How to Start Building Your Book Collection

So you want to start building your library, but you’re not sure where to start. I’ve often spoken with folks who wish to dig deeper into the Christian faith, but then find that there are just too many books to choose from—and it’s hard to tell what’s reliable anyway. The proverbial flooded market can certainly be overwhelming—especially when you want solid, trustworthy resources, not just whatever happens to be on TGC’s top 20 list.

So, here’s another list of recommended books!

I’ve started compiling a list of books that would serve well as a starting point for a basic Christian library. And as always, recommending a book does not mean that I necessarily agree with all of its content. Rather, I think these are books which are accessible, solid, and particularly beneficial in their various categories. If you’re interested in learning more and getting serious about the Christian faith and way of life, I recommend starting here. I’ll explain why I give these specific recommendations in another post.

I’d also love to hear about any other books you’ve found to be an essential introduction in a particular area.

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Study Bibles

HCSB Study Bible

Ryrie Study Bible

How to Study the Bible

Grasping God’s Word, by Duvall and Hays

Basic Bible Interpretation, by Roy Zuck

An Introduction to Theology

Big Truths for Young Hearts: Teaching and Learning the Greatness of God, by Bruce Ware

Systematic Theology, by Norman Geisler

He Will Reign Forever: A Biblical Theology of the Kingdom, by Michael Vlach

Understanding End Times Prophecy, by Paul Benware

On Living the Christian Life

Ordinary: Sustainable Faith in a Radical, Restless World, by Michael Horton

Depression: Looking Up from the Stubborn Darkness, by Ed Welch

When People Are Big and God is Small: Overcoming Peer Pressure, Codependency, and the Fear of Man, by Ed Welch

Respectable Sins, by Jerry Bridges

The Pursuit of Holiness, by Jerry Bridges

Anger, Anxiety and Fear: A Biblical Perspective, by Stuart Scott

Finally Free: Fighting for Purity with the Power of Grace, by Heath Lambert

On Marriage and Family

Her Hand in Marriage: Biblical Courtship in the Modern World, by Douglas Wilson

Reforming Marriage, by Douglas Wilson

Building a Godly Home, by William Gouge

Why Children Matter, by Douglas and Nancy Wilson

Future Men: Raising Boys to Fight Giants, by Douglas Wilson

For Men:

Federal Husband, by Douglas Wilson

Man of the House, by C.R. Wiley

The Exemplary Husband, by Stuart Scott

For Women:

Why Isn’t a Pretty Girl Like You Married? And Other Useful Comments, by Nancy Wilson

The Fruit of Her Hands: Respect and the Christian Woman, by Nancy Wilson

The Excellent Wife, by Martha Peace

Praise Her in the Gates: The Calling of Christian Motherhood, by Nancy Wilson

The Silver Lining: A Practical Guide for Grandmothers, by Nancy Wilson

On Salvation

Free Grace Theology on Trial, by Anthony Badger

Freely by His Grace, by Hixson, Whitmire, and Zuck

Grace, Salvation, and Discipleship: How to Understand Some Difficult Bible Passages, by Charles Bing

On the Life of Christ

The Words and Works of Jesus Christ, by J. Dwight Pentecost

On the Holy Spirit

The New Covenant Ministry of the Holy Spirit, by Larry Pettegrew

Strange Fire: The Danger of Offending the Holy Spirit with Counterfeit Worship, by John MacArthur

On the Church

Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, by Mark Dever

Church Membership: How the World Knows Who Represents Jesus, by Jonathan Leeman

Going Public, by Bobby Jamieson

On Ethics

An Introduction to Biblical Ethics, by Robertson McQuilkin and Paul Copan

Christian Ethics: An Introduction to Biblical Moral Reasoning, by Wayne Grudem

Devotionals

Valley of Vision, a collection of Puritan prayers from Banner of Truth

Morning and Evening, a devotional by Charles Spurgeon

Daily Readings devotionals edited by Randall Pederson (Early Church Fathers, Puritans, Matthew Henry)

The Loveliness of Christ: Selections from the Letters of Samuel Rutherford

Psalms for Trials: Meditations on Praying the Psalms, by Lindsey Tollefson

Always in God’s Hands: Day by Day in the Company of Jonathan Edwards, by Owen Strachan

Virtuous: A Study for Ladies of Every Age, by Nancy Wilson

Learning Contentment: A Study for Ladies of Every Age, by Nancy Wilson

Hymns to the Living God

Hymns of Grace

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The Lord’s Supper Gone Sour

Imagine a first-century church (one of the churches Paul and Barnabas planted, for instance), and they’re arguing over the wine they use for the Lord’s Supper. Some people have complained, “why are we using this cheap wine, when we could just as easily get a nice cabernet?” Perhaps they were self-conscious when relatives would visit from Rome and the communion wine tasted like vinegar. But when they then switched to a better wine, some complained about the money they were spending on it; still others said that they couldn’t properly focus on the gravity of Christ’s death while they were enjoying a fine wine.

