Study Recourses

The following is a list of some of the apps, videos, and websites we recommend. It is rare (probably impossible) to find anything in which you agree with literally everything (other than the Bible!). We consider these recourses to be very useful, but this list should not be taken to imply that we are in complete agreement with literally everything. 

Apps

  • YouVersion Bible - a great resource for reading online / on your phone
  • GroupMe - this app/site is how each of our groups stays in touch on a daily basis
  • FaithLife Study Bible - great for helping answer questions as you read
  • Bible Memory - a helpful resource for scripture memory
  • Read Scripture App - ESV Bible w/ built-in reading plan, videos, and graphics
  • Echo Prayer - fantastic tool to schedule prayer reminders throughout the week
  • FaithPlay App - sermons and podcasts
  • Logos - bible study and research app for computer, iPad, and phone.

Research & Study Tools

FaithLife Study Bible Online - great for helping with questions as you read
Got Questions? - great for helping answer questions as you read
Bible in 5 - 5-minute video overviews of each book/section of the Bible
The Bible Project - quick animated video overviews of Bible topics/books
The Gospel Coalition - resource archive by date, speaker, topic, scripture
Desiring God - resource archive by series, topic, scripture
Bible Gateway - useful commentary in the "show resources" link
Commentary on the Whole Bible - by Matthew Henry
ESV Bible - the search bar acts as a concordance
Blue Letter Bible - references, commentaries, Greek / Hebrew Lexicon
CCEL.org - Christian Classics Library (including commentaries)
CARM.org - christian apologetics and Research Ministry 

Books Recommended

Once again the following is a list of some of the top books we recommend. The list is divided into the main categories of a well-rounded Christian worldview. It is rare to find a book in which you agree with literally everything (other than the Bible!), and this list is no exception. We consider these books to be very useful and important and solid, but this list should not be taken to imply that we are in complete agreement with literally everything in every book.
Christian Hedonism
Desiring God (Piper)
When I Donโ€™t Desire God (Piper)
Pleasures Evermore (Storms)
The Life of the Mind
Love Your God with All Your Mind(Moreland)
No Place for Truth (Wells)Habits of the Mind (Sire)
Fit Bodies, Fat Minds (Guiness)

Christian Worldview
God's Renaisance Man: Abraham Kuyper (McGoldrick)
The Universe Next Door (Sire)
Turning Point Christian Worldview Series (Crossway Books; Olasky, gen. ed.)

General Theology
Now That's a Good Question(Sproul)
God's Passion for His Glory (Piper; includes the complete text of Edwards' The End for Which God Created the World)
The Instructed Christian (Lyford)
The Arraignment of Error (Bolton)
Body of Divinity (Watson)

Historical Theology
Historical Theology(Cunningham)

Systematic Theology
Systematic Theology (Grudem)
A New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith (Reymond)
Systematic Theology (Berkhof)

The Attributes of God
The Doctrine of God (Bavinck)
Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God (Carson)
The Existence and Attributes of God (Charnock)
God the Father Almighty(Erickson)
Knowing God (Packer)
The Holiness of God (Sproul)
The Pleasures of God (Piper)
The Doctrine of God (Frame)
The Attributes of God (Pink)

The Trinity
On the Trinity (Augustine)
The Forgotten Trinity (White)
The Trinity (Bickerseth)

The Person of Christ
The Person of Christ (MacLeod)
The Glory of Christ (Owen)
Through the Looking Glass(Lundgaard)

Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility
Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God (Packer)
The Freedom of the Will(Edwards)

Open Theism
God's Lesser Glory (Ware)
Bound Only Once (Wilson)
No Other God (Frame)
Beyond the Bounds (Piper, Helseth, Taylor)

Doctrine of Scripture
Inerrancy (Geisler)
Disputations on Holy Scripture(Whitaker)
Thy Word is Truth (Young)
The Sufficiency of Scripture(Weeks)

Doctrine of Humanity & Sin
Human Nature in its Fourfold State(Boston)
Body and Soul (Moreland)
The Bondage of the Will (Luther)

Law & Gospel
Treatise on Law and Gospel(Colquhoun)
The Law & Its Fulfillment(Schreiner)
Paul & the Law (Thielman)
Understanding Dispensationalists(Poythress)
Economy of the Divine Covenants(Witsius)
New Covenant Theology (Wells & Zaspel)

Doctrine of Salvation
The Doctrine of Justification(Buchanan)
Justification by Faith Alone(Edwards)
Putting Amazing Back into Grace(Horton)
Redemption: Accomplished and Applied (Murray)
The Death of Death in the Death of Christ (Owen)
Saved by Grace (Hoekema)

