February 2024 Book Recommendations

Dear Saints, 

Many of you know that I’m a book junkie.  My office is full of books, and I’m always working through seven or eight books at a time.  I’m a firm believer that the books we have read are vital to our personal and spiritual growth.  And at the same time, if it is true that the books we read shape us into who we are, then the books on our reading list help shape us into who we want to become.  

For that reason, I’m starting to send out a monthly list of book recommendations in various categories that may encourage you in your walk with the Lord.  Don’t be overwhelmed by the list- I’m giving you a broad selection in hopes that you’ll pick a book or two to read this month. 

Devotional: I find devotional prayer books very helpful because my mind is prone to wander in prayer if I don’t have something to guide me.  For years, I have used The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions in my devotional time.  This year, I began using a similar book by Tim Chester called Into His Presence, and I have greatly enjoyed it.  You’ve seen many prayers from this book in the “Prayer of Preparation” section in our bulletin.  

Bible Study: Church members often ask me if there is a whole-Bible commentary that I recommend.  My go-to recommendation is always Matthew Henry’s Commentary.  It’s theologically sound, very devotional, and can be a great help to any study of the Bible.  You can access it online here.  

Christian Living: Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God by J.I. Packer.  This book is a classic!  In it, Packer deals with the parallel truths of God’s sovereignty and human responsibility, in the process giving us both a call to evangelism and confidence that the Spirit sovereignly uses our efforts, regardless of how weak they may be.  Admittedly, the first chapter can be a little slow, but stick with it- it’s pure gold!

Systematic Theology: I read a lot of different theology books so it’s difficult to choose just one.  Typically, my go-to theology books are written by men who have been dead for a few hundred years (such as Calvin’s Institutes or A Brakel’s The Christian’s Reasonable Service).  Their depth of writing and the benefit that they have been time-tested causes me to lean more heavily on the works of voices from the past.  Though not quite as time-tested, Louis Berkhof’s Systematic Theology is extremely well-organized and clear. 

However, my top recommendation for systematic theology books to commend to you is Joel Beeke’s recently-published Reformed Systematic Theology (Parts 1, 2, and 3 available here).  This series is comprehensive, readable, practical, and best of all, doxological.  Beeke knows that all theology, rightly understood, should lead us to worship. 

Church History: If you have been around First Scots for long, you’ve probably heard me recommend The Unquenchable Flame by Michael Reeves.  Though narrowly focused on the Protestant Reformation, Reeves has a wonderful gift for combining a broad knowledge of history, deep piety, and sharp wit to make a book that is as enjoyable as it is informative.  You won’t regret this book!

Biography: The Lord used Elisabeth Elliot as one of the great voices of reformed Christianity over the last century.  Her writings recounting the martyrdom of her late husband, Jim Elliot, are now classics. In this recently-released biography entitled Elisabeth Elliot: A Life, Lucy Austen has written an engaging work recounting both the outward ministry and inner life of this dear saint. 

Christians in Culture: Rosaria Butterfield has been one of my favorite authors for the last decade.  Her autobiographical testimony, The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert, was a great help to me in understanding the context of the LGBTQ agenda in America. 

That’s why I’m very excited about her newest release, Five Lies of Our Anti-Christian Age.  It’s on my to-read list so I cannot give my personal thoughts on it yet, but one of our members gave the following review:

Rosaria Butterfield’s Five Lies of Our Anti-Christian Age is both theologically sound and uniquely insightful, and I appreciate her precise writing style- this sister suffers no fluff! Butterfield exudes a Christ-revering, joyful optimism that flies in the face of the lies discussed in her book, which include popular lies about identity and spirituality. She offers a rigorous examination of the underlying sins that are in fact the root causes of the social symptoms we see around us. That kind of rigorous examination is a good diagnostic tool for the state of any Christian’s heart. While the book is quite helpful for a believer who just wants to grow in grace and truth (and worth reading twice just for that), it also offers particular aid and practical advice to those Christians whose loved ones have been taken captive by some of the lies our world is currently enamored with. In the end, this is a hope-infused book because it is focused on Jesus Christ, and Butterfield reminds us that no matter what, our job as the church is the same it has always been – follow Him. (Special thanks to Michael & Laura Moore for this review)

Family/ Parenting: There are some excellent books on parenting from a Christian perspective.  There are many more that are not.  Tedd Tripp’s Shepherding a Child’s Heart falls into the former category, providing us with an insightful and practical guide to parenting that doesn’t seek merely behavior change, but rather heart change.  Tripp teaches us not simply to see our children’s behaviors, but what those behaviors say about their heart.  Consider this quote as a teaser:

Parents tend to see their children’s behavior in very naive terms. We see the fight over a toy as simply a fight over a toy, when actually it is a failure to prefer others. It is selfishness. It is saying to others, ‘I don’t care about what your wishes are; I want to have what I want.’ It is a determination to live in the world in a way that exploits every opportunity to serve oneself.

Doing ministry in the Church: If you want to understand how you can be more useful in the local church context, check out Paul Tripp’s Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands.  This book isn’t going to overwhelm you with strategies for changing the world; it’s simply a manual on how we grow in Christ and how we can help others do the same.  

To be clear, while I recommend these books, it doesn’t mean that I recommend everything in all of these books.  Always read with discernment, that your soul may be nurtured and grow in the Lord Jesus. 

With love in Christ, dear saints- 

Alex Mark