“Our goal is not to finish a book, or merely to talk about a book,
but to use our books to grow Christlike character…
...as a word-centered people we must learn to prize language in a visually-dominated world. If our hearts prioritize images over language, our hunger for books will erode.”
― Tony Reinke, Lit!: A Christian Guide to Reading Books
Below is a list of recommended reading for Christians on various topics and issues. They have been chosen based on the following criteria:
- Content that is biblical and insightful
- Readability
- General accessibility to the average layperson (although a small number of them might take more effort)
We hope this list will provide guidance for any Christian who seeks to grow in a particular area and is looking for a wise mentor in the form of a book!
How to read and understand your Bible
Dig Deeper! – Nigel Beynon & Andrew Sach
Women of the Word – Jen Wilken
How to read the Bible for all its worth – Gordon Fee & Douglas Stuart
Seeing the Bible as one big Story
God’s Big Picture – Vaughan Roberts
The Whole Story of the Bible in 16 verses – Chris Bruno
The Drama of Scripture – Craig Bartholomew & Michael Goheen
On the origins and reliability of the Bible
Why Trust the Bible? – Greg Gilbert
Know how we got our Bible – Ryan Reeves & Charles Hill
Reinventing Jesus – Ed Komoszewski, M. James Sawyer & Daniel Wallace
The meaning of gospel-centredness
The Explicit Gospel – Matt Chandler
Gospel – Ray Ortlund Jr.
Living as a Christian – growing in Christlikeness
Perfect Sinners – Matt Fuller
You Can Change – Tim Chester
The Discipline of Grace – Jerry Bridges
Unlimited Grace – Bryan Chapell
The Enemy Within – Kris Lundgaard
Living as a Christian – guidance and knowing God’s will
Guidance and the Voice of God – Phillip Jensen & Tony Payne
Just Do Something! – Kevin DeYoung
Finding the will of God – Bruce Waltke
Living as a Christian – prayer
Prayer – Tim Keller
A Praying Life – Paul Miller
Praying with Paul: A Call to Spiritual Reformation – D.A Carson
Living as a Christian – work and vocation
The Gospel at Work – Greg Gilbert & Sebastian Traeger
Work Matters – Tom Nelson
The Call – Os Guinness
Living as a Christian – singleness, marriage and family
7 myths about singleness – Sam Allberry
Married for God – Christopher Ash
The Meaning of Marriage – Tim Keller
Parenting – Paul David Tripp
Marriage and the Family – Andreas Kostenberger & David Jones
Basic Christian doctrine
Core Christianity – Michael Horton
Know the Truth – Bruce Milne
On Scripture
Taking God at his word – Kevin DeYoung
God Speaks! – Rich Alldritt & Ash Carter
On the Cross & Resurrection
Cross-Examined – Mark Meynell
The Cross of Christ – John Stott
Lifted – Sam Allberry
On the Triune God
Knowing God – J.I Packer
None Like Him – Jen Wilken
The Good God – Michael Reeves (US edition: Delighting in the Trinity)
The Deep things of God – Fred Sanders
On the person Jesus Christ
A Doubter’s Guide to Jesus – John Dickson
Knowing Christ – Mark Jones
On the Holy Spirit
Experiencing the Spirit – Graham Beynon
Baptism and Fullness – John Stott
Keep in step with the Spirit – J.I Packer
On the church
Why bother with church? – Sam Allberry
What is a healthy church? – Mark Dever
Side by Side – Ed Welch
Evangelism
Out of the Saltshaker – Rebecca Manley-Pippert
Questioning Evangelism – Randy Newman
Evangelism in a Skeptical World – Sam Chan
Cross-cultural missions
Mission matters – Tim Chester
Let the Nations be glad – John Piper
Introducing Christian Missions Today – Michael Goheen
Spiritual Warfare
Did the devil make me do it? – Mike McKinley
The Battle is God’s – Keith Ferdinando
The Message of Spiritual Warfare – Keith Ferdinando
The history of Borneo Evangelical Mission (BEM)
Uncharted Waters – Hudson Southwell
Planting an Indigenous Church: the case of the Borneo Evangelical Mission – Tan Jin Huat
On general church history
Church History in Plain Language – Bruce Shelley
Hitting the Holy Road – Stuart Coulton
The Unquenchable Flame – Michael Reeves (on the Reformation)
General Apologetics
The Reason for God – Tim Keller
The Case for Christ – Lee Strobel
Cold-case Christianity – J. Warner Wallace
If I were God, I’d make myself clearer – John Dickson
Jesus among other gods – Ravi Zacharias
Apologetics at the cross – Joshua Chatraw & Mark Allen
On issues of sexuality
Mere Sexuality – Todd Wilson
Is God anti-gay? – Sam Allberry
Washed and Waiting – Wesley Hill
A Better Story – Glynn Harrison
God and the Transgender Debate – Andrew Walker
On issues of race/ethnicity
Bloodlines – John Piper
From every people and nation – J. Daniel Hays
Contemporary false teaching
The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment – Tim Challies
God’s Super-Apostles – Douglas Geivett & Holly Pivec
Health, Wealth & Happiness – David Jones & Russell Woodbridge