As the weather slowly warms up these next few months, many of us might be booking trips and taking time off. As you are reading this email, I’m packing my own bags en route to California for a few weeks of sunshine, pool time and In ‘N Out burgers.
But just because we may be resting up over the summer months, it does not mean that we can’t keep growing in our faith and our understanding of and love for God.
One way to do this? A bit of reading for our soul. Maybe now’s not the time to slog through Carl Trueman’s 432-page The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self or John Piper’s 750-page thumper Providence (though if you do decide to, good for you! Let me know how it was!), but there are plenty of great new and classic options to flip through as you sit by the beach or wait in a crowded train station.
The book I can’t seem to stop recommending to others lately is The Case Against the Sexual Revolution by Louise Perry. Deeply-researched, this is a mince-no-words cautionary tale on how the sexual revolution may have brought more harm to women and men than help. Though the author isn’t a believer, her case is a strong one. You may have also already picked up Rosaria Butterfield’s The Gospel Comes with a House Key and encountered the author’s radical ways of showing hospitality to her neighbours and strangers but maybe you can also check out her first book, The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert? Her coming-to-faith story was just as radical as her hospitality skills and it’s elegantly-written, hopeful and encouraging on the transformative power of God.
Then for those who are in the mood for a bit of fiction, why not give the classic Gilead by Marilynne Robinson a whirl? This novel, often seen as a literal reinterpretation of the parable of the Prodigal Son, is a beautifully-written and moving tale about an ageing minister’s recount and musing of his life.
I’ve also asked a few other life group leaders at church for their summer reading recommendations. The recs were practical, pastoral and evangelical and C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters seems to be having an “it” moment (it was recommended by four of our lifegroup leaders!)
Hope you spot some that you’ll be able to take with you to a nearby coffee shop or a far-flung tropical island this summer! Happy reading!
Book Recommendations from
Grace London Life Group Leaders
Cezar Rugasira:
Strangely Bright? Can you love God and enjoy this world? by Joe Rigney
This book calls us to enjoy God's creation for His sake and to the glory of His grace towards us. It explains - in simple terms - how we as Christians can truly love God and enjoy this world that He has made.
Praying with Paul by D.A. Carson
Carson looks at the prayers of Paul in the Bible and shows how we can grow our Spiritual discipline of prayer and reap the spiritual fruit promised to us as we commune daily with our God.
Hugh Van Nierkerk:
Living Life Backwards by David Gibson
I basically read this book once every two years to help remind me of what matters most & centre my life around those things.
Generous Justice by Tim Keller
One of the most helpful challenges to the practical outworking of my faith - a reminder of our call to care for the outsider (grounded in God's grace towards us).
Space Trilogy by C.S. Lewis
A science fiction book is probably not a typical suggestion for this list, but I found it helpful in using a different lens to think through and remind me of God's beauty.
Megan Howe:
Art & Faith: A Theology of Making by Makoto Fujimura
A completely different way of looking at faith and art. Fujimura parallels faith with the way God works through us with Kintsugi, the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery by mending it with gold.
Emotionally Healthy Spirituality by Peter Scazzero
Who you are is more important than what you do and you can’t be spiritually mature while remaining emotionally immature - those are just two of the big ideas from this book. Very transformative for me personally and a book I often read again and again with other women in the church.
Liturgy of the Ordinary by Trish Harrison Warren
So much of faith is all about the mundane. Warren shows how she works out her faith in the small everyday acts of making lunch, looking for your keys or driving to work.
Daniel Ogbanna:
The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges
Every Christian has a desire to obey the call to be holy as God is holy. This book pulls together wisdom and practical insights from scripture and Bible teachers across Church history to encourage and enlighten us on how to do that. Concise, super readable and relatable.
Evangelism as Exiles by Elliott Clark
Gone are the days of Christianity being the dominant worldview in the West so we must adapt how we think about evangelism to reflect the new reality. The author draws on teachings from the book of 1 Peter and his experience as a Western evangelist in a Central Asian “closed” country to help us rethink how we reach the people around us with the gospel.