Three books that can immediately impact your life
Summer is almost here – time for barbeque, baseball, and books. When heading to the beach or campground, don’t forget to bring along some lively reading. In addition to packing the latest John Grisham novel, why not choose one Christian book that can make an immediate impact on your life? Here are three books that are small in size and lively in writing style. Each of them contains spiritual oxygen to give you new breath in your Christian walk.
Made for His Pleasure: Ten Benchmarks of a Vital Faith by Alistair Begg (Moody, $12, 184 pages).
One of the greatest preachers in our generation, Alistair Begg identifies ten benchmarks to guide Christians in our desire to live a life pleasing to God. While we are justified by faith alone, our salvation places the call of obedience to God upon our lives.
Begg will inject fresh enthusiasm into your fight against sin and your practice of spiritual disciplines. A few of the topics covered are prayer, vocation, humility, sacrifice, suffering, and evangelism. Begg’s writing is characterized by Bible-saturation and down-to-earth realism.
How to Pray for Your Wife: A 31-Day Guide by Mark Weathers (Crossway, $10, 158 pages)
Obviously this book is for the men. Weathers uses the 31 verses of Proverbs 31, and provides a husband a month’s supply of motivation and explanation in how to pray for his wife. The approach is simple and direct. Read and understand the verse of Scripture about the “excellent wife”, and then pray for your wife in light of the verse.
This is not rocket science, and yet how many of us fall into the pattern of saying the same general words when praying for our wife – “please help her today, Amen.” Letting the Scripture guide the content of our prayers is always a good thing, and to apply this method in our prayers for our wife is a great help.
Living the Cross Centered Life: Keeping the Gospel the Main Thing by C.J. Mahaney (Multnomah, $13, 166 pages).
Sometimes an author comes along who speaks with such clarity and power and theological conviction that you hope they will never stop putting words on paper. C.J. Mahaney is one such man and this is one such book. It is so good that our church put a copy of it into the hands of each family.
Is the gospel of the cross of Jesus truly at the center of your life? Does it affect the way you think, feel, and behave? Have you been saved by the Gospel of a substitutionary suffering Savior? Are you now ensnared in legalism, or has the Gospel worked itself out in a life of joyful obedience?
Mahaney writes with passion and he chooses his words in order to be clearly understood. He is at the same time one of the most contagious Christians and also one of the most humble men you will ever meet. (Scott Lamb pastors Providence Baptist Church in St. Louis, and is a regular book reviewer for The Pathway. To respond to this review or to read about other books, visit www.wisdomofthepages.com.)