Best Ministry-Related Reads of 2023

2022 was the first year a number of years where I did not reach my goal of reading 20 or more ministry-related books in a year.  It is just a challenge for me to find reading time during my ministry week.  But this year, I stumbled upon a way to inject more reading time into my day.  I started reading during my morning and afternoon walk breaks in our church gym.  Obviously, there are only certain books you can read this way, which is why you will find a great number of biographies, religious history and issue books on this list than most years.  But some of those books – like Remaking the World, and the Watts and Ryle biographies – were really great reads.

 

Remaking the World:  How 1776 Created the Post-Christian West by Andrew Wilson.  Easily the best book, apart from the Bible, that I read this year.  Wilson’s book is a remarkable synthesis of Western history in the last two centuries from a Christian worldview.  He explains how the West became WIERDER (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic, Ex-Christian, and Romantic) and how all of these movements were at a critical point in the year 1776.  Highly recommended!

Write It on their Hearts:  Practical Help for Discipling Your Kids by Chris and Melissa Swain.  What a great little book.  It is short, to the point and very practical.  The authors cast a powerful vision for actively discipling your children in your home, rather than just expecting church or Christian school program to do it for you.  It is a book I wish I had when our biological kids were younger, and I am looking forward to integrating many of their ideas into our family as Dawson grows up.

 Counterfeit Kingdom:  The Dangers of New Revelation, New Prophets and New Age Practices in the Church by Holly Pivec and R. Douglas Geivett.  Pivec and Geivett are serious scholars who have studied the New Apostolic Reformation movement, which is led by churches like Bethel Church in Redding, CA.  The authors expose their faulty theology, their strange and even at times cult-like practices and how their music provides a gateway to that leads unsuspecting people to their inadequate teaching.  This is a timely warning for all faithful believers. 

Forgive:  Why Should I and How Can I? by Tim Keller.  Before Tim Keller passed away in 2023, he published this, his final book.  Forgive is a typical Keller book – very biblical, well-reasoned and filled with thought provoking ideas.  Keller’s treatment of forgiveness is very accessible, even for those who are not believers and asks and answers some of the tough questions that come with the call to forgive those around us.

 

Isaac Watts:  His Life and Thought by Graham Beynon.  This one surprised me.  This is a really good biography about a fascinating man of God.  Most people would only know Isaac Watts for the hymns he wrote (When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, Joy to the World and many others).  Watts’ hymn writing did change worship in the evangelical church in England, but beyond that he was a faithful pastor, a children’s book author, and a philosopher, all the while battling ill health for many years of his ministry.

 

J. C. Ryle: Prepared to Stand Alone by Iain Murray.  This is another biography I really enjoyed.  Ryle was a 19^th century churchman in England who became a bishop of the Church of England at a time of great theological drift.  Ryle was a faithful pastor and best-selling author who was faithful amidst a church that he begun to truly lose its way theologically.  As such, Ryle becomes a model for our times as theological drift becomes more and more prevalent in the church in America.

 

The Holy Spirit by Gregg R. Allison and Andreas J. Koestenberger.  This is an excellent volume unpacking the theology of the Holy Spirit.  In the first half, Koestenberger provides a biblical theology of the Spirit, showing the progressive revelation of the Spirit and His work throughout Scripture.  In the second half, Allison gives the reader a systematic theology of the Spirit and His varied ministry in the world.  You may not agree with some of the theological positions taken in the volume, but it is still an excellent resource and a great store of knowledge.

 

Preaching as Reminding:  Stirring Memory in an Age of Forgetfulness by Jeffrey D. Arthurs.  This is another book that surprised me.  Arthurs’ premise is that we all forget what is important and true at time.   His argument is that a pastor’s role is to be the one who reminds the people of God about who God is and what He has done.  Arthurs’ fills his book with practical ways a pastor can do this through sermons, stories, songs and even the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

 

2^nd Tier Reads – still very good and highly recommended:

Lead:  12 Gospel Principles for Leadership in the Church by Paul D. Tripp

Has the Church Replaced Israel? By Michael J. Vlach

Scribes and Scripture:  The Amazing Story of How We Got the Bible by John D. Meade and Peter J. Gurry

The Art of Preaching Old Testament Narrative by Steven D. Mathewson

Belong:  Loving Your Church by Reflecting Christ to One Another by Barnabas Piper

Surprised by Jesus:  Subversive Grace in the Four Gospels by Dane Ortlund

Fault Lines:  The Social Justice Movement and Evangelicalism’s Looming Catastrophe by Voddie T. Baucham Jr.

God For Us:  Discovering the Heart of the Father through the Life of the Son by Abby Ross Hutto

Midnight Rider for the Morning Star by Mark Alan Leslie (historical fiction)

The Heresy of Orthodoxy:  How Contemporary Culture’s Fascination with Diversity has Reshaped our Understanding of Early Christianity by Andreas J. Kostenberger and Michael J. Kruger

The Rise of Christianity:  How the Obscure, Marginal Jesus Movement became the Dominant Religious Force in the Western World in a Few Centuries by Rodney Stark

Yours, Till Heaven:  The Untold Love Story of Charles and Susie Spurgeon by Ray Rhodes Jr.

Amillennialism and the Age to Come:  A Premillennial Critique of the Two-Age Model by Matt Waymeyer

Jack:  A Life of C. S. Lewis by George Sayer

Tried by Fire:  The Story of Christianity’s First Thousand Years by Willam J. Bennett

Galileo by Mitch Stokes

The Truth and Beauty:  How the Lives and Works of England’s Greatest Poets Point the Way to a Deeper Understanding of the Words of Jesus by Andrew Klavan

Anatomy of the Soul by Curt Thompson

Five Lies of our Anti-Christian Age by Rosaria Butterfield

God Shines Forth:  How the Nature of God Shapes and Drives the Mission of the Church by Daniel Hames and Michael Reeves

Lincoln’s Battle with God:  A President’s Struggle with Faith and what it meant for America by Stephen Mansfield

The Christmas We Didn’t Expect by David Mathis