My greatest desire for myself and for each of you in our beloved church family is that we would know Christ better, live out of His life and power, and become more and more like Him. The secret to becoming like Christ each day is not in trying harder or finding some spiritual formula. The key is in trusting Christ and walking…

It’s been said that believers are most like Christ when they are humble. If that’s true (and it probably is), then humility is the quality believers should zealously pursue in their quest for Christlikeness. Yet, because of indwelling pride and selfishness, this pursuit of humility is a daily battle and one that must be waged relentlessly. To aid us in this battle,…

Attempting to navigate the labyrinth of making decisions can be daunting, confusing, and at times paralyzing. It doesn’t have to be that way, however, as Dave Swavely describes in his book Decisions, Decisions. This easy to read, practical book cuts through the confusion of how believers should and should not make decisions. The first half of the book debunks many of the…

The great Protestant Reformation which occurred in the 16th century is undoubtedly one of the greatest moments in church history. Although Martin Luther’s pounding of the 95 theses to the door on October 31, 1517 was a momentous occasion, the Reformation did not happen instantaneously. It happened over a number of years through many different people. In this book, Diana Kleyn and…

In a day when the church needs to catch a renewed vision for world missions, John Piper’s book Let the Nations Be Glad! is a breath of fresh air. In typical fashion, Piper pleads for the church to catch a God-centered vision for engaging in global outreach. His premise throughout the book is that missions exists because worship doesn’t. In other words,…

Have you ever wondered, “If God is in control of everything, then why evangelize?” In his classic work on this issue, J.I. Packer explains how God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility (and privilege) to evangelize are not only compatible, but necessary. In a careful review of the biblical evidence, he shows how a right understanding of God’s sovereignty is not so much a…

This little book of 86 pages by Ligon Duncan is an excellent read. “This book considers suffering in the light of the sovereignty of our wise and loving God”. The author attempts to handle the issue of suffering as the Bible does and how God is at work in the middle of our hardships. Suffering is not to be just endured, but…

The book, RENEWING YOUR MIND IN A MINDLESS WORLD – Learning to Think and Act Biblically, is an excellent exposition of Romans 12:1-2 by James Montgomery Boice. “We live in mindless times, days in which millions of people are drifting along through life, manipulated by the mass media, particularly television, and hardly know it.” “Even Christians are unaware of thinking and living…

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE GOSPEL OF GRACE? Rediscovering the Doctrines That Shook the World by James Montgomery Boice is a must read. The publisher’s forward summarizes by saying: “Jim Boice has given us a three-fold message, calling us as Christians: 1) to repent of our worldliness; 2) to recover the great salvation doctrines of the Bible as the Reformers did five hundred…

In Mathew 6 Jesus tells us to store up treasure…in heaven, and not on earth. This is the basis for the treasure principle: “You can’t take it with you, but you can send it on ahead.” Discover the secret of joyful giving by learning what Jesus has to say on the topic of money and the giving of your resources, including your…

Spectacular Sins and Their Global Purpose in the Glory of Christ by John Piper is an excellent read. It is a short book of 121 pages packed full of insights that show the sovereignty of God over sin. Chapters cover such topics as the creation of all things for Him, Why does God permit Satan to live?, how Adam’s sin serves the…

So who are all those people in the book of Acts? What’s so significant about that place? Why did that statement make those people so mad? If you’ve ever hadd questions like these as you read through the story of the Early Church in Acts, Paul Maier’s book, First Christians, is for you. The explosion of Christianity across the Mediterranean world was…

This book by John MacArthur is another excellent and fascinating read. It is a book written in response to the idea “that if Christians want to reach unbelieving people in a postmodern culture, we need to be less militant, less aggressive, less preachy, and less sure of our own convictions.” The idea that we “should meet other worldviews with conversation, not conflict.”…

Are you absolutely sure about your salvation? The most dreaded words anyone will hear will be those from the lips of Christ: “I never knew you; Depart from Me” (Matt 7:23). Jesus said that there will be many who stand before Him assuming their entrance to heaven is secure, only to find out they were never truly saved. While you can be…

Discipline is essential for every area of life whether sports, music, writing, or the arts. But nowhere is personal discipline more important than the Christian life. As believers, we are instructed to “discipline ourselves for the purpose of godliness” (1 Timothy 4:7) and to “work out our salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12). A lazy Christian cannot be a mature Christian;…

This book is a compilation of essays written by various authors and edited by C. J. Mahaney. The essays are all based on 1 John 2:15. The book talks about worldliness – our cravings as sinful men and women, the lust of the eyes, etc. It tells us how to resist the seduction of a fallen world. As readers you will learn…

This is Book four in The Swans are not Silent series. This book contains mini-biographies of 3 of our early church fathers. These 3 are Athanasius, John Owen, and J. Gresham Machen. All of these defended Truth and treasured Christ in their lives. Athanasius devoted his life to defending the deity of Christ. The great enemy was the Arian heresy. Arianism stated…