2021 Reading List
(rated 1 to 5, with 5 as the high)
01 A Survey Of Church History, Part 6, the 1900s, by Donald Whitney (4): Final installment of a great course on church history.
02 Practical Strength Programming by Marc Rippetoe (5): The greatest book on building a great strength training program.
03 X by John Bevere (3): Multiply your fruitfulness.
04 Spiritual Disciplines For The Christian Life by Donald Whitney (5): One of the most accessible and cogent books I’ve ever read about the spiritual disciplines.
05 How To Write Narrative Sermons by Jim L. Wilson (2): terrible book on a terrible style of teaching.
06 Praying The Bible by Donald Whitney (5): amazing look at prayer; practical.
07 Christianity and Liberalism by Machen (5): Written in the early 1900s, could have been written today.
08 What The Bible Says About Knowing God’s Will by Wayne Grudem (3)
09 Spirit And Sacrament by Andrew Wilson (5): Cultivating a vision for a Eucharismatic (liturgy + the Spirit) church.
10 A Practical Guide To Culture by John Stonestreet (5): Good analysis.
11 The Future Of Christian Marriage, Mark Regnerus (5): Stats! Numbers! Data! This is where the world’s perspective on marriage is heading. Great info.
12 Run With Horses by Eugene Peterson (5): Peterson masterfully picks lessons out of Jeremiah’s life and writings.
13 The Gospel-Driven Church by Jared Wilson (5): A how-to book for those wanting to ditch attractional ministry and all its metrics in favor of a biblical church model.
14 Secrets Of Staying Power In Ministry by Kevin A. Miller (3): Hundreds of interviews of pastors condensed into themes on discouragement.
15 Surprised By Joy by CS Lewis (5): Lewis’ autobiography. Each sentence is a work of art, and the tales of his childhood are a delight.
16 The Story Of Everything by Jared C. Wilson (5): An overview of God’s redemptive story, with a focus on the themes of Ecclesiastes.
17 Finding Truth by Nancy Pearcey (5): An amazing reframing of apologetics by using Romans 1 as a way to analyze every worldview. Identify the idol. Identify the idol’s reductionism. Does it contradict what we know about the world? Does it contradict itself? Replace the idol.
18 Culture Making by Andy Crouch (4): A treatise that defines culture, shows God is a culture maker, demonstrates how Jesus made a new culture, and encourages us to be culture creators.
19 Living Doctrine by Daniel L. Akin (3): A brief study of Titus.
20 I Am Going by Daniel Akin (3): An exhortation to missions.
21 The Abolition Of Man by CS Lewis (4): A prophetic series of essays delivered to a secular audience. I think he explains the Romans 1 process in non-religious terms.
22 Strong & Weak by Andy Crouch (4): A great look at using power for human flourishing, just as Christ did.
23 Gospel-Centered Ministry by D.A. Carson and Tim Keller (4): A brief refocus on what it looks like to center ministry/church-work around the gospel.
24 The Kingdom Of God by Stephen Um (3): not inaccurate; also not engaging.
25 On Church Leadership by Marc Driscoll (3): Say what you will, he did have a clear view of church leadership. Interesting to read in tandem with the Mars Hill podcast; you can easily see how some of his views, when taken to an extreme, would lead to a toxic culture.
26 Dreyer’s English by Benjamin Dreyer (5): A highly entertaining look at proper writing and grammar rules.
27 Reflections On The Psalms by C.S. Lewis (4): Oh my gosh, these insights are so unlike anything you’ve ever read on the Psalms.
28 The Giver by Lois Lowry (4): Fiction. Fun. Fantasy. I just went for it with this kids’ series.
29 Gathering Blue by Lois Lowery (4): Part 2.
30 Doctrine by Breshears & Driscoll (5): Solid, meant to read cover-to-cover, practical systematic theology. Read it years ago. It holds up, even if one of the authors didn’t.
31 Messenger by Lois Lowry (4): Part 3.
32 Showing The Spirit by D.A. Carson (4): A good look at 1 Corinthians’ passages on the Spirit. Somewhat dry, but also insightful and incisive.
33 Son by Lois Lowry (4): Part 4
34 Supernatural Power For Everyday People by Jared Wilson (4): Love Jared. This wasn’t his best work, but still very encouraging and helpful look at the Spirit-filled life.
35 Confronting Injustice Without Compromising Truth by Thaddeus J. Williams (5): A balanced look at justice-ministry. He is clearly a conservative, but brings up valid points on how to think through the issues that have been mainstreamed over the past couple of years.
36 Restoring All Things by Warren Smith and John Stonestreet (3): A look at culture-shaping from a Christian perspective.
37 Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey (5): Just fun. Not for the prudish or easily offended.
38 Is This Anything? by Jerry Seinfeld (5): All his bits.
39 Gentle And Lowly by Dane Ortland (5): A poetic and masterful regurgitation Puritan works on the character and nature of Christ. Such a refreshing reminder that will bolster anyone who has drifted from grace—and who hasn’t?
40 Canoeing The Mountains by Tod Bolsinger (3): Heralded as the masterpiece guidebook for navigating a changing culture. I wasn’t as impressed as most. Isn’t there something to be said for preaching the word?
41 The Temple And The Tabernacle by J. Daniel Hays (4): A scholarly breakdown of the—you guessed it—temple and tabernacle.
42 Prayer by A.W. Tozer (4): When you are ready to be challenged, read a book on prayer. Or a book by Tozer. But Tozer on prayer will decimate you in the best way.
43 The Barbell Prescription by Dr. James Sullivan and Andy Baker (5): How older men and women should strength train (hint: not the same as young people).
