"By the grace of God I am what I am."

These words were penned by the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:10. He mentioned it in reference to God's grace working in his life to make him what he was. I title this blog entry with these words because of His grace in my life toward my love for reading. Let me explain. I used to HATE reading! Literally. I despised reading a book. The joke at my house was that I graduated high school having only read two books in my whole life: The Moose Goes to School and Bo Knows Bo. But something changed. Something wonderful and glorious changed while I was at college. God graciously gave me a hunger and thirst for books. He gave me a longing to want to read! I am grateful because there is so much rich material available for those who want to understand the Bible better and love God more completely. We are commanded to love the Lord God with all of our mind, thus reading the Bible and other books that help us better understand the Bible help us love the Lord better.
Something I have been wanting to do for a long time now is to list some of my favorite books. Earlier today I received an e-mail from a friend who asked me what my all-time favorite book on prayer was. I thought to myself that now would be a good time to list on the blog some of my favorite books, including my favorite one on prayer. I had originally intended to offer a "Top Five List" of my top five favorite books. Perusing my library, however, revealed that there is no way I can do that. There are so many that are so good! So, in what follows I will simply list and link for you some of my favorite books. Perhaps in the future, I will list some more by categories (for instance, in this list I am not including any books on preaching though there are many that are great books). But for now, here is a start for anyone who cares.

1. The Complete Works of E.M. Bounds on Prayer

This is a wonderful book on prayer. Challenging. Insightful. Convicting.

You can order the book here.

2. A Hunger for God by John Piper

Another incredible book on prayer and fasting.

You can order that book here. When you click here you can download the book for free on your computer. Thank you John Piper and Desiring God!

3. What Jesus Demands from the World by John Piper

This is a great resource for discipleship. Piper takes every command from Jesus and explains what Jesus meant and how we can best obey. The purpose is to help us obey the Great Commission: "make disciples of all nations...teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you."

You can order the book here, or download it for free at that same location.

4. The Cross of Christ by John R.W. Stott

As you can tell from the picture, I got it from Amazon.com. You can order this book by clicking here.

5. Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God by J.I. Packer

Again, from Amazon, you can order this book here.

These are a start. Numerous books come to my mind. Maybe I will do this on a regular basis in the future, depending on the response. Whether you like this list or not, I encourage you to read much and read often for the sake of your mind. Read the Bible first and foremost. Then read some other texts that help you understand the Bible more clearly and love God more passionately.