Doctrine of Sanctification
Keep in Step with the Spirit(Packer)
Future Grace (Piper)
Five Views on Sanctification(Dieter)

Spiritual Warfare
Power Encounters: Reclaiming Spiritual Warfare (Powlison)
Winning the War Within (Adams)

Miraculous Gifts
Showing the Spirit (Carson)
Satisfied by the Promise of the Spirit (Edgar)
Are Miraculous Gifts for Today? (Grudem)
Pentecost Today? (Murray)

Doctrine of the Church
Worship in Spirit and Truth(Frame)
Glorious Body of Christ (Kuiper)
Biblical Eldership (Strauch)
The Reformed Pastor (Baxter)
Nine Marks of a Healthy Church(Dever)

Preaching
The Supremacy of God in Preaching (Piper)
Preaching & Preachers (Lloyd-Jones)
Lectures to My Students(Spurgeon)
Christ-Centered Preaching(Chapel)

Preaching and Hermeneutics
Modern Preacher and the Ancient Text (Greidanus)
Preaching Christ from the Old Testament (Greidanus)
Preaching the Whole Bible as Christian Scripture (Goldsworthy)

Doctrine of Last Things
Basic Guide to Eschatology(Erickson)
Crucial Questions about Hell(Fernando)
The Bible and the Future(Hoekema)
The Blessed Hope (Ladd)

Apologetics
New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable? (Bruce)
Apologetics to the Glory of God(Frame)
Mere Christianity (Lewis)
Christianity and Liberalism(Machen)
Beyond Death: Exploring the Evidence for Immortality(Moreland)
Reasonable Faith (Craig)
Faith & Reason (Nash)
Francis Schaeffer Trilogy(Schaeffer)
Every Thought Captive (Pratt)
Persuasions (Wilson)
Can Man Live Without God?(Zacharias)

World Religions
Answering Islam (Geisler)
Roman Catholics & Evangelicals(Geisler)
Compact Guide to World Religions(Halverson)
Pocket Dictionary of New Religious Movements (Hexham)
Neighboring Faiths (Corduan)
Reasoning from the Scriptures with Jehovah's Witnesses(Rhodes)

Postmodernism
Gagging of God (Carson)
Postmodern Times (Veith)
Truth Decay (Groothuis)
The Vanishing Word (Hunt)
Reclaiming The Center (Erickson, Helseth, and Taylor)

Science
Darwin's Black Box (Behe)
Intelligent Design (Dembski)
The Soul of Science (Percy)
Darwin on Trial (Johnson)
Life is a Miracle (Berry)
A History of Nearly Everything(Bryson)
Redeeming Science (Poythress)

Philosophy
Introduction to Philosophy(Geisler)
Life's Ultimate Questions (Nash)
The Consequences of Ideas(Sproul)
Longing to Know: The Philosophy of Knowledge for Ordinary People(Meek)
Socratic Logic: A Logic Text Using Socratic Method, Platonic Questions, and Aristotelian Principles (Kreeft)
The Doctrine of the Knowledge of God (Frame)

Politics
The Federalist Papers (Hamilton)
Democracy in America(Tocqueville)
God's Name in Vain (Carter)
Beyond Good Intentions (Bandow)
Practical Christianity(Wilberforce)

Economics
Capitalism and Freedom(Friedman)
Wealth and Poverty: Why Socialism Doesn't Work (Nash)
Wealth of Nations (Smith) Applied Economics (Sowell)Basic Economics (Sowell)
The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism (Novak)
Economics in One Lesson (Hazlitt)

Business Ethics
Beyond Integrity (Rae)
Business for the Glory of God(Grudem)

Ethics
Ethics for a Brave New World(Feinberg)
Christian Ethics (Geisler)
Principles of Conduct (Murray)
When is it Right to Fight? (Morey)

Abortion
Polictically Correct Death(Beckwith)
Pro-Life Answers to Pro-Choice Arguments (Alcorn)

Homosexuality
Homsexuality (DeYoung)
Straight and Narrow (Schmidt)

Feminism
Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (Piper)
Equality in Christ (Hove)
Men and Women: Equal Yet Different (Strauch)
Feminism and Evangelical Truth(Grudem)

Racial Harmony
Divided by Faith (Emerson)
Mighty Long Journey (George)
Winning the Race to Unity(Shuler)

