Top Reads from 2024
For over a decade now, I’ve been posting my top books and reading list as an end-of-year tradition. This past year was a BIG one (wonderful, but big!)… including the adoption of another church into Liberti as we relocated to our long-term church home, along with two large writing projects of my own.
First, I published my fourth book with The Good Book Company: ‘Honour: Loving Your church by Building One Another Up’, as part of the ‘Love Your Church’ series. This book is a primer on gospel-culture and how our churches can look when the good news is not only taught, but experienced, in the beauty of human relationships.
Second, I also began the writing component of my PhD — “The Experiential Calvinism of Martyn Lloyd-Jones: A Paradigm for the Reconvergence of Reformed and Charismatic Christianity in the 21st Century." I'm about 12,000 heavily footnoted words in, which has limited how many novels and “fun reads” as I would have liked to this year.
Nevertheless, here are my Top 10 non-fiction books and my favourite novel from 2024 — all of which I highly recommend!
TOP 10 NON-FICTION BOOKS
- Prove All Things: The Sovereign Work of the Holy Spirit (Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
- To the Tenth Generation: God’s Heart for your Family, Far into the Future (Ray & Jani Ortlund)
- The Puritans: Their Origins and Successors (Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
- The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness (Jonathan Haidt)
- The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible (Michael Heiser)
- Among the Pots and Pans: Connect with God, Love your Neighbor, and Nourish Your Community through the Art of Cooking (Alex Early)
- [not pictured] Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic (Tom Holland)
- A Tale of Three Kings: A Study in Brokenness (Gene Edwards)
- [not pictured] Lest We Drift: Five Departure Dangers from the One True Gospel (Jared C. Wilson)
- Remaking the World: How 1776 Created the Post-Christian West (Andrew Wilson)
FAVOURITE NOVEL
- Wind and Truth (Brandon Sanderson)
See below for full reading list.
Non-Fiction
Another Day: Sabbath Poems, 2013-2023 (Wendell Berry)
The Risen King: 40 Devotions for Easter from C.H Spurgeon (Jeff Medders)
Among the Pots and Pans: Connect with God, Love your Neighbor, and Nourish Your Community through the Art of Cooking (Alex Early)
C.H. Spurgeon and the Modern Church: Lessons for Today from the 'Downgrade' Controversy (R.J Sheehan)
Your Family is God's Plan: His Mercy from Generation to Generation (Ray and Jani Ortlund)
In the Hands of a Fiercely Tender God: 31 Days of Hope, Honesty, and Encouragement for the Sufferer (Colleen Chao)
Revival (Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
The Calvinistic Methodism of Wales (John Roberts)
The Puritans: Their Origins and Successors (Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Caused an Epidemic of Mental Illness (Jonathan Haidt)
The Quiet Time Kickstart: Six Weeks to a Healthy Bible Habit (Rachel Jones)
Know the Heretics (Justin Holcomb)
Libellus de Historia C: Latin for Children Primer C History Reader (Karen Moore & Erin Davis Valdez)
Futureproof: How to Live for Jesus in a Culture That Keeps on Changing (Stephen McAlpine)
No Well-Worn Paths (Terry Virgo)
The Cross and the Machine (Paul Kingsnorth)
The Unseen Realm (Michael S. Heiser)
*On Patience (De patientia) (Augsustine of Hippo)
The Very Large Church: New Rules for Leaders (Lyle Schaller)
Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic (Tom Holland)
To the Tenth Generation: God’s Heart for Your Family, Far into the Future (Ray and Jani Ortlund)
*The Lausanne Covenant: Complete Text with Study Guide (John Stott)