44 Welcoming The Future Church by Jonathan Pokluda (5): I really like the practical nature of J.P.’s ministry. Good guy. A little bible-belty in perspective, but solid.
45 The Terminal List by Jack Carr (5): Killer.
46 Outdated by Jonathan Pokluda (5): Great resource on dating (especially geared towards young adults).
47 The Rise And Triumph Of The Modern Self by Carl Trueman (5): I liked the Matrix movies. I also like this book. But the feeling of being in over your heard is similar during both.
48 True Believer by Jack Carr (5): Killer, again.
49 A Little Book On The Christian Life by John Calvin (4): He did not need many words to challenge you in your walk with God.
50 A World Without Email by Cal Newport (4): You might think this is a book about the millennial reign of Christ, but it is actually about work productivity by my favorite author on the subject.
51 Questions Every Teen Should Ask (and Answer) about Christianity by Rebecca McLaughlin (5): A condensed and teen-friendly version of her previous work. Solid as always. Anything by McLaughlin is stupendous. And she quotes from Harry Potter a lot.
52 Rethinking Sexuality by Juli Slattery (5): I think I read this three times this year.
53 Savage Son by Jack Carr (4): More killing.
54 Forgotten Ways: Reactivating Apostolic Movements by Hirsch (5): I mean, you will feel badly about everything you’ve ever done in ministry when reading this book, but it is good to be challenged.
55 Adorning The Dark by Andrew Peterson (5): An artful book by an artist on producing art as a believer. Anyone who is a musician, writer, poet, or “creative” should read this one.
56 Pursuing God’s Will Together by Ruth Haley Barton (4): A beautiful vision of a community that seeks God in tandem with others.
57 Secular Creed by Rebecca McGlaughlin (5): A breakdown of how Christianity offers a better version of the neighborhood yards signs that declare, “In this house we believe that: Black Lives Matter Love Is Love Women’s Rights Are Human Rights We Are All Immigrants Diversity Makes Us Stronger.”
58 The Hobbit by Tolkien (5): “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.”
59 Christ Plays In Ten Thousand Places by Eugene Peterson (3): Peterson’s version of systematic theology. I prefer something more systematic.
60 The Daring Mission Of William Tyndale by Steven J. Lawson (5): I love Tyndale’s story—a man who devoted his life to getting the Bible into the hands of the English-speaking world when it was illegal to do so.
61 The Good Shepherd by Lesslie Newbiggin (4): Lectures he delivered to clergy in India on how to do ministry—refreshing.
62 Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (4): From the author of The Martian, another space adventure.
63 The Age Of Opportunity by Paul David Tripp (5): Tripp on raising teenagers.
64 Creation by Andrew Davis (4): A short book on the doctrine of creation.
65 The Road Back To You by Ian Morgan Cron, Suzanne Stabile (3): The Enneagram analyzed in a well-written piece. These authors really struggle to know what sin is, and therefore what problem each personality type needs to overcome. “For me to be a saint means to be myself” is a closing quote in the book. Doesn’t sound like the gospel to me, but the book is another way to learn about people.
66 Marks Of A Healthy Church by Mark Dever (4): A refreshing look at being the church in our modern age—without compromise of any kind.
67 The Path To Being A Pastor by Bobby Jamieson (4): This is a brief discussion on how to prepare for the pastorate. Written as a guide to men considering full-time ministry, especially as a lead pastor, it is encouraging to any current pastor.
68 A Passion For Faithfulness by J.I. Packer (5): Packer wrests the book of Nehemiah away from the “how to lead” authors and takes it for what it is—a story of God doing what he always does by building up his church.
69 Rethinking Sexuality by Juli Slattery (5): Again.
70 Kingdom Man by Tony Evans (3): Lots of stories. Some great quotes. Not robust. Too focused on a strange definition of kingdom.
71 Run To Win by Tim Challies (4): Thorough and dense look at biblical manhood.
72 The Masculine Mandate by Richard Philips (4): Going back to the garden of Eden, Philips takes a look at what God intended men to be. Spoiler alert: it is much different than what most 21st century men look like.
73 Christian Ethics by Wayne Grudem (5): A long look at Christian ethics, untangling everything from marijuana to in-vitro to food laws to parenting.
74 Man Of God by Charles Stanley (3): Not great. Biblical for sure, just not engaging to me.
75 Peter (The NIV Application Commentary Book 17) by Scot McKnight (4)
76 Everyday Church: Gospel Communities On Mission (Re:Lit) by Tim Chester and Steve Timmis (4): Challenging look at how we do church in our modern world.
77 Peter by Karen H. Jobes (5): I found myself looking forward to reading her perspectives on each section — in-depth, accurate, Karen mined for the truth!
78 The Message Of 1 Peter by Edmund Clowney (4): Not to technical or applicational, a steady resource on 1 Peter.
79 Peter: An Introduction And Commentary by Wayne Grudem (5): One of my top 1 Peter recources.
80 An Exegetical Summary of 1 Peter by Logos (3): Not as top-shelf as their other exegetical summaries.
81 Wild At Heart by John Eldredge (4): Say what you will, and there are dangers with this book, but if a biblically grounded man reads this, he will come out the other side serving, loving, and taking steps of faith with Jesus.
82 The Dude’s Guide To Manhood by Darrin Patrick (2): Why use the Bible to teach biblical truth when you can just use stories and examples?
83 Manhood Restored by Eric Mason (5): A master class on biblical manhood that is theologically rooted, yet accessible to the modern man.
84 Victorious Christian Service by Alan Redpath (4): The book of Nehemiah through the lens of a mid 20th-century preacher.
85 Recovering Biblical Manhood & Womanhood by Piper/Grudem (5): A massive defense of biblical complementarianism. Robust and multifaceted, each essay/article/chapter stands on its own.