Technology
Technopoly (Postman)
Technics and Civilization(Mumford)

Work & Leisure
Redeeming the Time (Ryken)
God at Work: Your Christian Vocation in All of Life (Veith)
The Call (Guiness)
Getting Things Done (Allen)
Business to the Glory of God (Grudem)

Arts
State of the Arts (Veith)
Reviewing the Movies (Fraser)
Art and the Bible (Schaeffer)
The Liberated Imagination: Thinking Christianly About the Arts (Ryken)
The Christian Imagination: The Practice of Faith in Literature and Writing (Ryken)

Literature
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek (Dillard)
The Brothers Karamazov(Dostoyevsky)
Crime and Punishment(Dostoyevsky)
Robinson Crusoe (Defoe)
Till We Have Faces (Lewis)
The Lord of the Rings (Tolkien)
Book of the Dun Cow (Wangerin)
Jane Eyre (Bronte)
East of Eden (Steinbeck)

On Literature
Great Books of the Christian Tradition (Glaspey)
Invitation to the Classics (Cowan)
Reading Between the Lines(Veith)
Realms of Gold: The Classics in Christian Perspective (Ryken)

Christian Classics
Confessions (Augustine)
City of God (Augustine)
Pilgrim's Progress (Bunyan)
The Weight of Glory (Lewis)

Reading
How to Read a Book (Adler)
How to Read Slowly (Sire)
Validity in Interpretation (Hirsch)

Education
Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning (Wilson)
Repairing the Ruins (Wilson)
Paideia of God (Wilson)
The Well-Trained Mind (Bauer)
The Well-Educated Mind (Bauer)
The Schools We Need and Why We Don't Have Them (Hirsch)
The New Lifetime Reading Plan(Fadiman)
Teaching the Trivium (Bluedorn)

Culture
Roaring Lambs (Briner)
All God's Children and Blue Suede Shoes (Myers)
Where in the World is the Church(Horton)
How Should We Then Live(Schaeffer)
Cultural Literacy (Hirsch)
Dictionary of Cultural Literacy(Hirsch)
Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business (Postman)
The Art of the Commonplace(Berry)
The Image (Boorstin)

Spiritual Growth
Righteous Sinners (Julian)
The Enemy Within: Straight Talk About the Power and Defeat of Sin(Lundgaard)
Sin and Temptation (Owen; volume 6 of his Works)Holiness (Ryle)
The Spiritual Quest (Whitlock)
Way of Life (Hodge)The Christian in Complete Armor(Gurnall)
The Sermon on the Mount (Lloyd-Jones)
War Psalms of the Prince of Peace(Adams)

Communion with God
Communion with God (Owen; volume 2 of his Works)
The Life of God in the Soul of Man(Scougal)
Joy of Fearing God (Bridges)
Experiencing God's Forgiveness(Ensor; forward by John Piper)
Fear of God (Bunyan)

God's Guidance
Step by Step (Petty)
Decision Making and the Will of God (Friesen)

Devotionals
Godward Life [Books I and II] (Piper)
For The Love of God [Volumes I and II] (Carson)
Morning & Evening (Spurgeon)
Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions(Bennet)

Prayer & FastingPray With Your Eyes Open (Pratt)Hunger for God (Piper)Call to Spiritual Reformation: Priorities from Paul and His Prayers (Carson)Theology of Prayer (Palmer)A Method for Prayer (Henry)

Women's SpiritualityPersonal Touch (Crabb)Women Helping Women(Fitzpatrick)By Design (Hunt)True Woman (Hunt)Female Piety (James)Fearlessly Feminine (Ortlund)Becoming A Titus 2 Woman(Peace)Praise Her in the Gates (Wilson)

Men's Spirituality
A Godly Man's Picture (Watson)
Disciplines of a Godly Man(Hughes)
Fidelity (Wilson)

Marriage
Mystery of Marriage (Mason)
Each for the Other (Chapel)
The Excellent Wife (Peace)
The Complete Husband (Priolo)
Love Life for Every Married Couple(Wheat)
Sex, Romance, and the Glory of God (Mahaney)
Reforming Marriage (Wilson)

Parenting & Family
The Family: God's Weapon for Victory (Andrews)
Your Home: A Place of Grace(Hunt)
Training Hearts, Teaching Minds(Meade)
For the Family's Sake (MacAulay)
Age of Opportunity (Tripp)
Shepherding a Child's Heart(Tripp)
The Fruit of Her Hands (Wilson)

