Those that know me well, know that I am an avid reader and student of God’s Word. It’s an addiction of mine! I love to read the Bible and I love to read books about the Bible. I want to constantly be learning more and more about God and His Word. Also, as a High School Pastor, I have the privilage of study to prepare at least two sermons per-week. Next, I was also privileged to teach multiple classes overseas whether in person or via Skype on topics like – Inductive Bible Study, the book of Romans, Calvary Chapel Distinctives, and more, which all required massive amounts of study time and reading. Also, as you might know, this year I took anywhere from twelve to sixteen credits per-semester (three semesters this year) through Liberty University. Most of my course textbooks are listed below (LU) and most of these I had to read at least two times each as I needed to know the content to pass the class.
Malachi VS. Mike – Bible Reading Results for 2018
For those of you that follow my Facebook feed, I announced at the beginning of the year that my son Malachi and I have an ongoing Bible reading challenge. The basic
About My Reading List
Lastly, before I list the books that I read this year, please note that just because I read these book does not mean I agree with them or would recommend them. As a pastor and a full-time Bible student, I read books from many points of view and I never shy from reading books from a point of view that I disagree with or would consider heretical. If would like to know my thoughts on any of the books listed, please contact me, and I’ll be happy to give you my opinion.
2018 Books
- Acts: Witnesses to the World – Steven Ger
- After Darkness Light – Multiple Authors
- Becoming A Welcoming Church – Thom Rainer
- Be encouraged! Inspiration for the journey of ministry – B. Gutierrez (LU)
- Calvary Chapel Distinctives – Chuck Smith
- Chosen by God – R. C. Sproul
- Christian Worldview – Philip Ryken
- Daniel: The New American Commentary – Stephen Miller
- Dispensationalism Today – C. Ryrie
- Effective Youth Ministry: Embracing a Family-Orientated Approach – Philippa Strong
- Encountering John – Andreas Köstenberger (LU)
- End of the Spear – Steve Saint
- Everyday Ministry – D. Early and B. Gutierrez (LU)
- Faith Alone – Schreiner (LU)
- Faith Alone – R. C. Sproul (LU)
- Friend Raising – Barnett
- Foundations of Grace – Steven Lawson
- Geography: Realms, Regions, and Concepts – De Blij, H. J., Muller, P. O., & Nijman, J. (LU)
- God is the Gospel – John Piper
- God’s Love – R. C. Sproul
- Gospel Centered Youth Ministry – TGC
- Has the Church Replaced Israel – Michael Vlach
- Here I Stand – Ronald Bainton
- High King of Heaven – John MacArthur
- Is Jesus the Only Savior? – Ronald Nash (LU)
- Jesus Christ Our Lord – John Walvoord (LU)
- Jesus Is the Christ: Studies in the Theology of John – Leon Morris (LU)
- Learning to Love the Psalms – Robert Godfrey
- Letters to the Church – Francis Chan
- Justification – Francis Turretin
- Paradise to Prison – John J. Davis (LU)
- Pillars of Grace – Steven Lawson
- Preaching the Psalms – Steven Lawson
- Reading Romans in Context: Paul and Second Temple Judaism – Ben Blackwell, John Goodrich, Jason Maston (LU)
- Romans: The NIV Application Commentary – Douglass Moo (LU)
- Secrets of Dynamic Communication – Ken Davis (LU)
- Serving As Senders Today – Neal Pirolo
- Sundar Singh: Footprints Over the Mountains – Janet & Geoff Benge
- The 10 Commandments – Keven DeYoung
- The Bible from 30,000 Feet – Skip Heitzig
- The Book of Revelation: Unlocking the Future – Ed Hindson (LU)
- The Christ of the Covenants – O. Palmer Robertson
- The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God – D. A. Carson
- The Flow of the Psalms – O. Palmer Robertson
- The Future of Justification – John Piper (LU)
- The Gagging of God – D. A. Carson
- The Gospel According to God – John MacArthur
- The Gospel of God: Romans – R. C. Sproul (LU)
- The Jewish Gospel of John – Eli Lizorkin-Eyzenberg (LU)
- The Last Christian Generation – McDowell
- The Life and Theology of Paul – Guy Waters
- The Popular Encyclopedia of Bible Prophecy – Edward Hindson and Tim LaHaye (LU – Read about 60%)
- The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism – Timothy Keller (LU)
- The Scriptures Testify About Me – D. A. Carson
- The Story of Christianity – Justo González
- The Total Money Makeover – Dave Ramsey
- The Truth of the Cross – R. C. Sproul
- Think like Jesus: Understanding the mind of Christ – B. Gutierrez (LU)
- Trained in the Fear of God – Randy Stinson and Timothy Jones (LU)
- Unlocking the Scriptures – Hanz Finzel
- Walls – Ryan Rush (LU)
- What Does the Bible Really Teach About Homosexuality? – Kevin DeYoung
- What Really Happened in the Garden – Abner Chou (LU)
I saw a meme on social media (a picture with words on it) a few weeks ago that had a picture on top of a “man’s cave” and a picture on the bottom that had a “man’s study” and it said something along the lines of – we need more men with studies than we do with caves. That is such a true statement. We live in a society where the pursuit of knowledge gets drowned out by mind-numbing hours of television. Let me encourage everyone who reads this, turn off the TV and pick up a book!
May God richly bless you this year as you seek to know and understand Him more.
God Bless,
Pastor Mike
Pastor Mike and his wife Erin serve state-side as full-time missionaries through Saving Grace World Missions and raise their own missionary support. If you would like to partner with Pastor Mike and Erin to help them further the ministry of Missions Training, please click the “ways to give” image below.
