The Mortification of Sin by John Owen. I try to reread this book once every year because it’s just that good. Every Christian needs continual encouragement in the fight against sin and Mortification has some mighty fine fuel for the fight. Owen is a surgeon of the soul par excellence, for he cuts and heals in all the right places. The book reveals Puritan pithiness at its best; for example, “Mortification from a self-strength, carried on by ways of self-invention, to the end of a self-righteousness, is the soul and substance of all false religion in the world,” and, “Do you mortify? Do you make it your daily work? You must always be at it while you live; do not take a day off from this work; always be killing sin or it will be killing you.”

The Supremacy of God in Preaching by John Piper. This book is short, just over 100 pages, but packs a punch typical of Piper. He defines preaching as “expository exultation” and then unfolds that theme in two parts: 1) Why God Should Be Supreme in Preaching, and 2) How to Make God Supreme in Preaching: Guidance from the Ministry of Jonathan Edwards. Although originally published in 1990, the book remains a clarion call to contemporary preachers to pursue “gravity and gladness” in preaching. One of the few books on preaching that, I think, will survive in print for decades.

A Display of God’s Glory by Mark Dever. The finest primer on congregationalist polity that I’ve read. While some readers might want more detailed explanation on various congregational convictions, the book’s aim to provide the “basics of church structure” and it succeeds. A strength of the book is the emphasis Dever places on church unity as a primary aim and fruit of biblical governance. He has a masterful discussion on what issues merit congregational involvement and which issues congregations should joyfully defer to installed leadership. This is an excellent training resource for elder-led congregational churches.

The Fifth Witness by Michael Connelly. For better or worse (probably the latter), the majority of my fiction reading squarely falls into the “mystery/suspense/detective/lawyer” genre, a genre Michael Connelly dominates. The Fifth Witness is the most recent volume in his Mickey Haller series and Stephen King calls it, “One of the most bone-crunching courtroom dramas you’ll ever read.” I love Connelly because he steers clear of the gratuitous content permeating so many bestsellers today; mystery alone drives the story and captures the readers interest. Anyone familiar with Connelly knows he is a master of surprise endings and The Fifth Witness won’t disappoint in this area.

The King in His Beauty: A Biblical Theology of the Old and New Testaments by Tom Schreiner. Schreiner is one of my favorite living biblical scholars. My appreciation is not rooted in the fact that I almost always agree with his conclusions (his understanding of the millenium withstanding), but in the fact that his scholarship is marked by such devotional warmth. He argues, along the lines of Graeme Goldsworthy, for the kingdom of God being “a central theme of the entire Bible” (xiii). There is pronounced emphasis on God’s lordship in the work and I deeply appreciated his focus on how human beings, created in the image of God, are supposed to relate to their Lord and King with praise, obedience, and fear. His handling of the Old Testament narrative is stimulating. Those familiar with his New Testament Theology and Pauline Theology won’t find much new in this book’s correlative sections, but that need not be seen as a weakness. The summary conclusions and interludes woven throughout the book make it all the more useful as a discipleship and teaching resource.

Holiness by Grace: Delighting in the Joy that is Our Strength by Bryan Chapell. Chapell’s aim is to help his readers delight in grace and employ “it to avoid the dangers of both legalism and licentiousness” (13). The work is something of a precursor (by about ten years) to the sanctification debates that peaked in “gospel-centered” circles a few years ago. While Chapell largely succeeds in his attempt to navigate between sanctification’s Scylla and Charybdis, “Holiness by Grace” is largely occupied with steering Christians away from the danger of legalism. I found the book to be longer than necessary, weighing in at 243 pages. One might say the length is due to the careful navigation required to get through the dangerous waters of law and licence, but I think it’s actually caused by undue repetition and over illustration. His chapters “Constrained by the Law of Freedom” and “What’s Discipline Got to Do with It?” are useful contributions to the contemporary conversation. Additionally, his discussion on the changing and unchanging dynamics between God and His children (196) is most helpful.