Young People
Passion and Purity (Eliott)
Anne of Green Gables(Montgomery)
Anne Henry and the Birth of Liberty (Olasky)
Thoughts for Young Men (Ryle)
Choosing My Religion (Sproul)

Children
Big Book of Questions and Answers(Ferguson)
Big Truths for Little Kids (Hunt)
My ABC Bible Verses (Hunt)
International Children's Bible Dictionary (Waller)
Someone Awesome (Libby)
Hero Tales, Volumes 1-4(Jackson)
God Made Them All (Carlson)
Classics to Read Aloud to Your Children (Russell)
Three Beloved Classics (White)
Chronicles of Narnia (Lewis)
Leading Little Ones to God(Schooland)

Counseling
Competent to Counsel (Adams)
Ready to Restore (Adams)
Christian Counselor's Manual(Adams)
A Theology of Christian Counseling(Adams)
Love to Eat, Hate to Eat(Fitzpatrick)
Genius of Puritanism (Lewis)
Spiritual Depression (Lloyd-Jones)
Biblical Counseling (MacArthur)
Case and Cure of a Deserted Soul(Symonds)
A Christian Directory (Baxter)

Suffering
When God Weeps: Why Our Sufferings Matter to the Almighty(Tada)
Why Does it Have to Hurt? The Meaning of Christian Suffering(McCartney)
How Long, O Lord? Reflections on Suffering and Evil (Carson)

Missions & Evangelism
Let the Nations Be Glad! (Piper)
The Church is Bigger Than You Think (Johnstone)
From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya : A Biographical History of Christian Missions (Tucker)
Autobiography of John Paton(Paton)
A Vision for Missions (Wells)
Through Gates of Splendor (Eliot)
Tell the Truth (Metzger)
Bruchko (Olson)
A History of Christian Missions(Neil)

History
The 100 Most Important Events in Christian History (Curtis, et al)
Turning Points : Decisive Moments in the History of Christianity(Noll)
A History of Christianity(Latourette)
Sketches from Church History(Houghton)
Hitler's Cross (Lutzer)
Evangelicalism Divided (Murray)
Timetables of History (Grun)
Annals of the World (Ussher)
The Reformers and Their Stepchildren (Verduin)

Biography
Jonathan Edwards: A New Biography (Murray)
Jonathan Edwards (Marsden)
Wesley and Men Who Followed(Murray)
Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther (Bainton)
The Forgotten Spurgeon (Murray)
George Whitefield (Dallimore)
Foxe's Book of Martyrs (Foxe)

The Puritans
Worldly Saints: The Puritans as They Reallly Were (Ryken)
A Quest for Godliness: The Puritan Vision of the Christian Life(Packer)
The Puritans (Lloyd-Jones)

Theological Dictionaries
New Dictionary of Biblical Theology (Carson)
Evangelical Dictionary of Theology(Elwell)

Biblical Reference
Holman Bible Atlas (Brisco)
New Bible Dictionary (Packer, ed.)I
ntroduction to the New Testament
(Carson)
Introduction to the Old Testament(Longman)

Biblical Background
Backgrounds of Early Christianity(Ferguson)
IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament(Keener)
IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament(Walton)
Dictionary of NT Background(Evans)
Understanding the Land of the Bible (Robertson)

Biblical Interpretation
Introduction to Biblical Interpretation (Blomberg)
Exegetical Fallacies (Carson)
Basic Guide to Interpreting the Bible (Stein)
How to Read the Psalms(Longman)
Reading the Bible with Heart and Mind (Longman)
He Gave us Stories (Pratt)
Interpreting the Pauline Epistles(Schreiner)
The Hermeneutical Spiral(Osborn)
Foundations of Contemporary Interpretation (Silva)
Interpreting the Prophetic Word(VanGemeren)
Is There a Meaning in This Text?(Vanhoozer)

Biblical Studies
Historical Reliability of the Gospels(Blomberg)
Toward an Old Testament Theology (Kaiser)
Paul & His Letters (Polhil)
The Progress of Redemption(VanGemeren)

Sets
Practical Works of Richard Baxter(4 volumes)
Works of Benjamin B. Warfield (10 volumes)
Works of John Newton (6 volumes)
The Works of Jonathan Edwards (2 volumes)
The Collected Writings of John Murray (4 volumes)
The Works of John Owen (16 volumes)
Sermons of Charles Spurgeon (5 volumes)
The Collected Shorter Writings of J.I. Packer (4 volumes)
God, Revelation, and Authority (6 volumes) (Carl F.H. Henry)