You are here: Home / Blog / Monthly Book Suggestion

Pastor’s October Book Selection

October 20, 2022 by

Hide Or Seek: When Men Get Real With God About Sex by John Freeman

In today’s world, and in the Church, sexual struggles are too often kept in the closet by people wanting to be set free, but terrified about opening up to others. Consequently, they live in the shadows, vainly trying to shed the guilt and shame of their battles, while growing more and more hopeless as time wears on. John Freeman, founder and director of Harvest Ministries, has provided a great resource for this problem. Drawing from real-life accounts, and years of experience the author describes, analyzes, and offers hope to men caught in the relentless cycle of sin, shame, repentance, and further sin. Freeman does not simply offer shallow self-help techniques that never seem to work, rather, he walks with the reader through the lonely and debilitating helplessness that accompanies habitual sexual sin. Shining the light of the gospel into the darkness of despair “Hide or Seek” lets the reader see Jesus standing with him in the midst of his sin, pain, and confusion. If you are one that struggles with pornography or other unhealthy sexual practices, this book will give you confidence that God is able and willing to change your heart, that he has provided the means to do so, and that (as it says in chapter 9) he will lead you out of the fog and into the light of a life of repentance. I cannot recommend a book on this topic more highly than Hide or Seek.

Bill Mayk

Pastor’s September Book Selection

September 1, 2022 by

The Holy Bible by God

I had already chosen a book to recommend this September when I decided instead to suggest The Holy Bible. There are many other fine works by Christian authors throughout the centuries that can be beneficial to our spiritual growth. However, none of them have any lasting value unless they teach what God has revealed in the Scriptures.

As God’s people, we believe the Bible to be the inerrant and infallible Word of God that is necessary for our salvation and growth in godliness. Our own confessional standards teach us that only in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments do we learn how to glorify and enjoy God. It is for these reasons that I recommend that we all either continue or begin to, not only read select portions of the Scriptures on a daily basis, but that (as much as possible) we read and meditate deeply on the entire Bible, seeking to hear from the Holy Spirit and to apply God’s word to every area of our lives.

Consequently, I highly recommend The Holy Bible to all those wishing to know God, to be saved by our Redeemer, and to grow in godliness, glorifying and enjoying our Father, His eternal Son, and The Holy Spirit.

Pastor’s August Book Selection

August 3, 2022 by

The Time Is At Hand by Jay Adams

The Book of Revelation is certainly one of the most debated books of Scripture. Many people tend to approach it as though it were a biblical crystal ball that depicts current news accounts spread out before their eyes from the pen of an apostle living 2,000 years ago. Others read it as a duty without any sense that it can be understood by the normal person. And finally, others simply disregard it altogether. But what if this ancient prophecy actually spoke clearly to people in the first century about major events in their day, while offering encouragement to saints throughout the ages? In his short work, “The Time Is At Hand”, Jay Adams approaches Revelation from the perspective that the prophecies were written prior to 70 AD, and therefore describe the destruction of the Jerusalem temple and the fall of Rome, rather than the rapture, the second coming of Christ, a future physical millennium, and the end of the world as we understand it. While I do not agree with everything in this book, it is nevertheless a very helpful work that opens the reader’s eyes to a different understanding of the apostle John’s vision. Although Adams does tend to be rather technical in some areas, I recommend “The Time Is At Hand” to those wishing to break free from the various scenarios that turn Revelation into more of a comic book fantasy than a prophetic word of God to beleaguered Christians in the first century,

Pastor’s July Book Selection

July 7, 2022 by

Lessons from the Upper Room by Sinclair Ferguson

If we could choose to be transported back in time to when Jesus walked and taught on this earth, I suppose that we would each have a specific moment when we’d like to simply hear the Master’s voice. For some it might be the “Sermon on the Mount”, for others it might be the day Jesus dinned at the home of Zacchaeus, and yet others might wished to have been eye-witnesses of the context in which Jesus taught in parables. In “Lessons from the Upper Room” Sinclair Ferguson gives the reader an inside view of the final meal Jesus spent with his disciples. We see what motivated him most, how he would comfort those he loved knowing the trials they’d soon face, and hearing him describe the nature of his messiahship.

Having first presented this material as lectures for Ligonier Ministries, Ferguson does us a huge service by putting it in book form. I recommend this work for those who would enjoy drawing closer to Jesus as he teaches his disciples what he wants them to know most, before going back to the Father.​

Pastor’s June Book Selection

June 2, 2022 by

The practice of the presence OF GOD by brother Lawrence


This is a book I have been wanting to recommend for some time, but hesitated due to some of the negative press it receives in certain Protestant circles. (Call it, the fear of man.) However, after rereading it a number of times with great personal benefit, I thought I would take the plunge.

As a lay monk, living in France between 1611 and 1691, Brother Lawrence dedicated himself to drawing near to God above everything else. He called this endeavor, “The Practice of the Presence of God.” In whatever circumstances he was engaged, he sought to enjoy God’s presence, offer the moment to Him, and set his heart upon doing all things for the Lord. He truly believed that nothing made him worthy to approach God except for what Christ had done on his behalf. It would seem that the ability to consistently practice God’s presence flowed out of a heartfelt belief that God truly was the lover of his soul. Here was a monk that understood the power of, not only preaching the gospel to oneself, but continually basking in the love of God. This is not a theological treatise that expounds the fine points of doctrine, but a call to marvel at the splendor of your Savior. I recommend this book to anyone that simply wishes to consider the sweetness of living daily with Jesus.

Pastor’s May Book Selection

May 2, 2022 by

Come Back, Barbara, by C. John Miller and Barbara Miller Juliani

This is the true story of a prodigal daughter and her Christian parents, who learned to love through pain, trust in dark times, and grow in their own relationship to the Lord as He brought healing and restoration through his grace. Jack Miller was a pastor, seminary professor, and missionary, who along with his wife Rose Marie raised a family in the turbulent era of the 1960’s and early 70’s. In the midst of teaching others about Christ, and advancing the gospel, their world was rocked when their daughter Barbara announce that she wanted nothing to do with Christianity or her parent’s values. Throughout this book, Jack and his daughter Barbara take the reader through the trials that two parents experienced, watching their child grow rebellious and belligerent, as well as listening to Barbara describe her embarrassment and discontentment with the lifestyle of her mother and father. It was in these difficult situations that God’s grace began to work mightily, not only in Barbara’s life, but in that of her parents as well.

While reading this work, I am moved by the anguish felt by these two parents, and also by the tension this young woman felt as she tried to understand herself and the God who was calling her. There is a refreshing honesty in this book as both father and daughter tell their side of the story. In the end, this isn’t simply a narrative about one family’s struggle, but a reflection on the grace and power of God to change the lives of both the prodigal and her parents. I highly recommend this book to any parent struggling with troubled children, as well as to those of us who’ve been prodigals ourselves. We may just come to appreciate our parents, our children, and our God even more.​

« Previous Page
Next Page »
WPE