Resource Library
Tools to Help You Grow in Christ
Resource Library
Basic Doctrine
Knowing God | Over the past 30 years, J. I. Packer’s classic has revealed to over one million Christians around the world the wonder, the glory and the joy of knowing God.
Putting Amazing Back Into Grace | Putting Amazing Back into Grace reminds you of the Reformation’s radical view of God and his saving grace, the liberating yet humbling truth that we contribute nothing to our salvation. It lays out the scriptural basis for this important doctrine and the implications of this message for a vibrant evangelical faith.
Salvation Belongs to the Lord | In an almost conversational style, Salvation Belongs to the Lord explores all the major biblical truths, explains key terms of systematic theology, and reflects on their implications and connections under the lordship of Christ.
Bible Doctrine | Bible Doctrine takes a highly commended upper-level textbook on systematic theology and makes it accessible to the average reader. Abridged from Wayne Grudem’s award-winning Systematic Theology, Bible Doctrine covers the same essentials of the faith, giving you a firm grasp on seven key topics: The Doctrine of the Word of God, The Doctrine of God, The Doctrine of Man, The Doctrine of Christ, The Doctrine of the Application of Redemption, The Doctrine of the Church, and The Doctrine of the Future.
Vintage Jesus | This popular-level theology book introduces the person and work of Christ to those who are seeking answers to some of their most basic — and pivotal — questions. The authors provide timeless answers to twelve timely questions about the most important man who has ever lived. Each chapter concludes with answers to common questions about each subject.
The Story of Scripture
Reading the Bible with Heart and Mind | In Reading the Bible with Heart and Mind, Tremper Longman will help you discover the incredible power of the Scriptures to mold you into the character of Christ. “Even though the Bible is powerful,” writes Longman, “we don’t change just because we read it. Our minds may be engaged, but something needs to happen to our hearts as well.”
IVP Bible Background Commentary, Old Testament | This unique commentary provides historical, social and cultural background for each passage of the Old Testament. From Genesis through Malachi, this single volume gathers and condenses an abundance of specialized knowledge–making it available and accessible to ordinary readers of the Old Testament. (Get the New Testament Commentary, too).
According to Plan | According to Plan is an enormously useful book for understanding how the Bible fits together as the unfolding story of God’s plan for salvation. The massive diversity and complexity of the Bible can make it a daunting project for anyone to tackle. Getting a grasp on the unity of the Bible, its central message from Genesis to Revelation, helps immensely in understanding the meaning of any one book or passage. That is the goal of this book by Graeme Goldsworthy.
Far As the Curse is Found | Far as the Curse is Found is a retelling of the biblical story of God’s unfolding covenant from creation to new creation. Readers are led to wonder anew at the redemptive work of God in our own history, in our own human flesh.
The Drama of Scripture | In The Drama of Scripture, Craig Bartholomew and Michael Goheen provide an engaging overview of the story line and theology of the Bible. As the authors suggest in their introduction, it is only as we read and appropriate the Bible “as our story” that we fully understand it and allow it to have authority over us. As we enter into the story of the Bible, we find God revealed there and are called to participate in his continuing activity. The biblical story, then, is foundational to Christian thinking and living.
A Gospel Primer | God did not give us His gospel just so we could embrace it and be converted. He offers it to us every day as a gift that gives to us everything we need for life and godliness. This new expanded edition contains 31 “Reasons to Rehearse the Gospel Daily.” Use this book to preach the gospel to yourself daily and you will be amazed at the difference it will make in your life.
This Great Salvation | Are you more aware of your sin than of God’s grace? Nothing conquers condemnation like the message of the Cross. New levels of grace and peace await you as This Great Salvation unfolds the wonder of Christ’s finished work. Its user-friendly format will make studying this glorious doctrine more fulfilling and less daunting.
The Christian Life | The Christian Life expounds such key biblical themes as grace, faith, repentance, new birth and assurance with clarity and contagious enthusiasm. Christian doctrines are life-shaping, explains the author, because they show us the God we worship.
How People Change | If you’ve ever tried, failed, and wondered why, you need How People Change. This book explains the biblical pattern for change in a clear, practical way that you can apply to the challenges of daily life. A changed heart is the bright promise of the gospel…You will see how God is at work to make you the person you were created to be. That powerful, loving, redemptive relationship is at the heart of all positive change you experience.
Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands | Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands by Paul Tripp is a comprehensive treatment of how God uses people as tools of change in other people’s lives, people who themselves are in need of change.
