It’s that time of the year again! I love summer and I love reading and pointing people to good books. Below you can find what I intend to read this summer. Perhaps one or two of the books will interest you.
My 2018 Summer Reading List
In no particular order:
1. The Productivity Project: Accomplishing More by Managing Your Time, Attention, and Energy
Already started digging into this one. I love reading productivity books. From what I can tell so far, I don’t think I will end the book thinking it’s the best I’ve read on the subject. Nevertheless, some of the advice is helpful and immediately applicable.
2. Christ-Centered Preaching: Redeeming the Expository Sermon
This is another book I’ve already got a head start on. I’ve read a few of the chapters in the past, but never the whole thing. This book is a classic. It’s dense, academic, and technical, but it’s worth reading. If you preach, you definitely want to grab this book. Part of R.C. Sproul’s endorsement says, “This is an outstanding tool for students of homiletics. It is the best I have seen on this subject.”
3. In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership
Never heard of this book. But excited to dig in. Books on Christian leadership always peak my interest.
4. Letters of Francis A. Schaeffer: Spiritual Reality in the Personal Christian Life
Francis Schaeffer is a household name in the Christian world but, sadly, I don’t recall reading anything by him. That will change with this book. Schaeffer pastored a PCA church I visited once here in Missouri. Even though he is long gone, his legacy is strong in many Reformed circles.
5. The Imperfect Pastor: Discovering Joy in Our Limitations through a Daily Apprenticeship with Jesus
“Communicating the Scriptures” is a preaching class I took with Eswine and it left an indelible mark on me. Now, it’s time to learn pastoring from Eswine. I’ve heard great things about this book from others and I can’t wait to read it.
6. Gilead: A Novel
Don’t remember the last time I read a novel. Glad to explore a genre I don’t typically read.
8. Our Reasonable Faith
I love reading Systematic Theology so I’ll approach this one with great anticipation. But I’m not going to read the whole thing this summer. This book is the digest version of Bavinck’s classic four-volume work, Reformed Dogmatics.
9. Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Christian in Community
Already read it once. Going to read it again. In fact, I’m over 50 pages in already. I enjoyed this book the first time and I look forward to reading it again.
10. The Holy Spirit 
It’s a misconception to say that Reformed folk don’t talk about the Holy Spirit because there is actually lots of material available about the third Person of the Trinity written by Reformed authors. I’m excited to read what Sinclair Ferguson has to say in this book.
11. A Light to the Nations: The Missional Church and the Biblical Story
Heard of the author, but not the book. It will be interesting to see what Goheen says about the missional church.
12. A New Heaven and a New Earth: Reclaiming Biblical Eschatology
It’s a book on eschatology. So it’s gotta be fascinating, right?
13. Living in God’s Two Kingdoms: A Biblical Vision for Christianity and Culture
This looks interesting. From Amazon: “Highlighting vital biblical distinctions between honorable and holy tasks, VanDrunen’s analysis will challenge Christians to be actively and critically engaged in the culture around them while retaining their identities as sojourners and exiles in this world.”
14. Christ, Baptism and the Lord’s Supper: Recovering the Sacraments for Evangelical Worship
As a convinced credobaptist, I’m excited to read something by someone with an opposing view. It’s always good to read books by authors who hold a different position than you. If you only read books by authors with whom you agree, you won’t grow. With that said, this is not just a book on baptism, but also the Lord’s Supper. I read chapter one and I can just tell that this book is going to be good.
Other Book Lists
–10 Christian Books to Look Out for in 2018
–10 Classic Christian Books That Are Ridiculously Cheap on Kindle
–5 Books that Influenced Tim Keller During College