What do you think Paul would have said in a letter to this church? Would he have said something like, “haven’t I taught you anything about grace? Seek to outdo one another in showing honor and deference to the needs and preferences of others. Think of others more highly, and more often, than you think of yourself…” I bring this thought experiment up because I see many modern churches having similar arguments over the bread we use for communion.

But when Paul says “do all things without grumbling,” he means all things, and he means no complaining. When we have the capacity to complain and grumble about the culinary quality of the elements we use for Communion, we not only show that we have completely failed to internalize and apply the lessons about grace the Scripture teaches us, but we evidence a selfish, self-centered attitude that is in line with the attitude for which Paul rebuked the Corinthian church, saying that because of the way they were treating one another over the issue of Communion, they “make it not the Lord’s Supper.”

In other words, you’re missing the whole point. You’ve sat down at the table of fellowship only to flip over the table and spoil the Supper. This is a meal that proclaims and celebrates the fellowship we have with Christ, and because of our union with Christ then also the fellowship we have with one another as brothers and sisters in Christ. And we profane the very purpose of the communion meal when we can’t see past our own preferences and felt needs, and instead allow selfish and discontent thoughts into our hearts over the very practice that Christ instituted to be not only a remembrance of his death and resurrection, but a celebration of the new life in union with him and in fellowship with our new family that we now have.

Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. — 1 Corinthians 11:27-28

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“Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen…”

Here’s a remarkably helpful truth that gets pointed out once in a while in the biblical counseling world… but rarely sinks in and affects the way we think about the temptations we face.

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There are basically three complaints, or excuses, people have when they face temptation:

1. No one knows, or can understand, what I’m going through.
2. This is too much for me to handle.
3. There’s no way out — I have to sin.

How do you respond to someone who believes one or all of these excuses? Or how do you deal with these thoughts in your own soul? Well, you turn to Scripture and allow it to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (our youth camp’s theme verse this year!). Did you know that there is one Bible verse that answers all three of these excuses?

No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to man. And God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation He will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. — 1 Corinthians 10:13

Look at what this verse tells us about temptation. First, you’re not facing anything new (“except what is common to man”). Second, God will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able to resist and escape (“he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability”). Third, God Himself will provide you a way of escape from that temptation (“He will also provide the way of escape”), so that you can endure the trial and not succumb to sin. 1 Corinthians 10:13 systematically refutes every excuse people give for giving in to temptation and following their flesh, and verse 14 tells us that the fundamental issue is idolatry. The solution then is to “flee idolatry” and worship the one true God.

So, why do we still sin? If it’s not something we are powerless over (as 1 Cor 10:13 makes clear), why do we still choose to follow the flesh rather than follow Christ? Well, there are only three fundamental reasons believers don’t obey Christ at any given moment, but we’ll look at that another time!

virtus et honos

Composing a Doctrinal Statement [section 9 part 2 — Marriage and Sexuality]

Composing a doctrinal statement (or any other essential documents) can be one of the most arduous (but crucial) projects undertaken by a church. In this series, I’m sharing my own doctrinal statement in an attempt to provide a helpful example of a detailed statement that is worded positively, but articulated precisely enough to exclude certain theological positions for the protection and unity of the church.

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Marriage: We believe that the only biblical marriage is the formal union of a man and a woman in a lifelong, exclusive, comprehensive covenant. [1]

(Genesis 2:24; Malachi 2:14–16; Matthew 19:4–6; Mark 10:6–9; Romans 7:2–3; 1 Corinthians 7:10–11, 39; Ephesians 5:22–33)

Human Sexuality: We believe that any other sexual activity, identity, or expression outside of this definition of a biblical marriage, including those that are becoming more accepted in the culture and the courts, are contrary to God’s natural design and purpose for sexual activity, and thus are sinful. Any form of sexual perversion such as (but not limited to [2]) fornication, adultery, incest, homosexuality, bisexuality, bestiality, pedophilia, pornography, any attempt to change one’s sex or gender, or disagreement with one’s biological sex, are sinful perversions of God’s gift of sex, gender, and marriage. God has created us male and female, and he desires that we find joy and contentment in His design.