The Pastor as Scholar & The Scholar as Pastor: Reflections on Life and Ministry by John Piper & D.A. Carson. This “book” consists, primarily, in two addresses given by the authors at a 2010 event under the same title. The book’s strength lies in a unified call for deep and clear thinking about God, but not letting such thinking be divorced from personal faithfulness or congregational edification. Carson’s discussion on reading habits is useful for any pastor or scholar. He writes, “If you can develop the habit of reading different things at different speeds, you might be wise to read some books slowly, evaluatively, and often; to read some books briskly, once but comprehensively; to skim other books to see what they are saying; to dip into still other books to see if they add anything to a discussion or merely say the same old things with a minor twist here and there” (97). Overall, this work on loving God with all your mind is worth rumination.

The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert: An English Professor’s Journey into the Christ Faith by Rosaria Champagne Butterfield. Butterfield’s story of conversion is fascinating and fascinatingly written (no surprise here, see the subtitle). I came to the book expecting an engaging narrative of one surprising conversion, but what I didn’t expect were pots of gold along the way. Take these two quotes: “Sin, when unrestrained, infantilizes a person” (108) and “There is no greater enemy to life-breathing faith than insisting on cultural sameness” (115). Throughout the book I was continually struck by God’s powerful use of ordinary pastors to bring “unlikely” converts to faith. This is a book from which anyone can profit.

Housewife Theologian: How the Gospel Interrupts the Ordinary by Aimee Byrd. I read this book in order to see if I wanted to buy a couple copies for the IDC Bookshelf at our church. Byrd’s phrase of “Housewife Theologian” is an excellent designation and, I trust, a biblical one. On the whole, Byrd’s book would be useful for any woman to read although I think it would be strengthened by a more discernible flow of argument. The journaling questions at the end of each chapter make this book a great resource for discussion and discipleship. Click here to listen to an excellent Christ the Center interview on this book.

Worship Matters: Leading Others to Encounter the Greatness of God by Bob Kauflin. Every Thursday I meet with a couple guys from IDC who lead us in song each week. It is our normal practice to review the upcoming service and discuss a book related to worship/music. We just wrapped up Kauflin’s book and the work is engaging and wide-ranging. He leaves precious few stones unturned in his aim to help worship leaders “think carefully about what we do and why we do it” (19). A valuable, and dare I say necessary, read for every pastor and worship leader.

The Pastor’s Justification: Applying the Work of Christ in Your Life and Ministry by Jared Wilson. I hadn’t planned on reading this book until I saw Joe Thorn call it “an instant classic.” Although it didn’t join my personal list of classics, it is nevertheless a quick and encouraging read. Wilson is a gifted writer who understands the need for pastors to continually feed from the never ending well of Christ’s grace. I found his chapters on “The Holy Pastor” and “The Watchful Pastor” to be particularly encouraging.

Indwelling Sin by John Owen. Owen’s Mortification of Sin and On Temptation are among the most influential books I’ve ever read. So it’s a bit of a mystery to me why it took me so long to read the other member of his “sanctification trilogy.” More complex and difficult (i.e., quintessentially Owen)  than Mortification and Temptation, Indwelling Sin works out the doctrine that “there is an exceeding efficacy and power in the remainder of indwelling sin in believers, whit a constant inclination and working toward evil.” Owen exhaustively covers the dominion, power, opposition, and deceit of the sin that still resides in the Christian’s heart. I found myself frightened anew by the power of sin, but comforted even more so by the Spirit’s power to overcome the enemy within.

The Priority of Preaching by Christopher Ash. This book was given away at T4G in 2010 and somehow got lost in my library. I recently discovered it, and how thankful I am! Ash writes, “This little book is written for ordinary ministers who preach regularly to ordinary people in ordinary places, who may dream of being world-renowned but are going to be spared that fate” (12). The book’s treasures are too many to count and surely will encouraged any pastor discouraged in the power of expository preaching. Chapter three, “Preaching that Mends a Broken World,” is worth the price of the book.

Empire of Blue Water: Captain Morgan’s Great Pirate Army, the Epic Battle for the Americas, and the Catastrophe That Ended the Outlaws’ Bloody Reign by Stephan Talty. This title proves my wife’s assertion that my appetite for history can be ridiculous. Captain Morgan is much more than a brand of famous rumbulllion, he is one of the most notorious pirates to every wreak havoc in the Caribbean. With captivating prose Talty recounts Morgan’s stunning ascension to power and equally stunning fall from it. The fascinating details of Caribbean piracy in the mid-17th century are set against the backdrop of the Spanish Empire’s inevitable fall. Talty puts some historical meat on the Hollywood’s Pirates of the Caribbean, and the meat is quite tasty.