*Young, Restless, Reformed: A Journalist's Journey with the New Calvinists (Collin Hansen)
The Third Wave of the Holy Spirit: Encountering the Power of Signs and Wonders Today (C. Peter Wagner)
*Lloyd-Jones on the Christian Life: Doctrine and Life as Fuel and Fire (Jason Meyer)
Shepherds for Sale: How Evangelical Leaders Traded the Truth for a Leftist Agenda (Megan Basham)
Lest We Drift: Five Departure Dangers from the One True Gospel (Jared C. Wilson)
Prove all things: The sovereign work of the Holy Spirit (Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
Engaging with Martyn Lloyd-Jones: The Life And Legacy Of 'The Doctor' (Andrew Atherstone)
*The Lord's Work in the Lord's Way and No Little People (Francis Schaeffer)
Assisted Suicide: Christian compassion, convictions and wisdom for today's big issues (Vaughan Roberts)
The Power of Revival: Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Baptism in the Spirit, and Preaching on Fire (Donjin Park)
A Tale of three Kings: A Study in Brokenness (Gene Edwards)
Holy Fire: A Balanced, Biblical Look at the Holy Spirit's Work in Our Lives (R.T Kendall)
*Philippians: The Fellowship of the Gospel (R. Kent Hughes)
*Philippians: Reformed Expository Commentary (Dennis E. Johnson)
A Church of House Churches: An Articulated and Applied Ecclesiology (Jason Shepperd)
*What Great Ministry Leaders Get Right: Six Core Competencies You Need to Succeed in Your Calling (Renaut Van Der Riet)
Tethered to the Cross: The Life and Preaching of Charles H. Spurgeon (Thomas Breimaier)
Remaking the World: How 1776 Created the Post-Christian West (Andrew Wilson)
*Church Planting Thresholds (Clint Clifton)
*How Jesus Runs the Church (Guy Prentiss Waters)
The New Calvinism: New Reformation or Theological Fad? (Josh Buice)
Exalting Jesus in Judges and Ruth (Eric C. Redmond)
Better Together: Making Church Mergers Work (Jim Tomberlin)
*Honour: Loving Your Church by Building One Another Up (Adam Ramsey)
*The Resilience Factor: A Step-by-Step Guide to Catalyze an Unbreakable Team (Ryan T. Hartwig, Léonce B. Crump Jr, Warren Bird)
*The Plurality Principle: How to Build and Maintain a Thriving Church Leadership Team (Dave Harvey)
*Sticky Teams: Keeping Your Leadership Team and Staff on the Same Page (Larry Osborne)
Authority (Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
*The Emotionally Healthy Leader: How Transforming Your Inner Life Will Deeply Transform Your Church, Team, and the World (Pete Scazzero)
*Confessions of a Reformission Rev.: Hard Lessons from an Emerging Missional Church (Mark Driscoll)
*Dynamics of Spiritual Life: An Evangelical Theology of Renewal (Richard Lovelace)
*Martyn Lloyd-Jones (Christopher Catherwood)
*Convergence: Spiritual Journeys of a Charismatic Calvinist (Sam Storms)
*Joy Unspeakable: Power & Renewal in the Holy Spirit (Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
The Story of Russia (Orlando Figes)
Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action (Simon Sinek)
Fear: An Alternative History of the World (Robert Peckham)
Cur Deus Homo (Anselm of Canterbury)
Novels
Wind and Truth: The Stormlight Archive #5 (Brandon Sanderson)
The Sunlit Man (Brandon Sanderson)
Watch With Me (Wendell Berry)
Emma (Jane Austen)
Tress of the Emerald Sea (Brandon Sanderson)
*Hannah Coulter (Wendell Berry)
*Jayber Crow (Wendell Berry)
*Nathan Coulter (Wendell Berry)
*Rhythm of War, Part Two (Brandon Sanderson)
*Rhythm of War, Part One (Brandon Sanderson)
*Words of Radiance (Brandon Sanderson)
*Darkness and Dawn or Scenes in the Days of Nero: An Historical Tale (F.W Farrar)
*Perpetua: A Bride, a Martyr, a Passion (Amy Rachel Peterson)
The Violent Bear it Away (Flannery O'Connor)
(* indicates a re-read)