Scandia Bible Church

There is a benefit in learning what God has taught other Christians throughout history. Often, theology can be intimidating, and yet, all that we learn about God increases our faith by expanding our knowledge of what God is like and how He has revealed Himself to man in the Gospel.

— Pastor Monty

Book-of-the-Month Archive

May 2024

Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis

“The Screwtape Letters” by C.S. Lewis is a thought-provoking and satirical novel that takes the form of a series of letters from a senior demon, Screwtape, to his nephew, Wormwood, who is a junior tempter. The letters serve as a guide on how to corrupt and lead a human soul away from virtue and towards damnation.

Set against the backdrop of World War II, the novel explores the nature of good and evil, the human capacity for temptation, and the subtleties of spiritual warfare. Through Screwtape’s cunning advice and insights, readers are offered a unique perspective on the challenges and pitfalls that individuals face in their spiritual journeys.

Lewis employs a clever narrative device, presenting the story from the demon’s point of view, to offer a satirical commentary on human foibles and the ways in which individuals can be led astray. “The Screwtape Letters” challenges readers to reflect on their own beliefs, morality, and the choices that shape their lives, making it a timeless exploration of the complexities of human nature and the battle between good and evil.

An entertaining book that will keep you glued while giving you spiritual awareness. — Pastor Monty

April 2024

Honest Evangelism by Rico Tice

How to talk about Jesus even when it’s tough

This book excites and equips Christians to share their faith, even when its difficult.

March 2024

Rich Wounds by David Mathis

The Countless Treasures of the Life, Death, and Triumph of Jesus

February 2024

The Family at Church by Joel Beeke

The Family at Church: Listening to Sermons and Attending Prayer Meetings

This book contains guidance on two important areas of family life. First, it explains how we should prepare our families for public worship. Second, it addresses the subject of prayer meetings, their importance and the scriptural warrant for them. Dr. Beeke’s approach involves a sketch of the past uses of such practices and a detailed exposition, in such a way, that the reader can apply it to everyday living. This book will help a family focus the Sabbath wherein it can truly be a delight to the soul.

This book is very practical about preparing our hearts for worship as we come to church to receive. — Pastor Monty

The Family at Church by Scott Brown

The Family at Church: How Parents are Tour Guides for Joy — 20 Days to Transform Your Local Church Experience

[Just prior to this book’s publishing in 2021, Pastor Monty was asked by the author for an endorsement. And though he quickly surmised once the book printed that he was back up to the back up of other very well-known pastors — and consequently didn’t make the cut — he was diligent in submitting his review within the 10-day deadline].

“Super short…. Easy read. Punched this twenty-day devotional out in ten!”

— Pastor Monty Simao
Scandia Bible Church

January 2024

True Community by Jerry Bridges

The focus of this book is to look at what God intended for the body of Christ and how this is lived out within the local church.  This is an important book to read in that we want to draw together as a church family in true community and this means walking in accordance with the Spirit of God who desires our great unity in Christ to be lived out in the daily life of the local church.

Fellowship among believers is more than just talking over coffee during our common meal after our church service. Biblical fellowship in New Testament times—or koinonia—had rich and varied meanings, including covenant relationship, partnership in the gospel, communion with God and others, and the sharing of earthly possessions.

In True Community, Jerry Bridges guides you through koinonia and its implications for today’s church. With discussion questions at the end of each chapter, this book will help you dig deeper into what Christian community in the twenty-first century should look like. You will come away with a new appreciation for fellowship, the church, and what God intended the body of Christ to be.

I really encourage you to read this book, as it will be set the pace — giving you a good mindset and foundation — for some of the things we’re going to covering this year, [2024]. — Pastor Monty

November/December 2023

Spiritual Disciplines for the Christain Life by Donald Whitney

We aren’t meant to wait for holiness―we’re meant to pursue it. God commands Christians to actively “be holy,” but what does that look like in daily life? Rather than overwhelming legalism or loose boundaries, Don Whitney encourages us to find a practical middle ground through biblical habits.

