Most of us will have a little time over the holidays for reading, so I thought I’d list a few recommendations on books that I have found helpful concerning the Christian faith and the church. This is just a sampling, of course, but I believe these books will bless you.
Greear is the pastor of Summit Church in Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina. This is a great book on the central message of our faith, and what it means to live a gospel-centered life.
“Religion can tell you what to do – namely, to ‘love God with all your heart, soul and mind’ and ‘to love your neighbor as yourself’; but the gospel alone gives you the power to do it.”
The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness by Tim Keller
This is a short book by one of my favorite pastors and authors, Tim Keller. Here, he focuses on the blessing of being so enriched in relationship with Christ that we lose our innate sense of self-absorption.
“True gospel humility means I stop connecting every experience, every conversation, with myself. In fact, I stop thinking about myself. The freedom of self-forgetfulness. The blessed rest that only self-forgetfulness brings.”
What did Jesus really mean when He said, Follow Me? by David Platt
Another short, but powerful book, about the implications of the gospel on our lives. Platt has a great ability to cut to the heart and challenge our tendency to make our faith safe and palatable.
“The more Christ fulfills the cravings of our souls, the more he changes our taste capacities from the inside out. The more we walk with him, the more we want him.”
The Master Plan of Evangelism by Robert Coleman
This is perhaps the modern classic book on discipleship. Coleman observes the life of Jesus, noting the way He took twelve ordinary men and discipled them over the course of His three-year ministry.
This is a short read, but it will raise your sights to the ultimate call of obeying the Great Commission in everyday life.
Gallaty has one of the strongest and clearest voices on discipleship in the American church. This is an excellent resource on the what, why and how of disciplemaking.
“Is static a proper term to describe followers of Christ? Every single one of us should be closer to Christ today than we were a year ago, or even a month ago.”
Vanderstelt is a proponent of living out the gospel in “missional community,” and this book gives an excellent picture of how these communities take shape. Saturate, however, is less about a specific method and more about the call for all Christians to be living out the model of biblical discipleship.
“The mission of Jesus is yours to participate in. It has always been God’s intention to choose normal, everyday people, and to show His amazing power and glory through them.”
A very short but powerful read on what it means to risk all for the sake of Christ. Piper has a way of elevating our view of God to the highest place, where it belongs. This book is actually free for download at this link.
“The heart cry of our lives, young and old, men and women, rich and poor, is the glory of Jesus Christ so that with full courage now as always Christ might be honored in our bodies, whether by life or by death.”
Gaining by Losing by J.D. Greear
This one is written more from a church leadership perspective, but it gives an excellent picture of how success for a church should really be measured. This books frames many of the principles we hope to build Harvest Church on.
“Every Christian is called into full-time ministry. Once we step over the line and begin to follow Jesus, everything we do is supposed to be done in His name, representing Him, with the goal of advancing His kingdom.”