When People are Big and God is Small | Overly concerned about what people think of you? Welch uncovers the spiritual dimension of people-pleasing and points the way through a true knowledge of God, ourselves, and others.
Don’t Waste Your Life | This book is a passionate call for this generation to make their lives count for eternity. John Piper acknowledges that the risks for those who seek to accomplish something in life–risks in relationships for the sake of righteousness and authenticity, risks with money for the cause of the Gospel, and risks in witnessing to the truth and beauty of Christ. Readers will find their passion for the cross of Christ enlarged as a result of reading this book.
Living The Cross Centered Life | Have the extremities taken over and left the core of your faith forgotten? Do you get confused by what you feel versus what is real? Let dynamic pastor C. J. Mahaney strip away the nonessentials and bring you back to the simplest, most fundamental reason for your faith: Jesus Christ. This book is packed with powerful truth that will grip your heart, clear your mind, and invigorate your soul.
When I Don’t Desire God: How to Fight for Joy | For over twenty-five years John Piper has trumpeted the truth that “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.” He calls it Christian Hedonism. The problem is that many people, after being persuaded, find that this truth is both liberating and devastating. It’s liberating because it endorses our inborn desire for joy. And it’s devastating because it reveals that we don’t desire God the way we should. What do you do when you discover the good news that God wants you to be content in him, but then find that you aren’t?
CCEF Booklets | The Center for Christian Counseling and Education Foundation has produced the best selection of Gospel Centered and Grace Driven resources on everyday life. These booklets address everyday issues from procrastination to eating disorders. We wholeheartedly endorse these booklets and hope that they help you to connect Christ to life in a meaningful way.
Experience the Wonders of God through Prayer | E. M. Bounds truly followed the charge to pray without ceasing. It was as normal and essential to him as breathing. But though he was in prayer constantly, it never became a chore to him. Throughout his life, whether he was ministering to troops during the Civil War or bringing God’s Word to his congregation, E. M. Bounds relished his time in conversation with God.
Pray With Your Eyes Open | A great help in developing a sound, systematic, and satisfying life of prayer. Few today can communicate to the heart like Pratt.
Valley of Vision | The strength of Puritan character and life lay in prayer and meditation. In this practice the spirit of prayer was regarded as of first importance and the best form of prayer, for living prayer is the characteristic of genuine spirituality. This book captures the “living prayer” of many of the great Puritan ancestors.
Praying Backwards | Praying Backwards introduces believers to the transforming process of beginning our prayers in Jesus’ name—not by moving a simple phrase, but by understanding and embracing the meaning behind the phrase. To truly pray in Jesus’ name is to reorder our priorities in prayer—and in life—away from ourselves and toward Jesus and his kingdom. It is to pray, “Not my will, but your will be done.” It is to pray boldly, expectantly, and persistently. If you want to revolutionize your prayer life, begin by Praying Backwards.
Call to Prayer | Do you pray? This is the question Ryle puts before every reader. He shows powerfully and clearly that prayer is the means by which we obtain every blessing from God, but prayerlessness is the sure way to everlasting destruction.
The Heart of Prayer | Jesus’ words on prayer are the clearest and most healing ever spoken. He knows full well the inadequacy and weakness of our prayer life; he sees our cold hearts and lack of zeal; yet, his words on prayer are a solace and support, rather than condemnation and rebuke.
Shepherding a Child’s Heart | Shepherding a Child’s Heart satisfies the hunger for fresh, biblical approaches to child rearing. It is about how to speak to the heart of your child. The things your child does and says flow from the heart. Luke 6:45 puts it this way, “. . . out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.” Written for parents with children of any age, this insightful book provides perspectives and procedures for shepherding your child’s heart into the paths of life.
Instructing a Child’s Heart | From interaction with their peers to the instruction and correction that they receive at home, children interpret their experience from a worldview that seeks to answer their fundamental questions: Who am I? What do I exist for? Where can I find joy? We need to provide our children with a consistent, persuasive, biblical framework for understanding the world God has made and their place in it.
Homeward Bound: Building an Attractive, Christ-Centered Family on Eternal Principles | “Few things more attractively display and persuasively commend the glory of God in the life of a Christian than a Christ-centered marriage and a Christ-centered family—one that would cause the watching world to sit up and take notice.” So writes Ed Hartman as he contemplates the news that his young wife is probably suffering from a brain tumor.