Don Whitney’s convicting insight on spiritual disciplines will challenge you to grow in new ways as a Christian. Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life offers practical suggestions for cultivating spiritual growth, diving into practices such as: Absorbing Scripture, Prayer, Worship, Evangelism, Serving, Fasting, Silence and Solitude, Journaling, and more.

Regardless of where you are in your Christian walk, this anniversary edition provides refreshing and profound encouragement for your spirit.

This will be a great book to finish 2023 and by God’s grace, implement new godly habits as we begin a new year. — Pastor Monty

October 2023

Martin Luther: a Life by Martin Marty

Called ‘The most influential interpreter of American religion’ by Bill Moyers, renowned historian and Lutheran pastor Martin Marty portrays the religious reformer Martin Luther as a man of conscience and courage who risked death to ignite the historic reformation of the Church. Luther’s arguments, including his ’95 theses,’ changed the destiny of Christendom, the shape of Christianity, and gave rise to new freedoms in church and state. Marty explores the records left by Luther of his inner struggles and his conflicts with the Holy Roman Empire to find a man engaged in a lifelong passionate search for not only the grace of God, but also for the assurance that it was directed toward each individual.

This is a perfect volume as we prepare for our Reformation Day celebration! — Pastor Monty

September 2023

Belong: Loving Your Church by Reflecting Christ to One Another by Barnabas Piper

“We are looking for something personal, something deeply meaningful, something with which we can identify. And this book is an invitation to find that in the church, because God wants us to …Part of God’s perfect strategy is offering hurting, tired, worn out, needy sinners like you and me a place to belong in … A place in which to encounter the profound, transformative, healing, restoring grace of Jesus Christ.”

Belong explores how you can help to create a church where everybody feels at home: a place where fellow believers build genuine, honest, meaningful Christian relationships and enjoy deep fellowship as a community of believers.

You may be a new believer and wonder what it means to belong to a church; you may be reluctant to commit to your church because of past experiences; you may have recently relocated and want to find a church where you feel at home; or you may love your church and desire to commit to it more deeply and serve it more fully. Whatever the case, this book will help you to see that belonging to a church is a good gift from God, the outworking of our identity as brothers and sisters in Christ, and worth your time, love, and commitment.

July/August 2023

The Pilgrim’s Progress – Part 2: Christiana’s Journey by John Bunyan

[Some of you may not be familiar with this lesser-known continuation of The Pilgrim’s Progress, but it too is worth our attention. — MS]

The Pilgrim’s Progress, Part 1, chronicles the epic adventure of a man named Christian who leaves his home and family in the City of Destruction to begin a lifelong quest for the Celestial City. In Part 2, his wife, Christiana, must now examine her own beliefs while grieving her husband’s death. She’s torn between following Christian on a hazardous pilgrimage along a narrow way or staying in the place she knows best, the City of Destruction.

The harsh journey is wrought with obstacles, danger, and peril, and many have turned back for fear of their lives. Can she and her four boys really make it there, joining Christian and being rewarded with everlasting life? She just has to believe they can. Thus begins one family’s eternal quest to follow their husband and father into the kingdom of glory.

Losing no faithfulness to Bunyan’s original text, The Pilgrim’s Progress, Part 2, Christiana’s Journey follows the adventures of Christiana, her four boys, and a host of memorable characters who either help or hinder their progress on their journey to faith.

June 2023

Living Without Worry by Timothy Lane

Worry is an extremely common yet unchallenged problem, and many people don’t know how to practically stop worrying, even if they know they need to.

In this revised and expanded new edition of Living Without Worry: How to Replace Anxiety with Peace, Tim Lane helps readers to see when godly concern turns into sinful worry, and how scripture can be used to cast our concerns upon the Lord. Christians will discover how to replace anxiety with peace, freeing them to live life to the full.

May 2023

Respectible Sins by Jerry Bridges

Have we become so focused on “major” sins that we’ve grown apathetic about our subtle sins?
Renowned author Jerry Bridges takes you into a deep look at the corrosive patterns of behavior that we often accept as normal, in this established and impactful book.

