Pursuing “knowledge about God” without knowing God Himself does not save us.   True Wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord (Proverbs 1:9) and overflows in love for God and others (2 Corinthians 8:2-3).  Therefore, begin your study in relationship with God, douse your study in prayer, and apply your study with love to a hurting world.  And, as always, test all that you may learn against the eternal and living Word – God’s Holy Bible.

The following titles have impacted us deeply in one way or another.

* indicates more academic titles or more difficult reads

Laying Foundations (Start Here!)

  • Basic Christianity – John Stott

  • Celebration of Discipline – Richard Foster

  • Simply Christian – NT Wright

Discipleship and Evangelism

  • Gospel-Centered Discipleship – Jonathan Dodson

  • Master Plan of Evangelism – Robert Coleman

  • Mere Christianity – CS Lewis

  • Multiply – Francis Chan

  • Reason for God – Tim Keller

  • Radical – David Platt

Spiritual Disciplines

  • Celebration of Discipline – Richard Foster

  • Devotional Classics – anthology edited by Foster & Smith

  • Prayer – Richard Foster

  • Spirit of the Disciplines – Dallas Willard

Christian Life and Practice

  • Desiring God – John Piper

  • Dwell: Life with God for the World –  Barry D. Jones

  • Pursuing Justice – Ken Wytsma

  • Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger – Ron Sider

  • The Next Story: Life and Faith After the Digital Revolution – Tim Challies

  • The Meaning of Marriage – Tim Keller

  • What’s so Amazing About Grace – Phillip Yancey

  • When Helping Hurts – Steve Corbett and Brian Fickert

Systematic and Biblical Theology (Study)

  • God of Promise, Life of Faith – Scott Hafemann

  • How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth – Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart

  • Knowing God – JI Packer

  • Future Grace – John Piper

  • *Kingdom Prologue –Meredith Kline

  • *Resurrection and the Son of God – NT Wright

  • *Systematic Theology – Wayne Grudem

  • *Theology of the New Testament – George E. Ladd

Culture, Worldview, and Missions

  • Christ and Culture Revisited – DA Carson

  • More to be Desired than Gold – Ralph Wilson

  • Perspectives – Edited by Winter, Hawthorne

  • Screwtape Letters – CS Lewis

  • Total Truth – Nancy Pearcy

Biography

  • Heavenly Man – Brother Yun

  • *Jonathan Edwards: A Life – Mardsen

  • Through the Gates of Splendor – Elizabeth Eliot

Pastoral Call and Leadership

  • Brothers, We Are Not Professionals – John Piper

  • In the Name of Jesus – Henri Nouwen

  • The Art of Pastoring – David Hanson

  • The Pastor – Eugene Peterson

  • *The Reformed Pastor – Richard Baxter

  • Strengthening the Soul of your Leadership – Ruth Haley-Barton