This winter we would like to share some good reads we discovered over the past few months. These selections represent a wide array of topics we think will interest you. Some selections will be great for personal reading, others for family time. Most of all, we think they will broaden your understanding of God’s creation and His work in it because they have had that result in our lives. Please leave us your favorite reads in the comment section.
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G. K. Beale and D. A. Carson, eds. Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2007), 1,239 pages.
Over the past few years, I have been attending to the myriad interconnections between the various works in the canon of Scripture. I have found the process spiritually rewarding and intellectually enlightening. Along the way, I stumbled across G. K. Beale and D. A. Carson’s superb one-volume commentary that focuses on how New Testament authors made use of Old Testament Scriptures. The commentary for each New Testament book is written by a different scholar, and, while some are better than others, they all have contributed to deepening my understanding of God’s Word. I have found this commentary immensely useful in sermon and Sunday school preparation as well as for my own investigation into New Testament passages.
—Recommended by Phillip T. Morgan
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Kevin DeYoung, Crazy Busy: A (Mercifully) Short Book About A (Really) Big Problem (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2013), 128 pages.
The holidays should be a time of rest and renewal, but they are often some of the busiest and most stressful days of the year. Perhaps you are beginning the new year feeling overwhelmed by the busyness of your schedule and the demands on your time. A little over a decade ago, Kevin DeYoung produced a book designed to help Christians identify the causes and avoid the dangers of busyness. This book offers both rebuke and comfort. Readers will find themselves identifying areas in which busyness is due to pride (chapter 3), an unhealthy obsession with control (chapter 6), or a desire to avoid suffering (chapter 9). On the other hand, DeYoung also skillfully provides comfort to his readers by seeking to relieve them of impossible expectations (chapter 4) or of always thinking that rest is laziness (chapter 8). Overall, this book carries a timeless message that is appropriate at any time of the year, but it seems to be especially relevant at the dawn of a new year. If you find yourself caught up in the craziness of an unsustainably busy life, you will not regret reading this book and applying its wisdom.
—Recommended by Daniel D. Mann
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Jamin Goggin, Pastoral Confessions: The Healing Path to Faithful Ministry (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2025), 201 pages.
Pastors are sinners too. That truth is foundational to Jamin Goggin’s Pastoral Confessions. Goggin’s work also calls pastors to confess their sins. Pastors must heed the apostle James’s admonition to “confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed” (Jas. 5:16). But how and to whom can pastors confess their sins? Is there a safe place for pastors to admit their failings, to be honest about their sin, to openly confess the evils of their heart? Goggin’s work explores these questions as he addresses the sins of pride, wrath, lust, gluttony, acedia (apathy or sloth), envy, and avarice. He gives very practical guidance on pastoral confession to God and then to fellow believers.
Sadly, we all know too many pastors who have fallen into grievous sin and temptation—many of whom have been forced to leave pastoral ministry. Perhaps many of those pastors would have been aided by a close friend to whom they could have confessed their sins. We are all sinners, ever in need of God’s grace, and the path towards faithful ministry includes both resisting sin and temptation and confessing our sins to one another. Pastoral Confessions is a moving, Biblical, and practical guide for pastoral confession of sin.
—Recommended by Jesse Owens
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Ross. D. Inman, Christian Philosophy as a Way of Life: An Invitation to Wonder (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2023), 208 pages.
I appreciate books that introduce readers to philosophy without being philosophy books per se. Each spring, I teach a philosophy course, and, in addition to requiring a philosophy textbook, I often require an ancillary book. In the past, I have had students read books like Jesus the Great Philosopher by Jonathan Pennington, Four Views on Christianity and Philosophy by Paul M. Gould and Richard Davis (eds.), and The Problem of Pain by C. S. Lewis. This year, I am having them read Inman’s book. It covers topics ranging from wonder to worldview to existential angst. Inman helpfully demonstrates the relevance of philosophy to the Christian life, all the while introducing readers to key philosophers and concepts. If you want a book to scratch a philosophical itch that is also practical and readable, I recommend this one.
—Recommended by Matthew Steven Bracey
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Washington Irving, The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent, Oxford World’s Classics (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009), 400 pages.
The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon contains Washington Irving’s most famous writings: “Rip van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” Though Irving is known for writing whimsical folk stories, his background is law and history. The Sketchbook presents these stories as established legends that Mr. Crayon merely retells.
For example, “Rip van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” each begin with a brief history, describing a quaint town and its people. Irving, under the pseudonym of Dietrich Knickerbocker in the former story and Geoffrey Crayon in the latter, observes the unique habits and characteristics of the townspeople.
Irving’s collected stories showcase the beauty of local customs and strong family ties. His stories blend echoes of folklore and history with events contemporary to Irving’s life. The Sketchbook is an imaginative and charming read that commends the quirkiness of country life.
—Recommended by Sarah Lytle
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Clare Morell, The Tech Exit: A Practical Guide to Freeing Kids and Teens from Smartphones (New York: Forum, 2025), 256 pages.
In the fall, I recommended Jonathan Haidt’s Anxious Generation. Here, I recommend a book that represents an application of that material, The Tech Exit. Its gist is that we should profoundly limit our engagement with smartphones, social media, tablets, and video games: “I hope to convince you that digital technologies need not be an inevitable part of childhood. A different future is possible” (xiv). While parents will derive the most application from this book, everyone can benefit from it.