Practical, thought-provoking, and relevant at any stage of life, Respectable Sins addresses a dozen clusters of specific “acceptable” sins that we tend to tolerate in ourselves, such as: Jealousy, Anger, Judgementalism, Selfishness, and Pride.

Writing from the trenches of his own battles with sin, Bridges offers a message of hope in the transforming grace of God to overcome our “respectable sins.”

April 2023

Alive: How the Resurrection of Christ Changes Everything by Gabriel NE Fluhrer

Did Jesus Christ really rise from the grave? The credibility of the Christian faith rests on this claim, and Jesus’ own disciples laid down their lives to defend it. However, the resurrection of Christ is often dismissed as a fantasy by those who assume that miracles are a scientific impossibility. Is faith in the empty tomb nothing more than blind belief?

In Alive: How the Resurrection of Christ Changes Everything, Dr. Gabe Fluhrer demonstrates that Jesus’ defeat of the grave is no mere myth—it is a historic reality supported by overwhelming evidence. To deny Christ’s resurrection is an indefensible position, but by God’s grace, to embrace the reality of the risen Lord is to have our lives changed forever.

March 2023

The Truth of the Cross by RC Sproul

In this book, Dr. R.C. Sproul surveys the great work accomplished by Jesus Christ through His crucifixion — the redemption of God’s people. Dr. Sproul considers the atonement from numerous angles and shows conclusively that the cross was absolutely necessary if anyone was to be saved.

Opening the Scriptures, Dr. Sproul shows that God Himself provided salvation by sending Jesus Christ to die on the cross, and the cross was always God’s intended method by which to bring salvation. The Truth of the Cross is an uncompromising reminder that the atonement of Christ is an absolutely essential doctrine of the Christian faith, one that should be studied and understood by all believers.

January/February 2023

Praying with Paul by DA Carson

With a retitling and updating, Praying with Paul: A Call to Spiritual Reformation [previously published as the under what is now the subtitle: A Call to Spiritual Reformation] more effectively connects with contemporary readers by calling believers to reject superficiality and revolutionize their lives by embracing a God-guided approach to prayer.

“God doesn’t demand hectic church programs and frenetic schedules; he only wants his people to know him more intimately,” says top-selling author D. A. Carson. “The apostle Paul found that spiritual closeness in his own fellowship with the Father. By following Paul’s example, we can do the same.”

December 2022

Come Let Us Adore Him by David Paul Tripp

The wonder and awe of the Christmas season can easily get overshadowed by lights, tinsel, bows, and paper―not to mention last-minute trips to the mall and visits to the in-laws. In all the hustle and bustle, we often lose sight of what’s most important. This book of daily readings for the month of December by best-selling author Paul David Tripp will help you slow down, prepare your heart, and focus on what matters most: adoring our Savior, Jesus.

November 2022

Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners by John Bunyan

This is a short and honest account of how God demonstrated His exceeding great mercy to His unworthy servant, John Bunyan.

Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners tells how Bunyan was converted. John Bunyan was a companion of sin and was troubled by sin. He fought temptation and sin in his own strength and lost, and in despair, he gave up hope of ever finding God’s mercy; but the Lord Jesus Christ at last delivered him from the guilt and terror that so often and so viciously troubled him.

In addition to this, a short account of Bunyan’s call to the work of the ministry is told, along with the trials and trouble he encountered – including some of the difficulties he faced while in prison.

This is all taken from his writings and is now published for the encouragement and support of others who are weak and tempted and need strength and hope and victory in Jesus.

October 2022

The Law and the Gospel by Ernie Reisinger

The Law and Gospel are two biblical categories that are often confused, even by seasoned pastors and theologians. This book will help solidify how these two relate, and the danger of confusing them.

September 2022

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

If God is in control of everything, can Christians sit back and not bother to evangelize? Or does active evangelism imply that God is not really sovereign at all? J. I. Packer shows in this new edition to the popular IVP Classics how both of these attitudes are false. In a careful review of the biblical evidence, he shows how a right understanding of God’s sovereignty is not so much a barrier to evangelism as an incentive and powerful support for it. With over 100,000 copies in print, Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God is truly a classic that should be read by every Christian.

