Recommended Reading
While we don't endorse everything written in all of these books, they have been helpful to us in understanding God through His Word and challenged us in our thinking about the Christian life, the world, and the church. We hope they are a blessing to you as you seek to grow in following Christ...
Bible Study
1) A Bible that you can read! We preach fron the NIV translation every week, but we also study regularly in the NASB (more wooden, literal translation) and read devotionally in other paraphrases (NLT, The Message). Start with a good study-bible.
2) A Bible dictionary and concordance. To really study your Bible, you will need help understanding locations, cultures, and people-groups - get a good Bible dictionary. The NIV Bible Dictionary is a helpful tool. We would also recommend a concordance of the translation you use for looking up words (like the exhaustive NIV concordance) or software for the same purpose (like www.biblegateway.com).
3) Living By The Book by Howard Hendricks - an awesome introduction into the inductive method of Bible Study - learning to observe, interpret, and apply God's Word.
4) How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth by Gordon Fee - a helpful introduction into the different types of literature in the Bible and some principles for orthodox, consistent interpretation.
Theology
1) Bible Doctrine by Wayne Grudem - an abreviated version of Grudem's long systematic theology, incredibly readable, clear, and helpful in developing a biblical theology.
2) Introducing Christian Doctrine by Millard Erickson - an abreiated version of Millard's long systematic theology, also helpful in getting a different perspective than Grudem.
3) The Reason for God by Tim Keller - a great apologetic for the Christian faith, Keller answers hard questions about faith, then gives a very articulate defense of Christianity.
4) The Resurrection of the Son of God by NT Wright - the definitive work on the resurrection, Wright spends 800 pages making the historical case for the uniqueness of the gospel message concerning Jesus' resurrection.
5) A History of Christianity in the US and Canada by Mark Noll - very helpful in understanding ourselves historically in the context of our country's expressions of Christian faith.
6) Why We're Not Emergent by DeYoung and Cluck - a superb and theologically insightful introduction into the discussion over the emergent church and the Bible.
Global Missions
1) Operation World by Johnstone - a geographic introduction to the peoples and places of the world that need the gospel. Johnstone collects data from numerous places to give you a country-by-country breakdown of the global missions effort.
2) Let the Nations Be Glad by John Piper - a theological case for the work of global missions based on the glory of God and call to follow Jesus into suffering.
3) In the Shadow of the Almighty by Elizabeth Elliot - Elizabeth's compilation of her husband's (Jim) journal entries from his pioneering missionary work.
Christian Living
1) The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard - a helpful teaching through Jesus' Sermon on the Mount on how the Christian can live for God from the inside-out.
2) The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges - the classic work on living out a holy life as a Christian today, this short read is incredibly helpful and practical.
3) Walk Across the Room by Bill Hybels - breaks down the heart and act of evangelism, constantly reminding us that evangelism must be empowered and led by the Holy Spirit.
4) Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster - a detailed explanation of the spiritual disciplines of the Christian life that help the believer become more like Jesus Christ.
5) Desiring God by John Piper - exames the Christian life through the lens of the compatibility of God's greatest glory and the Christian's greatest joy.
Church-Planting
1) Planting Missional Churches by Ed Stetzer - compilation of lots of research on church planting along with good biblical insights on the nature of the church, its mission, and its leadership.
2) Planting Growing Churches in the 21st Century by Aubrey Malphurs - a straightfoward, strategic approach to starting healthy, growing, reproducing churches.
3) The Multiplying Church by Bob Roberts - great discussion on how churches can be healthy, reproducing bodies and plant healthy, reproductive churches.
Family - Marriage & Parenting
Please see the recommendations of our family ministry.