in the New Testament Debate by Michael
Kruger. I find origin of the Bible a
fascinating topic. Kruger’s book
addresses the whole debate about the origin of the New Testament with a fair,
but thoroughly conservative position, all the while excellently rebutting the
assumed liberal positions about how the New Testament was written and came into
its final form.
Even Better than Eden:
Nine Ways the Bible’s Story changes Everything about Your Story by
Nancy Guthrie. This is biblical theology
done well. Guthrie traces nine
redemptive themes that span the entire Bible.
Each theme is traced all the way through to its ultimate fulfillment in
heaven, encouraging us to remind ourselves that heaven will be even better than
the life Adam and Eve lived in the garden of Eden.
God’s Design for Man and Woman by Andreas and
Margaret Kostenberger. This is an
excellent survey of a difficult topic – gender roles in the Bible. This husband and wife team survey the whole
Bible, examine what it says about roles and when necessary, critique the
egalitarian and feminist interpretations that challenge or question what the
Bible says. The footnotes and appendixes
are also worth mining for more valuable information and resources.
Sacred Marriage: What is God designed Marriage to Make us
Holy more than to Make us Happy? by Gary Thomas. This is an older book, and some of the
examples are dated, but the truths are timeless. Thomas tackles many of the usual topics of a
marriage book, but delves deeper than most.
He also addresses topics that most books of marriage do not cover in a
thought provoking way.
2nd
Tier Reads – still very good and recommended.
Letters to the
Church by Francis Chan
Unlimited
Grace: The Heart Chemistry that Frees
from Sin and Fuels the Christian Life by Bryan Chapell
2000 Years of
Christ’s Power, Renaissance and Reformation, vol. 3 by Nick Needham
A Shelter in
the Time of Storm: Meditations on God and Trouble by Paul Tripp
Handbook of
Church Discipline: A Right and Privilege
of Every Church Member by Jay Adams
Psalms by the
Day: A New Devotional Translation by
Alec Motyer
Give them
Grace: Dazzling Your Kids with the Love
of Jesus by Elyse Fitzpatrick and Jessica Thompson
Church
Discipline: How the Church Protects the
Name of Jesus by Jonathan Leeman
Journey
Through Philippians by Tara Barndt
Man
Overboard: The Story of Jonah by
Sinclair B. Ferguson
The Prodigal
Prophet: Jonah and the Mystery of God’s
Mercy by Timothy Keller
Ecclesiastes by
Douglas Sean O’Donnell
Ecclesiastes by
Craig G. Bartholomew
Ecclesiastes: Why Everything Matters by Philip Ryken
A Life Well
Lived: A Study of the Book of
Ecclesiastes by Tommy Nelson
Living Life
Backward: How Ecclesiastes Teaches Us to
Live in Light of the End by David Gibson
God’s Glory
Alone: The Majestic Heart of Christian
Faith and Life by David Vandrunen
Christianity
at the Crossroads: How the Second
Century Shaped the Future of the Church by Michael J. Kruger
Uncomfortable: The Awkward and Essential Challenge of
Christian Community by Brett McCracken
The Church in
Babylon: Heeding the Call to be a Light
in the Darkness by Erwin Lutzer
How Does
Sanctification Work? by David Powlison
Isaiah by the
Day: A New Devotional Translations
by Alec Motyer
All That’s
Good: Recovering the Lost Art of
Discernment by Hannah Anderson
3rd
Tier Reads – disappointing in some ways
Developing
Female Leaders: Navigate the Minefields
and Release the Potential of Women in Your Church by Kadi Cole
The Book of
Ecclesiastes by Tremper Longman III
Recovering
Eden: The Gospel according to
Ecclesiastes by Zach Eswine
Why Everything
Matters: The Gospel in Ecclesiastes
by Philip Ryken
Uggh!! I am amazed I finished it
Tyndale: The Man Who gave God an English Voice by
David Teems
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