July/August 2022

Living in a Godly Marriage by Joel Beeke and James Labelle

The Puritans believed that godly marriages were foundational for the future life of families, churches, and nations. Therefore, they wrote prolifically on the subject of marriage, seeking to bring biblical reformation to this subject in a comprehensive way. Martin Luther, John Calvin, and other previous Reformers had begun this task, but the Puritans took it much further, writing a number of detailed treatises on how to live as godly spouses. Out of the wealth of material available to us from the seventeenth century, Joel R. Beeke and James A. La Belle have gathered together insights from the past and summarized them in a contemporary form in order to encourage modern-day couples to glorify God in marriage.

May/June 2022

Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan

The book was first published in 1678 and is a Christian allegory. It is regarded as one of the most significant works of in English literature. …The full title is, “The Pilgrim’s Progress: From This World To That Which Is To Come, Delivered Under the Similitude of a Dream by John Bunyan.” …It has been translated into over 200 languages and was written while Bunyan was in prison. …There really are many version to choose from. I would stay away from the abridged versions. …Whichever version you choose, I’m confident that you will join the generations of Christians before you who have found Bunyan’s work to be of great spiritual benefit. — Pastor Monty

April 2022

Blood Work by Anthony Carter

Evangelical Christians often sing and preach about the blessed blood of Christ and the wonderful things it accomplishes for believers. To the uninformed ear, such language can convey the idea that Jesus’ blood had semi-magical qualities. Actually, Jesus’ blood was normal human blood, but the Bible refers to it in metaphorical terms to portray the many benefits that come to Christians because of Jesus’ death. In Blood Work: How the Blood of Christ Accomplishes Our Salvation, Anthony J. Carter traces this theme through the New Testament, showing how the biblical writers used the powerful metaphor of the blood of Jesus to help Christians grasp the treasures Jesus secured for them in His death on the cross. In doing so, he provides a fresh perspective on the atonement Jesus made.

March 2022

Scandalous by D.A. Carson

How are Christians to approach the central gospel teachings concerning the death and resurrection of Jesus? The Bible firmly establishes the historicity of these events and doesn’t leave their meanings ambiguous or open to interpretation. Even so, there is an irony and surprising strangeness to the cross. Carson shows that this strange irony has deep implications for our lives as he examines the history and theology of Jesus’s crucifixion and resurrection. Scandalous highlights important theological truths in accessible and applicable ways. Both amateur theologians and general readers will appreciate how Carson deftly preserves weighty theology while simultaneously noting the broader themes of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Through exposition of five primary passages of Scripture, Carson helps us to more fully understand and appreciate the scandal of the cross.

February 2022

Help My Unbelief: Why Doubt Is Not The Enemy Of Faith by Barnabas Piper

Barnabas Piper unpacks what faith really means. He shows how embracing doubts and questions can help us to get to know God, and encourages us to risk trusting God in our everyday lives, even when we don’t understand everything about him.

Help My Unbelief will encourage Christians seeking to ask questions in a godly way and will give them confidence to trust God, even when some questions remain. (Includes biographical stories about Afshin Ziafat, C.S. Lewis and John Piper).

January 2022

Putting Amazing Back into Grace by Michael Horton

What does it mean to be “saved by grace”? This book reminds readers 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 doctrine and its implications for a vibrant evangelical faith.

This is a book that greatly influenced Celeste and I, over 20 years ago as we were first wrestling with the doctrines of grace and re-thinking and re-learning all those things we thought we already knew. I pray that it will be a beneficial book to you as well. — Pastor Monty

November/December 2021

Holiness: Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties, and Roots by J.C. Ryle

This classic, Holiness: Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties, and Roots, book is considered the best book on Christian living ever written. J. C. Ryle (1816 – 1900) wrote for the needs of his time, but his words are just as applicable today.

In his firm but gentle way he addresses topics that really matter—sin, sanctification, holiness, growth, and assurance. He teaches, exhorts, illustrates, and warns.

Even if you don’t agree with everything he says, you will be challenged to think and to search the scriptures for yourself.

