"Marks of the Messanger: Knowing, Living, and Speaking the Gospel" by J. Mack Stiles

This book brought me to tears and gave me a chilling awareness of how little I share the gospel. It brought me to my knees in repentance. It was not a guilt tripping evangelism book that left me feeling like I need to "try harder" or "do better". Rather, the author paints such a glorious picture of the gospel and our high calling to be apart of gospel work, that I finished each chapter with an urgency to know and live the gospel in a fuller and more vibrant way.

Read this book several times and find a friend to read and discuss it with!

Scandalous: The Cross and Resurrection of Jesus by D A Carson

Scandalous consists of 5 chapters in which Carson goes through a different passage of scriptures and digs through them, pulling out deep truths about Christ, the cross, our battle against Satan's rage, and the resurrection. Each chapter is full of rich biblical and theological thought that kept my mind racing as I attempted to digest it.

Not only is the book a wonderful read because of the topic, but if you pay attention, the chapters are also a tutorial on how to read your Bible. Carson is one of those voices that I like my mind and heart to have a steady diet of because I grow in understanding how to read scripture. Paying attention to how Carson exegetes scripture will teach you how to read your Bible and put it together. I highly recommend any of his writings (or sermons) and if you are new to Carson, this is a great book to start with.

The Unquenchable Flame : Discovering the Heart of the Reformation by Michael Reeves

I just finished reading this book and I enjoyed every paragraph. If you love history, especially church history, you will enjoy this book. If you don’t like to read and especially do not like history, I still think you will enjoy this book. Reeves uses words to paint such a vivid picture of the Reformation.

The Unquenchable Flame gives us a picture into a world where “justification by faith alone” was a truth that had been hidden from the Christian world for a long time. It reminds us that there was a time when hundreds of years passed in which believers had no Bible to read and were at the mercy of priest to explain God’s living word to them. It reminds us that Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, Tyndale, Knox, and the many, many who spent their lives and died for the Reformation, did so because they ached for people to know that they could not merit God’s favor through works and good deeds, but that central to the heart of the gospel is the fact that we can only be justified, or made right with God, through the blood of Christ Jesus.

A basic understanding of the Reformation should drive each of us into God’s word with greater fervor. As a Puritan once said,

“Lord, whatsoever thou dost to us, take not thy Bible from us; kill our children, burn our houses, destroy our goods; only spare us thy Bible, only take not away thy Bible.”

This statement may sound extreme in a Christian culture where we all have multiple Bibles in our home yet still “struggle” to find the time or the desire to read God’s word, but “for the Puritan, the Bible was the most valuable thing this world affords.” (Reeves) How I pray that would be true for me as well!