When Nathan Finn reiterated what Tom Ascol has been saying for years (namely that the Southern Baptist Convention’s greatest problem and encroaching danger is the loss of the gospel), I began to think about how to reorient ourselves so that we can be dialed into the message and person of Jesus Christ. The first step is to treasure the gospel and preach it to myself on a regular basis. One of the ways I try to do this is by reading books and articles, as well as listening to sermons related to the gospel.
During the past week, I have compiled some resources that have greatly helped me in my pursuit to live a gospel-centered life and I want to recommend them to you. Of course, this list is incomplete. However, I will be updating this post on a regular basis as new media, books, and articles become available. In the meantime, I will provide this post on my sidebar under the “my stuff” section. If you have any resources that I can add to this list which you believe would help us believe, live, and treasure the gospel of Jesus Christ, please pass it on. May the God of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ cause our hearts to behold His glory in the face of His Son, and allow us to affectionately live out our lives “in a manner worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
The Cross Centered Life: Keeping the Gospel the Main Thing
Author: C.J. Mahaney
Publisher: Multnomah
Publishing Date: October 1, 2002
Pages: 96
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 1-5905-20459
Retail Price: $9.99
Christ Our Mediator: Finding Passion at the Cross
Author: C.J. Mahaney
Publisher: Multnomah
Publishing Date: September 21, 2004
Pages: 96
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 1-5905-23644
Retail Price: $9.99
This Great Salvation: Unmerited Favor, Unmatched Joy
Author: C.J. Mahaney and Robin Boisvert
Publisher: Sovereign Grace Ministries
Publishing Date: September 1993
Pages: 95
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 1-8810-39013
Retail Price: $8.99
The Discipline of Grace: God’s Role and Our Role in the Pursuit of Holiness
Author: Jerry Bridges
Publisher: NavPress
Publishing Date: May 5, 2006
Pages: 256
Format: Softcover
ISBN: 1-5768-39893
Retail Price: $13.99
The Gospel for Real Life (w/ Study Guide)
Author: Jerry Bridges
Publisher: NavPress
Publishing Date: October 2003
Pages: 208
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 1-5768-35073
Retail Price: $11.99
God Is the Gospel: Meditations on God’s Love as the Gift of Himself
Author: John Piper
Publisher: Crossway
Publishing Date: September 8, 2005
Pages: 192
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 1-5813-47510
Retail Price: $17.99
Don’t Waste Your Life
Author: John Piper
Publisher: Crossway
Publishing Date: May 16, 2003
Pages: 192
Format: Softcover
ISBN: 1-5813-44988
Retail Price: $13.99
The Great Work of the Gospel: How We Experience God’s Grace
Author: John Ensor
Publisher: Crossway
Publishing Date: May 8, 2006
Pages: 192
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 1-5813-47731
Retail Price: $14.99
Gospel Conversation
Author: Jeremiah Burroughs
Publisher: Soli Deo Gloria
Publishing Date: September 1997
Pages: 305
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 1-8776-11913
Retail Price: $n/a
The Cross of Christ
Author: John R.W. Stott
Publisher: InterVarsity
Publishing Date: September 30, 2006
Pages: 380
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 0-8308-3320X
Retail Price: $25.00
The Gospel According to Jesus
Author: John MacArthur
Publisher: Zondervan
Publishing Date: March 18, 1994
Pages: 304
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 0-310-394910
Retail Price: $14.99
The Gospel According to the Apostles
Author: John MacArthur
Publisher: Nelson
Publishing Date: March 8, 2005
Pages: 272
Format: Softcover
ISBN: 0-7852-71805
Retail Price: $13.99
Hard to Believe: The High Cost and Infinite Value of Following Jesus
Author: John MacArthur
Publisher: Nelson
Publishing Date: November 13, 2003
Pages: 240
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 0-7852-63454
Retail Price: $22.99
The Christian Life: A Doctrinal Introduction
Author: Sinclair B. Ferguson
Publisher: Banner of Truth
Publishing Date: December 1996
Pages: 240
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 0-8515-15169
Retail Price: $9.99
Saved by Grace
Author: Anthony A. Hoekema
Publisher: Eerdmans
Publishing Date: October 1994
Pages: 290
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 0-8028-08573
Retail Price: $22.00
The Message of Salvation: By God’s Grace, for God’s Glory
Author: Phillip G. Ryken
Publisher: InterVarsity
Publishing Date: December 1996
Pages: 314
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 0-8308-24049
Retail Price: $17.00
Saving Grace
Author: John Cheeseman
Publisher: Banner of Truth
Publishing Date: March 2000
Pages: 136
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 0-8515-17722
Retail Price: $7.99
Tell the Truth: The Whole Gospel to the Whole Person by Whole People
Author: Will Metzger
Publisher: InterVarsity
Publishing Date: November 2002
Pages: 216
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 0-8308-23220
Retail Price: $15.00
Whatever Happened to the Gospel of Grace?: Rediscovering the Doctrines that Shook the World
Author: James Montgomery Boice
Publisher: Crossway
Publishing Date: February 7, 2001
Pages: 224
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 1-5813-42373
Retail Price: $17.99
The Glory of God’s Grace
Author: James Montgomery Boice
Publisher: Kregel
Publishing Date: March 30, 1999
Pages: 296
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 0-8254-20725
Retail Price: $13.99
The Soulwinner
Author: Charles Spurgeon
Publisher: Whitaker
Publishing Date: October 2001
Pages: 302
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 0-8836-87097
Retail Price: $12.99
Getting the Gospel Right: The Tie That Binds Evangelicals Together
Author: R.C. Sproul
Publisher: Baker
Publishing Date: September 1999
Pages: 207
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 0-8010-11884
Retail Price: $22.99
Grace Walk: What You’ve Always Wanted in the Christian Life . . .
