2024 Reading List (Love God With All Your Mind)
When asked what the greatest commandment was, Jesus said to love the Lord your God. He was quoting Deuteronomy 6:5. If you go read the passage in Deuteronomy, you will notice there is a difference in how Jesus stated it. In Deuteronomy it says to “love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might/strength.” When Jesus says it in Matthew, instead of might/strength, He says mind/understanding. Jesus made it clear that we are to love the Lord with all of our mind.
What you believe determines how you live. Your thoughts dictate everything you pursue. It is imperative, then, that we train our minds. This means we are to think deeply and venture out of the shallows. We are to discuss theology and its practical implications. And at the very minimum, it means we must read.
As we head into this New Year, would you resolve to love the Lord with all your mind by reading? (That means reading your Bible and reading books.)
Did you know that if you read only ten pages a day, you would read a 300-page book every month? And that’s such a minuscule amount of time and effort that it would barely be noticeable to those around you (though the dividends your soul will yield will be incredibly noticeable). That means you can easily read twelve 300-page books a year.
We have compiled a list for you of books we recommend. There are many different categories, so it shouldn’t be difficult to find something that interests you.
Go ahead, get to reading!
** (Scroll to the bottom to see some hints from my personal life that help me read multiple books at a time.)
More than anything, we should be students of the Bible. If you don’t know where to start, you can find several reading plans on our website.
A Biography
“Francis Schaeffer: An Authentic Life” by Colin Duriez
“George Muller: Delighted in God” by Roger Steer
“To the Golden Shore: The Life of Adoniram Judson” by Courtney Anderson
“Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy” by Eric Metaxas
“21 Servants of Sovereign Joy: Faithful, Flawed, and Fruitful” by John Piper
A Classic
“Mere Christianity” by C.S. Lewis
“The Cost of Discipleship” by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
“The City of God” by Augustine
“Pilgrim’s Progress” by John Bunyan
“Religious Affections” by Jonathan Edwards
“The Imitation of Christ” by Thomas a Kempis
“Knowing God” by J.I. Packer
“Overcoming Sin and Temptation” by John Owen
“The Cross of Christ” by John Stott
Apologetics
“I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist” by Frank Turek & Norman Geisler
“Why Should I Trust the Bible” by Timothy Paul Jones
“Risen Indeed: A Historical Investigation into the Resurrection of Jesus” by Gary Habermas
“What About Evil? A Defense of God’s Sovereign Glory” by M. Scott Christensen
About a Book of the Bible
“Traveling Light: Galatians and the Free Life in Christ” by Eugene Peterson
“Reversed Thunder: The Revelation of John and the Praying Imagination” by Eugene Peterson
“Man Overboard! The Story of Jonah” by Sinclair B. Ferguson
“Acts 1-12 for You” & “Acts 13-28 for You” by R. Albert Mohler
Fiction
“The Lord of the Rings” by J.R.R. Tolkien (3 books)
“Godric” by Frederick Buechner
“Jayber Crow” by Wendell Berry
“Pilgrim at Tinker Creek” by Annie Dillard
“The Complete Stories” by Flannery O’Connor (short stories)
Growing in Disciplines
“A Long Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society” by Eugene Peterson
“Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life” by Donald S. Whitney
“Your Future Self Will Thank You: Secrets to Self-Control from the Bible & Brain Science” by Drew Dyck
“The Tech-Wise Family: Everyday Steps to Putting Technology in its Proper Place” by Andy Crouch
Life in this Age
“How Should We Then Live?: The Rise and Decline of Western Thought and Culture” by Francis A. Schaeffer
“Five Lies of our Anti-Christian Age” by Rosaria Butterfield
“A Secular Age” by Charles Taylor
“Christianity & Liberalism” by J. Gresham Machen
Church Health
“9 Marks of a Healthy Church” by Mark Dever
“Worship Matters: Leading Others to Encounter the Greatness of God” by Bob Kauflin
“Love Your Church: 8 Great Things About Being a Church Member” by Tony Merida
Hospitality & Evangelism
“The Gospel Comes with a House Key: Practicing Radically Ordinary Hospitality in our Post-Christian World” by Rosaria Butterfield
“Sharing Jesus Without Freaking Out: Evangelism the Way You Were Born to Do It” by D. Scott Hildreth & Steven A. McKinion
Children Fiction
“The Chronicles of Narnia” by C.S. Lewis (7 books)
“The Wingfeather Saga” by Andrew Peterson (4 books)
“The Hobbit” by J.R.R. Tolkien
Hope Amidst Suffering
“Holding On to Hope: A Pathway Through Suffering to the Heart of God” by Nancy Guthrie
“Suffering is Never for Nothing” by Elisabeth Elliot
“Suffering: Gospel Hope When Life Doesn’t Make Sense” by Paul David Tripp
Recommended by Jacob
“Finding the Right Hills to Die On: The Case for Theological Triage” by Gavin Ortlund
“Telling the Truth: The Gospel as Tragedy, Comedy, and Fairy Tale” by Frederick Buechner
“The Great Divorce” by C.S. Lewis
Recommended by David
“Emotionally Healthy Spirituality” by Peter Scazzero
“Why Does God Allow Suffering” by Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Recommended by Mike
“Counter Culture” by David Platt
“The Beauty of Intolerance” by Josh and Sean McDowell
“Simple Church” by Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger
** I recommend reading books with other people (read a chapter a week and gather to discuss). This helps keep you accountable and gives you someone to discuss the information with. I read different books at different parts of the day (a discipleship/book of the Bible book in the morning; a book I’m working through with someone during the day; another book I keep on my nightstand). I read books in different formats (I always have at least one I am reading through the Kindle app on my phone. This is so that I can pull it out and read it at any opportune time. Also, it makes it easy to read in the dark…I have read through countless books to my children this way while putting them to bed). I also recommend listening to books through Audible or Spotify (which now has audiobooks!).