May we heed the Lord’s command: “Be ye holy, for I am holy.”(1 Peter 1:16)

“A Christian classic that everyone ought to read…. Worth the effort.” — Pastor Monty

October 2021

The Holiness of God by R.C. Sproul

Central to God’s character is the quality of holiness. Yet, even so, most people are hard-pressed to define what God’s holiness precisely is. Many preachers today avoid the topic altogether because people today don’t quite know what to do with words like “awe” or “fear.” R. C. Sproul, in this classic work, puts the holiness of God in its proper and central place in the Christian life. He paints an awe-inspiring vision of God that encourages Christian to become holy just as God is holy. Once you encounter the holiness of God, your life will never be the same.

“Many consider this to be Sproul’s best work.” — Pastor Monty

September 2021

Brave by Faith: God-sized Confidence in a Post-Christian World by Alistair Begg

Learn from the book of Daniel how to live confidently for Christ today.

What does it look like to live with joy in a society that does not like what Christians believe, say or do? It’s tempting to grow angry, keep our heads down, retreat or just give up altogether.

But this isn’t the first time that God’s people have had to learn how to live in a pagan world that opposes God’s rule. In this realistic yet positive book, renowned Bible teacher Alistair Begg, in his book Brave by Faith: God-sized Confidence in a Post-Christian World, examines the first seven chapters of Daniel to show us how to live bravely, confidently and obediently in an increasingly secular society.

Readers will see that God is powerful and God is sovereign, and even in the face of circumstances that appear to be prevailing against his people, we may trust him entirely.

We can be as brave as Daniel if we have faith in Daniel’s God!

“The message of Daniel is incredibly relevant for us in our generation. Not because it maps out a strategy for how to deal with our new lack of status … or because Daniel was a great man and we need to follow his example. The reason is that it will help us to believe in Daniel’s God.” — Alistair Begg, author.

August 2021

Fault Lines: The Social Justice Movement and Evangelicalism’s Looming Catastrophe by Voddie Baucham Jr.

The Ground Is Moving.

The death of George Floyd at the hands of police in the summer of 2020 shocked the nation. As riots rocked American cities, Christians affirmed from the pulpit and in social media that “black lives matter” and that racial justice “is a gospel issue.”

But what if there is more to the social justice movement than those Christians understand? Even worse: What if they’ve been duped into preaching ideas that actually oppose the Kingdom of God?

In this powerful book — Fault Lines: The Social Justice Movement and Evangelicalism’s Looming Catastrophe — Voddie Baucham, a preacher, professor, and cultural apologist, explains the sinister worldview behind the social justice movement and Critical Race Theory — revealing how it already has infiltrated some seminaries, leading to internal denominational conflict, canceled careers, and lost livelihoods. Like a fault line, it threatens American culture in general — and the evangelical church in particular.

Whether you’re a layperson who has woken up in a strange new world and wonders how to engage sensitively and effectively in the conversation on race or a pastor who is grappling with a polarized congregation, this book offers the clarity and understanding to either hold your ground or reclaim it.

There has been, quite a bit of controversy surrounding Voddie Baucham’s new book.  After researching these charges, I believe them to be unfounded. Here is a video of an interview with Voddie responding to these charges, if you are interested. — Pastor Monty

July 2021

Dark Clouds Deep Mercy: Discovering the Grace of Lament by Mark Vroegop

Lament is how you live between the poles of a hard life and trusting God’s goodness.

Lament is how we bring our sorrow to God — but it is a neglected dimension of the Christian life for many Christians today. We need to recover the practice of honest spiritual struggle that gives us permission to vocalize our pain and wrestle with our sorrow. Lament avoids trite answers and quick solutions, progressively moving us toward deeper worship and trust.

Exploring how the Bible — through the psalms of lament and the book of Lamentations—gives voice to our pain, this book (Dark Clouds Deep Mercy: Discovering the Grace of Lament) invites us to grieve, struggle, and tap into the rich reservoir of grace and mercy God offers in the darkest moments of our lives.

June 2021

Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers by Dane Ortlund

Christians can easily feel that Jesus is perpetually disappointed and frustrated, maybe even close to giving up on them. They know what Christ has done for them—but who is he? How does he feel about his people amid all their sins and failures?