Author: Steve McVey
Publisher: Harvest House
Publishing Date: May 1, 2005
Pages: 192
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 0-7369-16393
Retail Price: $11.99
Grace Rules: Living in the Kingdom of God Where
Author: Steve McVey
Publisher: Harvest House
Publishing Date: July 1, 1998
Pages: 208
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 1-5650-78977
Retail Price: $11.99
The Deliberate Church: Building Your Ministry on the Gospel
Author: Mark Dever and Paul Alexander
Publisher: Crossway
Publishing Date: September 9, 2005
Pages: 224
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 1-5813-47383
Retail Price: $14.99
Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God
Author: J. I. Packer
Publisher: InterVarsity
Publishing Date: November 1991
Pages: 126
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 0-8308-1339X
Retail Price: $12.00
The Gospel Worthy of All Acception, or, The Duty to Believe in Jesus Christ
Author: Andrew Fuller
Publisher: Sovereign Grace Publishers
Publishing Date: 1961
Pages: 288
Format: n/a
ISBN: n/a
Retail Price: $n/a
Part 1 & 2 available here
An Inquiry into the Obligations of Christians, to Use of Means for the Conversion of the Heathens: In which the Religious State of the Different Nations of the World, the Success of Former Undertakings, and the Practicability of further Undertakings, Are Considered
Author: William Carey
Publisher: n/a
Publishing Date: n/a
Pages: n/a
Format: n/a
ISBN: n/a
Retail Price: $n/a
Available Here
*************
Multimedia (From Monergism.com and other places)
What is the Gospel? And How Does it Shape our Lives? by Tim Keller with .pdf study guides and vision papers
The Gospel by Tim Keller
Tim Keller “The Gospel” Sermons 1. Who is Jesus? 2. Lord of the Wine 3. Born of the Gospel
Tim Keller on “Preaching the Gospel”
Tim Keller on Desiring God Conference: “The Sufficiency of Christ and the Gospel in the Postmodern World”
How the Gospel Came to Paul by Phil Johnson
Good News Dr. Mark Dever (Streaming Audio)
Basic Christianity: Justification Romans 3 Dr. Mark Dever (Streaming Audio)
The Essence of the Gospel by Joel Beeke
The Gospel Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V by HeartCry Missionary
Blogs:
Together for the Gospel (Mark, Al, Lig, C.J.)
Gospel Driven Life (Mark Lauterbach)
Eucatastrophe (Dan Cruver)
Articles:
T4G Statement of Faith
The Gospel of Jesus Christ: An Evangelical Celebration
Paul Adams 13-part commentary of TGJC:AEC
Tim Keller on “Advancing the Gospel into the 21st Century”
Part I: Church Multiplying
Part II: Gospel-Centered
Part III: Context Sensitive
Part IV: City-Focused Strategy
Tim Keller on “The Gospel: Key to Change” (vision paper)
Tim Keller on “The Centrality of the Gospel“
MORE TO COME . . . CHECK BACK LATER!
What a great list! I am happy to say that I, too, have read many on your list and the ones I have read have informed my faith in substantial ways.
Thank you for doing this. I’m going to add several of your recommendations to my “need to read” list.
Impressive list.
Thank you.
Ladies,
Thank you. I have a couple more that I thought of this morning after posting which I will add shortly.
I am glad that you are finding books here as future reads. Of all the books on the reading docket in our lives, we definitely need a healthy diet of gospel-saturated truth if we are going to be the people of God. I am not where I want to be on this, but I hope many of us will join together in the pursuit of building our lives on the glorious gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas!
tnb
“Putting Amazing back in Grace”, by Michael Horton, is definitely worthy of this already great list. Thanks for putting it together.
SDG
Would you happen to know if any of the books listed would be good to use in a small group study with unbelievers? I am looking for something along the lines of The Cross Centered Life (i.e. common language, easy to read, engaging, solid biblical content, etc.) but which doesn’t already assume the reader is a Christian.
Thanks.
Randy
Randy,
Although the book is not on the list, I am currently working through a book by John Stott called Basic Christianity which I would recommend for non-Christians or new Christians. It is short and focuses on the heart of Christianity. Here is the Amazon link:
http://www.amazon.com/Basic-Christianity-John-R-Stott/dp/0802811892/ref=pd_bbs_2/104-2749585-3668738?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1174195133&sr=8-2
Mahaney’s stuff is great stuff, and I would encourage you to also check out This Great Salvation which is on the list. It is short but really focus on the gospel and justification by faith. Here is the table of contents:
1. This Great Salvation
2. Does Anyone Believe in Sin?
3. The Holiness of God
4. The Wrath of God
5. Justified in Christ
6. The Fruits of Justification (I)
7. The Fruits of Justification (II)
Sinclair Ferguson’s THe Christian Life is a great doctrinal introduction, but it may have more technical language or “Christinese” for a non-Christian to handle. That would really depend on how well you know your friends.
In the end, I like all these, but for beginners, Mahaney’s stuff is a great place to start. Then check out Jerry Bridges, and of course, John Piper.
I hope that helps! May the Lord bless you in your ministry.
Timmy Brister