“The man who does not read books has no advantage over the man that cannot read them” -Mark Twain
During the school year (while teaching) I am terrible at making time to read every day. By bedtime, I can usually barely keep my eyes open let alone digest some profound Christian thought.
Still, I am constantly striving to do better because I know that reading is one of the biggest opportunities for us to grow in our faith.
A few months back I made a list of 12 Christian Books that Will Rock Your World that has made a big splash on the Pinterests (it’s not just for women people…). So, how about another round?
Here are 8 more books that have TRULY impacted my faith. They are mostly non-fiction with a devotional and a beautiful prayer book thrown in for good measure. Click the title and it will take you right to Amazon!
UPDATE: I have expanded this list and created a FREE eBook with 20 Christian Books that have changed my life!! All you have to do is join my mailing address below and Voila! Free eBook!
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Here are the 8 of the books so you can get a preview!
Just a heads up: I may earn a small commission for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial, and/or link to any products or services from this website. What that means is purchasing here will be the exact same price you’d find on Amazon.com BUT it helps offset the many costs of running this crazy awesome ministry I call Recklessly Alive.
This is easily the most impactful book I’ve read in 2015. The book contrasts stories of overseas pastors risking their lives to hear and share the gospel with American mega-churches are worth more than 260 billion dollars in land and buildings. I absolutely loved this book and the lasting effects it has had on my life. Radical has ruined the way I see American churches and our deep-rooted “American dreams.”
“Radical obedience to Christ is not easy… It’s not comfort, not health, not wealth, and not prosperity in this world. Radical obedience to Christ risks losing all these things. But in the end, such risk finds its reward in Christ. And he is more than enough for us.” -David Platt
This has become the essential devotional for many Christians, myself included. The reading is very short but day after day calls us to a greater peace by trusting our incredible Heavenly Father. Each day ends with 2-3 shorts bible verses for further thought and reflection.
“Sometimes My blessings come to you in mysterious ways: through pain and trouble. At such times you can know My goodness only through your trust in Me. Understanding will fail you, but trust will keep you close to Me.”-Sarah Young
This book has made me completely rethink the Holy Spirit and its role in the trinity alongside God the Father and God the Son. Morris does an incredible job of breaking down bible verses that explain our friendship with the Holy Spirit. I LOVED studying this book with a group but it could just as easily be read and reflected on by yourself.
“When we cultivate a friendship with the Holy Spirit and yield ourselves to His influence, we can cease feeling like wretched people. Only then can we stop doing the bad things we don’t want to do and succeed at doing the good things we want to do.”
Ruth Haley Barton is a name that everyone should know. I attended a workshop she gave last summer that completely changed how I listen and wait for God. This book goes through a bunch of awesome spiritual practices that you can work with and try for yourself. Ruth Haley Barton is an incredible teacher and has ruined the way I thought I heard God (for the better).
“Most of us are more tired than we know at the soul level. We are teetering on the brink of dangerous exhaustion, and we cannot do anything else until we have gotten some rest…we can’t really engage [any spiritual disciplines] until solitude becomes a place of rest for us rather than another place for human striving and hard work.” -Ruth Haley Barton
This book is an incredible compilation of prayers that often perfectly fit my current circumstances whether that is joy, anxiety, sadness (or some combination of all of those). A few weeks after getting this book it became a permanent fixture of my coffee table.
There are so many ways to pray, I journal a lot of my prayers or I talk them out loud while driving in my car. Yet, Loder often has written what I want to say in a way that cuts straight to my heart. I can’t say enough good things about this book.
“Now, I ask you to gather me, for I realized the storms of time have scattered me, the furies of the year past have driven me, many sorrows have scarred me, many accomplishments have disappointed me, much activity has wearied me, and fear has spooked me into a hundred hiding places.”
Originally a series of radio broadcasts written by Lewis and aired on BBC radio, Mere Christianity clearly articulates the proof of God and Jesus better than any other book I have ever read. There is a reason this book is on almost everyone’s “must-read Christian book list.” It is a classic and a fantastic read.
“[To have Faith in Christ] means, of course, trying to do all that He says. There would be no sense in saying you trusted a person if you would not take his advice. Thus if you have really handed yourself over to Him, it must follow that you are trying to obey Him. But trying in a new way, a less worried way. Not doing these things in order to be saved, but because He has begun to save you already. Not hoping to get to Heaven as a reward for your actions, but inevitably wanting to act in a certain way because a first faint gleam of Heaven is already inside you.” ― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
I attended a workshop by Becky Patton in Minnesota and left feeling empowered and encouraged about the man God created me to be. The truth is churches almost never talk about sex with youth or with adults, yet is permeates our culture in music, movies and in the media. This book is an outstanding resource and source of information about how God created sex to be beautiful and how it has become hijacked by our culture and shamed by the church.
“As you explore the topic of Holy Sexuality, you have the opportunity to recognize how something incredibly beautiful has unfortunately become incredibly distorted. Yet, a beautiful core is waiting to be remembered and rediscovered within every man and woman.”
Just so you know, I’m a little bit of a Donald Miller superfan. I love the authentic and conversational style to his writing and when I’m reading his books I feel like I am sitting in my living room with an old friend. This book, Miller focuses on his engagement and marriage and his many struggles to let women in. Marrying later in life than many, Donald shares everything he has learned about being “good” at relationships and allowing himself to be truly seen and loved.
“It costs personal fear to be authentic but the reward is integrity, and by that I mean a soul fully integrated, no difference between his act and his actual person. Having integrity is about being the same person on the inside that we are on the outside, and if we don’t have integrity, life becomes exhausting.” -Donald Miller
What books have ruined your life for the better? Let me know in a comment!
Also, check out more of my favorites here:
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