Something Needs to Change – David Platt – is a book that changed me deeply and is one I still go back to often to remind myself of some deep truths. It’s my first choice to read with others. It’s great at instilling a deep sense of awe with God and grounding some loft beliefs into real life stuff. It has a study guide as well that does an excellent job breaking it down into sessions.
Heaven – Randy Alcorn – There are a lot of garbage books on heaven. A good book on heaven will lean fully on scripture,not experience. This book is the standard among biblical Christians when it comes to learning about heaven.
Heaven and Hell – Edward Donnelly – Another book on Heaven, this one is very short, just 127 pages, but it’s a book that formed and instilled in me a genuine love for people. This book is biblical and very solid, relying on scripture through the entire book. It’s a hard read for the Hell part, but that’s where a love for people comes in. I can’t explain it any other way than to say I don’t want anyone, no matter how bad, to go to Hell.
Follow Me – David Platt – is an incredible book. It’s a follow up to Radical. Where in Radical he exposed cultural values and ideas that are opposed to the gospel, his purpose in Follow Me is “to move from what we let go of to whom he hold on to. I want to explore not only the gravity of what we must forsake in this world, but also the greatness of the one we follow in this world. I want to expose what it means to die to ourselves and to live in Christ.”
Knowing Scripture – RC Sproul – this book is a classic and one of the best on how to study the bible.
Three seemingly unremarkable principles shape and strengthen the Christian life: listening to God’s voice, speaking to him in prayer, and joining together with his people as the church. Though often viewed as normal and routine, the everyday “habits of grace” we cultivate give us access to these God-designed channels through which his love and power flow―including the greatest joy of all: knowing and enjoying Jesus.