In Matthew 11, Jesus describes himself as “gentle and lowly in heart,” longing for his people to find rest in him. This book reflects on his words, diving deep into Bible passages that speak of Christ’s affections for sinners and encouraging believers as they journey, weary and faltering, toward heaven.

May 2021

Living in God’s Two Kingdoms by David VanDrunen

Modern movements such as neo-Calvinism, the New Perspective on Paul, and the emerging church have popularized a view of Christianity and culture that calls for the redemption of earthly society and institutions. Many Christians have reflexively embraced this view, enticed by the socially active and engaged faith it produces.

Living in God’s Two Kingdoms illustrates how a two-kingdoms model of Christianity and culture affirms much of what is compelling in these transformationist movements while remaining faithful to the whole counsel of Scripture. By focusing on God’s response to each kingdom―his preservation of the civil society and his redemption of the spiritual kingdom―VanDrunen teaches readers how to live faithfully in each sphere.

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.

This book is very helpful in developing biblical categories when thinking through how we are called to live in this world and what it means to be strangers, pilgrims, and sojourners. — Pastor Monty

April 2021

The Final Days of Jesus: The Most Important Week of the Most Important Person Who Ever Lived by Andreas J. Kostenberger & Justin Taylor

Walk With Jesus During His Last Week on Earth. On March 29, AD 33, Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem and boldly predicted that he would soon be put to death—executed on a cross, like a common criminal. So began the most important week of the most important person who ever lived.Nearly 2,000 years later, the events that took place during Jesus’s last days still reverberate through the ages. Designed as a day-by-day guide to Passion Week, The Final Days of Jesus leads us to reexamine and meditate on the history-making, earth-shaking significance of Jesus’s arrest, trial, crucifixion, and empty tomb.

Combining a chronological arrangement of the Gospel accounts with insightful commentary, charts, and maps, this book will help you better understand what actually happened all those years ago—and why it matters today.

March 2021

When People are Big and God is Small: Overcoming Peer Pressure, Codependency, and the Fear of Man by Edward T. Welch

This book was a blessing to me in the late 1990s, and opened my eyes to the many ways that my fear of man affected the way I lived and how I thought about God.  I trust this book will be helpful to you as well.

“Need people less, love people more.” That’s the author’s challenge. He is talking about a tendency to hold other people in awe, to be controlled and mastered by them, to depend on them for what God alone can give. Welch proposes an antidote: the fear of God…the believer’s response to God’s power, majesty, and not least his mercy.

However you put it, the fear of man can be summarized this way: We replace God with people. Instead of a biblically guided fear of the Lord, we fear others. Of course, the “fear of man” goes by other names. When we are in our teens, it is called “peer pressure.” When we are older, it is called “people-pleasing.” Recently, it has been called “codependency.” With these labels in mind, we can spot the fear of man everywhere. Diagnosis is fairly straightforward.

The problem is clear: People are too big in our lives and God is too small. The answer is straightforward: We must learn to know that our God is more loving and more powerful than we ever imagined. Yet this task is not easy. Even if we worked at the most spectacular of national parks, or the bush in our backyard started burning without being consumed, or Jesus appeared and wrestled a few rounds with us, we would not be guaranteed a persistent reverence of God. Too often our mountain-top experiences are quickly overtaken by the clamor of the world, and God once again is diminished in our minds. The goal is to establish a daily tradition of growing in the knowledge of God.

— Pastor Monty

February 2021

The Knowledge of the Holy by A.W. Tozer

The Knowledge of the Holy by A.W. Tozer illuminates God’s attributes—from wisdom, to grace, to mercy—and in doing so, attempts to restore the majesty and wonder of God in the hearts and minds of all Christians. It teaches us how we can rejuvenate our prayer life, meditate more reverently, understand God more deeply and experience God’s presence in our daily lives.