We believe that gender is God-given, not socially constructed or self-determined. Gender distinctions are rooted in creation, and manifested in biological, emotional, and constitutional differences [3]. Being created as a man or woman is an essential [4] aspect of our identity, transcending social customs and cultural stereotypes.

(Genesis 2:18–25; Exodus 20:14; Leviticus 18:1–30; Matt 19:4–5; Mark 10:6–9; Romans 1:26–29; 1 Corinthians 5:1; 6:9–10; 1 Thessalonians 4:3–8; Hebrews 13:4; Jude 7)

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Notes:

1] Having a clear, biblical definition of marriage will not make your church popular, but it will mean standing on the authority of the Word of God and not compromising truth for approval. Having clear statements on marriage and sexuality also serve to protect the church in matters such as hiring staff and hosting weddings, and are the first line of defense against related legal issues. If you have a simple policy that anyone the church hires must agree with and conform to the church’s doctrinal statement, you avoid alot of agony in court. If you have a facilities use policy that the church building is not to be used for anything that goes against the church’s doctrine, then you protect yourself from lawsuits for refusing to host homosexual weddings and the like. At least right now, this is still an effective means of legal protection for the church. The day is coming very soon when churches will lose tax-exempt status over these issues. But for now at least, why not use the simple provisions our legal system has in place (left over from a time when the government thought that freedom of religion was something worth protecting, and that churches were a good to society) to protect your church from unneeded attack and hardship in these moments before the unavoidable persecution arrives? Here is a great resource on the matter.

2] It’s helpful, but not necessary, to have a list of some specific things you’re referring to, though there is no way to mention every variety of sexual sin individually, but we acknowledge that we live in a Romans 1 society in which people are inventing new ways to distort God’s design every day. The best way to cover it all is to say that any sexual activity outside of a biblical marriage is sinful.

3] That is, the makeup of maleness and femaleness is fundamentally different at the foundational, essential (see next note) level.

4] I’m using “essential” here in the technical sense of the word — that is, not to mean “really important,” but rather having to do with one’s essence, one’s ontology. In other words, we are not just created as humans, we are created as male or female humans.

Composing a Doctrinal Statement [section 6 — on Salvation]

Section 6 — Salvation

We believe that freedom from the penalty and power of sin is available to mankind only through the sacrificial, substitutionary death of Jesus Christ. This salvation is the free gift of God’s grace, based entirely upon the merit of Christ’s perfect sacrifice, and not on the basis of human merit or works. Faith alone in Christ alone is the only condition for salvation [1]. Saving faith is a personal response, apart from our works, whereby we are persuaded that the finished work of Jesus Christ (His death and resurrection [2]) is sufficient to deliver us from condemnation and guarantee our eternal life, and we place our trust for forgiveness and salvation in the merit and promise of Christ’s work alone. Those who do not believe in Christ are subject to everlasting conscious punishment, but believers enjoy eternal life with God.

(John 1:12; 3:16–18, 36; 5:24; 6:35–40; 14:6; 20:31; Acts 16:30–33; Romans 3:23–24; 4:4–5; 6:23; 8:1; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 2:16; Ephesians 1:7; 2:1–10; 1 Thessalonians 4:3–4; 1 Peter 1:18–19; 2 Peter 1:4; 1 John 5:1)

Forgiveness, repentance, and reconciliation [3]: We believe that forgiveness for sins (past, present, and future) is graciously extended and offered to all, through Christ’s work on the cross, conditioned upon one’s trust in Christ alone. Forgiveness is a lifting of the charge of guilt from another, a formal declaration of that fact, and a promise (made and kept) to never remember the wrong against him in the future. Repentance is a change of mind about something (such as God and sin), leading to a change in disposition toward that thing. As an inner change, repentance is in no way a work that merits salvation. Inner repentance can always be distinguished from its outward acts, though one is the cause of the other (the change of heart leads to, but is not identical to or inseparable from, a change in direction). Reconciliation occurs when the sinner repents, and the one sinned against forgives. Where there is faith (a persuasion that something is true), there is a change of mind/heart.