Your Home: A Place of Grace | God’s design for the family and the church is a wonderful thing. It’s about one generation passing the legacy of faith on to the next. Susan Hunt shows parents what this looks like as they and their children journey through life.
Family Driven Faith | Family Driven Faith equips Christian parents with the tools they need to raise children biblically in a post-Christian, anti-family society. God has not left us alone in raising godly children. He has given us timeless precepts and principles for multi-generational faithfulness, especially in Deuteronomy 6. God’s simple command to Moses to teach the Word diligently to the children of Israel serves as the foundation of Family Driven Faith.
Feminine Appeal | The feminine virtues described in Titus 2 have transformed the author’s life and the lives of countless other women. This book will show you the appeal of being a woman who lives for God and helps others do the same.
Disciplines of a Godly Woman | Barbara Hughes carefully guides her readers through the Scriptures, asks them questions for self-evaluation, and provides helpful suggestions for direct application of the spiritual disciplines of the mind, prayer, worship, contentment, and more.
Does Christianity Squash Women? | In this book Rebecca Jones decries the prominent conceptions of womanhood in our culture as confused and self-destructive. In their place, she turns the reader to the Bible, seeking to answer the question, “What is a woman?” by finding the role and significance of women within the biblical story of salvation.
By Design: God’s Distinctive Calling for Women | An inspiring and practical introduction to understanding God’s “helper” design for women, and a rallying cry to the church to fully utilize the nearly forgotten resources of its women.
Radical Womanhood | Biblical womanhood is not for the weak. In an age that seeks to obliterate God and His authority, modeling biblical womanhood involves spiritual warfare. Radical Womanhood seeks to equip new believers and long-time Christians alike, exposing the anti-God agenda of the three waves of feminism to date and presenting the pro-woman truth of the Scriptures.
Don’t Make Me Count to Three | Do you find yourself threatening, repeating your instructions, or raising your voice in an attempt to get your children to obey? Are you discouraged because it seems you just can’t reach the heart of your child? Through personal experience and the practical application of Scripture, Ginger Plowman encourages and equips moms to reach past the outward behavior of their children and dive deeply into the issues of the heart.
Overcoming Fear, Worry, and Anxiety: Becoming a Woman of Faith | This book helps women look to the Bible and identify the real source of fears, worries, and anxieties; transform fearful thoughts into peaceful confidence; keep fear from hindering their growth in Christ; discover specific strategies for overcoming anxiety; and replace worry with thankfulness and joy.
Disciplines of a Godly Man | Using biblical wisdom, engaging illustrations, practical suggestions for daily living, and personal study questions, Kent Hughes offers hard-hitting discussion on major areas of Christian manhood: marriage, fatherhood, friendship, purity, integrity, leadership, prayer, ministry, and more.
Craftsmen: Skillfully Leading Your Family for Christ | Craftsmen is designed to help men understand Biblical wisdom, to see Jesus Christ as the embodiment and source of wisdom, and to apply that wisdom to the God-given role of husband and father.
War of Words: Getting to the Heart of Your Communication Struggles | This book is not a discussion of the techniques and skills for effective communication. Rather, it is the story of the great battle for our hearts that is the reason for our struggle with words. Yet there is more here than just an examination of the battle. We will also get a grasp of God’s plan for out talk and celebrate his enabling presence.
Pornography: Slaying the Dragon | “Is it really possible to slay the dragon of pornography and fantasy once it has gained control of your life?” asks Powlison. The answer is yes, as you will see from this interview with a man called Bob, who experienced Christ’s deliverance in this part of his life.
Sex, Romance, and the Glory of God: What Every Christian Husband Needs to Know | This little volume overflows with insightful advice and encouragement to Christian husbands, providing concrete examples of how to love one’s wife as Christ loved the church. The call to husbands is one of joyful and sacrificial love in all aspects of marriage.
The Life of a God-Made Man | God’s love and grace have always gone before His demands. And it is that grace that transforms hearts into the father, husband, friend and leader that God desires men to be. Ignoring the trend to reduce Christian manhood to a string of methods and lists, Doriani brings the message home: the Christian life is not about following a how-to list; it’s about following the Savior who’s already accomplished it all.
Porn-Again Christian | This free online e-booklet takes an honest and hard-hitting approach to dealing with the most ensnaring epidemic destroying men in this day and age. From the author, “I want to say two things. One, a lot of folks will not like the content or tone of this book and I love them and wish them well. You get what you pay for and this is free. Two, a lot of young guys (and some older guys too) tell me they have been helped by this content and if God uses it to help some guys I would be overjoyed with that. So, let the critics fire away and I’ll gladly take the shots for the guys who are walking wounded in an effort to help them get their shield up and sword sharpened.”