The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer

The Pursuit of God teaches us the value of knowing God through our personal experience instead of thinking of Him as an abstract being. With constant communication with God, we will be able to develop a personal relationship with Him. Tozer asserts that God never ceases to speak to us, and we only need to listen and engage in a conversation with our Heavenly Father. The author’s main goal is to provide insights on how we can establish habits and a lifestyle dedicated to God.

As Christians, we should not divide our lives into the secular and the sacred; rather, we should do our best to live a life dedicated to God’s glory. Our goal to conform to Christ’s image should be evident in our words, actions, and daily life. Using examples from Scripture and from the lives of saints who lived with this thirst for God, Tozer sheds light on the path to a closer walk with God.

Though he wrote many books, these two are widely considered to be classics.

January 2021

The Call: Finding and Fulfilling God’s Purpose For Your Life by Os Guinness

I thought it would be great to start this year off with a study in the Theology of Work and Calling which is something that the reformers emphasized and has sadly been lost in our generation.

For some of you, this will be a new author, perhaps one whom you’ve never heard of before. The book is entitled The Call: Finding and Fulfilling The Central Purpose of Your Life, by Os Guinness. This book is a great help for that “dissonance between the life we often feel called to and the realities of this fallen, faltering world.”

Os Guinness was born in China to missionary parents and eventually graduated with his DPhil from Oxford and was a student of Peter Berger and eventually, Francis Schaeffer and even lived with Francis and Edith Shaeffer in Switzerland for a number of years.  His field of study is not theology but sociology, he is often described as a “Social Critic” and does a great job making difficult concepts easily grasped.

With the last name of Guinness, you may wonder if he is any relation to the famous Dark Irish Stout founder Arthur Guinness.  Well, Os is the great-great-great-grandson of the famous Dublin brewer.

— Pastor Monty

December 2020

The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment by Jeremiah Burroughs

Burroughs was a puritan non-conformist pastor (non-conformist simply means that he was loyal to the Scriptures and not the Church of England).  He was a member of the Westminster Assembly (The theologians who wrote the Westminster Confession of Faith).

This book is a collection of sermons that Burroughs preached while working in the Westminster Assembly and helping to prepare the confession.  Because this is a puritan work, it is available for cheap or free…how wonderful that this Jewel (like the Gospel) is freely offered.

This book was published in 1651 and has never been out of circulation and is a Christian classic, by all accounts. — Pastor Monty

October/November 2020

The Story of John G. Paton Or Thirty Years Among South Sea Cannibals by John Gibson Patton

John Gibson Paton (24 May 1824 – 28 January 1907), born in Scotland, was a Protestant missionary to the New Hebrides  Islands of the South Pacific (Vanuatu). He brought to the natives of the New Hebrides education and Christianity. He developed small industries for them, such as hat making. He advocated strongly against a form of slavery, which was called “Blackbirding”, that involved kidnapping the natives and forcing them to work in New Zealand and elsewhere. Though his life and work in the New Hebrides were difficult and often dangerous, Paton preached, raised a family, and worked to raise support in Scotland for missionary work. He also campaigned hard to persuade Britain to annex the New Hebrides. He was a man of robust character and personality. Paton was also an author and able to tell his story in print. He is held up as an example and an inspiration for missionary work.  His story will both humble you and encourage you.

This is easily one of the best biographies I’ve ever read and so very convicting and humbling, a truly life-changing book that I’m sure will be a blessing to all who read it. — Pastor Monty

September 2020

Knowing God by J.I. Packer

Why this book?… This book is considered a modern Christian classic. This book introduces God to the reader, as God has revealed Himself. Many people have false notions about God and we may not even be aware of it. This book seeks to correct these false notions and elevate our view of God and His nature and work. This is Packer at his best and well worth your time reading.

— Pastor Monty

Watch the Wednesday Night Book Study for Knowing God

August 2020

Discipline of Grace by Jerry Bridges

Why this book?… The title itself sounds strange doesn’t it? Discipline is important and grace is super important, but who would put those ideas together?

Well, this book was instrumental in getting a new generation of Christians to rethink the way in which the Gospel is central to the Christian life.

You’re going to want to seep in this book, marinate in these truths, and soak it up! I promise you, it will be worth it!

— Pastor Monty