After arguing that screen-time limits are not working and that parental controls are not effective (she provides data for both points), Morell recommends we “fast” from smartphones so that we can FEAST on better things:
- Find other families: Find people with similar values to reinforce what you believe is healthy.
- Explain, educate, and exemplify: When children ask why they have to do such-and-such, do not respond with “Because I said so.” Explain. Educate. Additionally, actions must be backed up words. “Do as I say, not as I do,” does not quite work. If we want our children to have healthy relationships with their devices, then we need to model healthy relationships with ours.
- Adopt alternatives: Perhaps you even want to consider trading in your smartphones for some kind of basic phone: the Light Phone, the Gabb Phone, the Wisephone, or the Bark Phone.
- Set up digital accountability and family screen rules: Morrell encourages active, communal engagement with digital technologies in contrast to the passive, individualistic reception of them. For example, she would encourage a family or a group to watch something together and then to discuss its themes.
- Trade screens for real-life responsibilities and pursuits: Read, ride a bike, go on a hike, knit, bake, learn an instrument, something.
Even if we do not follow these principles to the degree she suggests, we can learn important action steps from her: living life with people in the real world is better than living life by ourselves in an artificial world.
—Recommended by Matthew Steven Bracey
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Matt Perman, What’s Best Next: How the Gospel Transform the Way You Get Things Done (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2014), 384 pages.
As the calendar turns to a new year, many people are looking for resources that will help them to be more productive and to reach their newly established goals. Through the years, authors such as Stephen Covey and David Allen have produced bestselling works that have been instrumental in helping professionals and leaders to identify their priorities and form a plan to accomplish their goals. The majority of productivity books do not approach the issue from a Biblical, theological perspective, but that is not the case with Matt Perman’s book What’s Best Next.
In this work, Perman strikes a good balance of being theologically driven while offering practical insights into the world of productivity. He argues that productivity is important, but it must never become the supreme goal of believers. Rather, the glory of God and doing God-honoring work for the good of others should be the aim of every follower of Christ. In the end, Perman’s book is an excellent resource for any Christian who wants to be more focused and productive in the new year for the glory of God and the good of others.
—Recommended by Daniel D. Mann
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J. Matthew Pinson, The Free Will Baptists: A New History (Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee Press, 2026), 514 pages.
My early interest in Free Will Baptist history was sparked by Matthew Pinson. I remember hearing riveting stories from men like my grandfather (Guy Owens) and Jack Williams about Free Will Baptist history in North Carolina and New England. But it was Dr. Pinson who helped me love Free Will Baptist history and our forebears the English General Baptists. So, I was delighted to see Pinson’s new history of the Free Will Baptists published by the University of Tennessee Press. Pinson’s book traces the origins of Free Will Baptists in the south from the English General Baptists through the work of men such as Benjamin Laker and Paul Palmer up to the modern era and gives appropriate attention to the nineteenth-century northern Freewill Baptist movement led by Benjamin Randall. The book also reveals some new discoveries in Free Will Baptist history that came to light as a result of his careful research.
I suspect this book will be the new standard for those interested in Free Will Baptist history and will expand awareness of our denomination. I highly recommend our readers pick up a copy of this important work.
—Recommended by Jesse Owens
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Charles H. Spurgeon, Talks to Farmers (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2022), 261 pages.
Charles H. Spurgeon’s Talks to Farmers is a collection of garden themed sermons drawn from forty years of ministry. Originally published in 1882 under the title Farm Sermons, this book reflects on the revealed truth found in God’s created order. Spurgeon uses images like the frost and the thaw, the tares and the wheat, the rocky and the rich soil to illustrate God’s wondrous works in time and history. Talks to Farmers teaches Biblical theology by means of agricultural illustrations. Spurgeon’s sincere and straightforward approach clearly communicates the relationship between Biblical theology and everyday practice. These farm sermons encourage believers to see all of life as spiritual, to work diligently in the present age, and to set one’s mind on eternity.
—Recommended by Sarah Lytle
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Tom Wolfe, Radical Chic and Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers (New York: Picador, 1970), 144 pages.
I was first introduced to Tom Wolfe several years ago while watching episodes of William F. Buckley’s Firing Line television show that are now available for viewing through the Hoover Institution Library and Archives’ YouTube channel. Since that time, I have read through several of his works, most of which have inspired in me new ways of seeing and thinking about common modern issues. One of my favorite Wolfe publications is Radical Chic and Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers.
The two essays that comprise this book explore the characteristics of modern radical political activity, carried out by ne’er-do-wells who trade on liberal elites’ arrogance, romanticism, and fear to enrich themselves all in the name of fixing urban poverty and community disintegration. Wolfe’s tart descriptions and unrelenting assessments are simultaneously outrageous and precisely accurate. As a result, I find my constant smirks periodically punctuated by surprised guffaws as I marvel at his use of the English language and the depth of his political and cultural perception. This excellent short read still holds a great deal of explanatory power for understanding the George Floyd and ICE Riots in Minnesota, the Hollywood glitterati’s penchant for celebrating radical political action in the streets, and the appeal of Zoran Mamdani to liberal elite whites in New York City.
—Recommended by Phillip T. Morgan
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