The Reason for God | For years, Tim Keller has compiled a list of the most frequently voiced “doubts” skeptics bring to his Manhattan church. Why is there suffering in the world? How could a loving God send people to Hell? Why isn’t Christianity more inclusive? Shouldn’t the Christian God be a god of love? How can one religion be “right” and the rest “wrong”? Why have so many wars been fought in the name of God? These are just a few of the questions even ardent believers wrestle with today. In this book, Tim Keller uses literature, philosophy, real-life conversations and reasoning, and even pop culture to explain how faith in a Christian God is a soundly rational belief, held by thoughtful people of intellectual integrity with a deep compassion for those who truly want to know the truth.
Every Thought Captive | For a smaller and more user-friendly introduction to apologetics, you can’t get better than this one by Richard Pratt.
Atheism Remix | Wanting to both inform and equip serious-minded Christians regarding this cultural shift, R. Albert Mohler Jr. explores the environment that has bred the “new atheism” while also introducing readers to the movement’s four leading thinkers and the contours of their arguments. Mohler—deemed “the reigning intellectual of the evangelical movement in the US” by Time magazine—then uses this foundation to pinpoint eight major distinctives that make the new atheism new, and to discuss the future of Christianity in relationship to it.
Hope Has Its Reasons | Incorporating the insights of modern literature and psychology with her understanding of searching modern hearts and minds, Pippert describes a road to knowledge that leads beyond the pursuit of self to the discovery of God.
Things That Cannot Be Shaken | It’s a quickly changing world out there. A world enamored with anything new. But all that “progress” comes with a price: we now live in a relativistic culture that appears to be missing an anchor. All authority is questioned. Truth has been thrown out with traditional views. And nothing seems sure. Especially not matters of faith.The current cultural climate does not encourage or equip Christians to remain tethered to the truth, but this book will. The authors focus on those “things that cannot be shaken” (Heb. 12:27)—specifically providing biblical responses to the concerns that Christians frequently encounter in the dorm room, the classroom, and the workplace.
How Long, O Lord? | This clear and accessible treatment of key biblical themes related to human suffering and evil is written by one of the most respected evangelical biblical scholars alive today. Carson brings together a close, careful exposition of key biblical passages with helpful pastoral applications.
Apologetics to the Glory of God | Professor John Frame has written a fantastic primer on the nature and practice of apologetics, or rather on the practice of “giving a defense for the hope that is within you.” Dr. Frame sheds needed light on the message and method of genuinely Christian apologetics. Giving special attention to application of the truth, he insightfully examines apologetics as proof, defense, and offense.
When God Weeps | It’s easy to trust God when things are going our way and the world makes sense. But when suffering strikes–especially seemingly senseless suffering–we are filled with doubt and stunned by events spiraling beyond our control. In the midst of suffering, we often question the very foundation of our faith–our belief in the God who says he loves us. Joni Eareckson Tada, a woman who has lived in a wheelchair for more than thirty years, and Steve Estes, a pastor and one of Joni’s closest friends, explore our questions and the answers. When God Weeps is not so much a book about suffering as it is about God. It tackles tough questions about heaven and hell, horrors and hardships, and why God allows suffering in this life.
Desiring God | This is the site for the teaching ministry of John Piper. It houses nearly everything that he has written or spoken over his pastoral career at Bethlehem Baptist.
9Marks wants to help local churches re-establish their biblical bearings and re-think their ministry methods. The ministry exists to help local church pastors and leaders in the discovery and application of the biblical priorities that cultivate health and holiness in the local church.
Monergism | This site may well be the most comprehensive repository of Christ-exalting material on the Internet. It is hard to even say where to begin. Just go there and enjoy.
The Gospel Coalition | A collection of Gospel-centered pastors who delight in the truth and power of the gospel, and who want the Gospel of Christ crucified and resurrected to lie at the center of all we cherish, preach, and teach. This site is a fantastic resource and their foundational documents are truly…foundational.
Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation | CCEF teaches people how to explore the wisdom and depth of the Bible and apply its grace-centered message to the problems of daily living. Its mission is to restore Christ to counseling and counseling to the church. CCEF has a passion for personal change that is centered in the person of Christ.