When the unbeliever repents and trusts in Christ alone for salvation (faith), God’s forgiveness offered through Christ is applied to him (he experiences the benefits of the redemption accomplished through Christ’s work on the cross), removing the person’s guilt (justification), making his eternal destiny secure, and legally reconciling that person to God. The moment our sins were forgiven, we were adopted into the family of God.

As a member of God’s family, judicial (or legal) forgiveness and reconciliation are no longer needed in the life of the believer, since that was received at the moment of salvation, pardoning us from the penalty for sin. Sin no longer, in any way, endangers our eternal destiny. However, sin still has temporal and relational consequences. As children of God, we still disobey our Father, thus breaking fellowship and damaging our relationship with Him. Therefore, confession of sins is still needed, thus seeking the temporal (not salvific) forgiveness of, and relational reconciliation with, our Father. This is not a mechanical, legal transaction, but a dynamic of having a real, personal relationship with God as our Father.

(Psalm 32:1–5; 51; Proverbs 28:13; Matthew 3:8; 6:12–15; Mark 1:15; 11:25; Luke 3:8; 5:32; 17:3–4; 24:47; John 5:24; 13:6–10; Acts 8:22; 10:43; 11:18; 17:30-34; 20:21; 26:20; Romans 4:7–8; 8:1; 2 Corinthians 5:18–20; Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:14; 2:13; Hebrews 10:17–18; 2 Peter 3:9; 1 John 1:9)

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Notes

1) However, it is not enough to merely state that faith is the only condition for salvation. “Faith” has been severely misused and misunderstood, and so it is good to fully define what is meant by “faith,” which is what follows.

2) It is helpful (though also more exclusive) to define even what we mean by “the work of Christ” that is sufficient for salvation.

3) Unfortunately it has become imperative to define forgiveness, repentance and reconciliation as well.

4) The distinction between legal forgiveness and reconciliation (at salvation) and relational forgiveness and reconciliation (throughout the Christian life) is one of the most important distinctions to understand in both interpreting Scripture, and in living out the Christian life.

Composing a Doctrinal Statement [sections 4&5 — on Angels and Mankind]

Composing a doctrinal statement (or any other essential documents) can be one of the most arduous (but crucial) projects undertaken by a church. In this series, I’m sharing my own doctrinal statement, a section (or two) at a time, in an attempt to provide a helpful example of a detailed statement that is worded positively, but articulated precisely enough to exclude certain theological positions for the protection and unity of the church.

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Section 4 — Angels

We believe that God created an innumerable company of spirit-beings commonly called angels. Although they are a higher order of creation than humanity, angels were created within space and time, and are not to be worshiped themselves, but are created to serve God and to worship Him.

(Exodus 20:11; Nehemiah 9:6; Daniel 9:20–23; 10:1–14; Luke 2:9–14; Hebrews 1:6–7, 14; 2:6–7; Revelation 5:11–14; 19:10; 22:8–9)

Fallen Angels: We believe that Satan is a created angel, and the author of sin. He incurred the judgment of God by rebelling against his Creator, and introducing sin into the human race by his temptation of Eve. He is the open and declared enemy of God and mankind. He is the prince of this world, who was defeated through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ; and he will be eternally punished in the lake of fire. Numerous angels (also called demons or unclean spirits) followed Satan in his original rebellion against God, and will share in his eternal judgement.

(Genesis 3:1–5; Isaiah 14:12–17; Ezekiel 28:11–19; Matthew 4:1–11; 25:41; 2 Corinthians 4:3–4; Revelation 12:1–14; 20:10)

Section 5 — Mankind

We believe that Adam and Eve were created in the image of God, unfallen, and to enjoy fellowship with their Creator. By voluntary transgression, man fell from his sinless estate. All humanity sinned in Adam. As a result, all men and women are born spiritually separated from God and share in Adam’s fallen nature. All people are sinners by nature (inherently from Adam), and by choice (by individual thought and conduct), and, therefore, are under just condemnation without defense or excuse, utterly unable to remedy his lost condition by any strength or will of his own accord.

(Genesis 1:26–28; 3:1–6, 16–24; Psalm 51:5; Romans 1:18–32; 3:10–19; 5:12, 19)