“Visit many good books, but live in the Bible” is a quote often attributed to Charles Spurgeon. Since June 2024, I have tried to take that advice seriously. In the past year and a half, I have read the Bible cover-to-cover twice and read nearly another three dozen books besides.

Recently I was listening to a teaching from my church on Pilgrim’s Progress, and the elder who was teaching said something like, “if you don’t like to read, then you will never be a spiritual person. God gave us His revelation in writing, so we must read if we want to grow in holiness.” I think he’s probably right about that. We are to worship in spirit and in truth (John 4:24). How can we soar to greater levels of our understanding of the truth if we don’t study theology? And we study theology by reading! Primarily reading God’s Word, but also reading what other faithful men have had to say about that Word.

In this post I have compiled the books that I can remember reading or listening to in the past year and a half. I am categorizing them according to “Recommended Reading” vs. “You can skip these”. I will also put my top 5 recommendations or “must-reads”. I will note if I listened to the audio version instead of reading the text, just for your reference.

Living in the Bible

From about September 2024 to Christmas 2025, I read the entire Bible twice. The first time in the New Living Translation (NLT) and the second time in the English Standard Version (ESV). If you have read any other page on this website, then you already know my thoughts on reading your Bible. It’s important! Do it every single day!

The NLT and ESV do two different things: The NLT is a “dynamic” translation, which is sometimes described as a “thought for thought” translation. It is meant to be easier to understand. The ESV is a “formal” translation, which means it tries to be “word for word”. It is more literal to what the author actually wrote.

I think that both translation philosophies have their places, and I appreciate and use both. My primary go-to for studying the Word is a formal translation (usually the ESV or NASB1995). But I think that dynamic translations like NLT are awesome for if you struggle with understanding what you’ve read or you are just planning on some quick devotional reading without diving too deeply into study. And both a formal and dynamic translation side-by-side work very well to help you grasp the text when studying! So use both. I highly recommend both of these translations!

My Top “Must-Read” Recommendations

Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan

I don’t know if it’s true or not, but I have heard that Pilgrim’s Progress is the second bestselling book written in English – right after the Bible. Published in 1678, I think it is considered to be the first “novel” written in English. It is an allegorical story that demonstrates the life of a Christ-follower. It is soooo good. Like the Bible itself, it can be hard to grasp without deep study. But that’s part of what makes it so good. You have to think hard and mine deeply to get gold from this book, but gold you will certainly get. If you could only read one other book besides the Bible, it would be this one.

Tie: What is the Gospel? by Greg Gilbert | A Gospel Primer for Christians by Milton Vincent

I can’t decide between these two books, because they are very similar. Both are very short and impactful, and both fully articulate the truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is the most foundational thing for a Christian to understand. Gilbert’s book is primarily focused on explaining what the Gospel is and is not. Vincent’s book is focused more on the application of Gospel truths to your everyday life. Both are must-reads.

Tie: The Gospel According to Jesus (audio)by John MacArthur | God Has a Wonderful Plan for Your Life by Ray Comfort

I link these two books together, because they address the same concept, but from two different angles – namely, the Lordship of Jesus Christ. The American Church has been peddling a watered-down Gospel for years that promises salvation without repentance. We have sold a bill of goods to many that you can receive Jesus as your Savior without bowing down to Him as Lord. Ray Comfort’s book is much shorter, and it focuses on this topic from a perspective of doing evangelism. MacArthur’s book comes at this issue more from a discipleship focus. Both are great, though.

Truth or Territory: A Biblical Approach to Spiritual Warfare by Jim Osman

In another Jim Osman book that I’m currently reading, he writes about how killing sacred cows can be hard, but sacred cow burgers are satisfying. That’s what this book does. There are many who think of spiritual warfare as being a shouting match between Christians and Satan where adding the phrase, “in Jesus’s name!” can serve the same function as “abracadabra”. But that’s a huge distraction. Spiritual warfare is much more about battling for truth against the doctrines of demons. You absolutely need to read this book.

How to Lead Your Family by Joel Beeke

Right on the cover of this book is an orange callout that says “short and to the point”. That’s what I call truth in advertising. This book is targeted at men – fathers and husbands. In less than 100 pages, Beeke covers the most important things you should be doing to lead your family, and he provides thought-provoking questions to answer at the end of each chapter. I read several books this year on leading your family, and it was a really tough choice between this one and Family Driven Faith, which I recommend below.

Recommended Reading

These are the books I read over the past 18 months that I can recommend. They are not my top picks, but that doesn’t mean they’re not great! I would recommend checking out any (and all) of them.

• The Gospel of Jesus Christ by Paul Washer | Theology – This is a concise booklet that explains the Biblical plan of salvation. It’s basically a much-condensed version of Gilbert’s book that I recommended above.
• The 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith by Founders Press | Theology – This is the historic Baptist confession of faith that lays out Scriptural truths as understood by Baptists. Goldmine.
• The Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary Series edited by Tony Merida, Daniel Akin, and David Platt | Biblical Commentary – I really like this commentary series. They are pastoral/devotional and not academic. Great for laypeople. Written by reformed Baptists. I have specifically read some or all of the following: 2 Peter & Jude, 2 Timothy, Isaiah, Ephesians, and Mark.
• The Drama of Scripture (audio) by Craig Bartholomew and Michael Goheen | Biblical Commentary – This book provides a high-level overview of all of Scripture, showing you the continuous story from Genesis to Revelation so you can grasp the context of the entire Bible.
• The Story of Christianity: Volume 1 (audio) by Justo Gonzalez | Church History – This is a great high-level survey of Church history from the time of Jesus up to the beginning of the Protestant Reformation.
• Counterfeit Kingdom (audio) by Holly Pivec and Doug Geivett | Discernment – An expose against the false teaching of Bethel church and other NAR (New Apostolic Reformation) “churches”.
• Strange Fire (audio) by John MacArthur | Discernment – An expose and polemic against charismatic doctrine, the prosperity “gospel” and the Word of Faith movement.
• Found: God’s Will by John MacArthur | Discernment – This concise booklet is essentially the written form of one of my favorite Johnny Mac sermons about how you can know the will of God for your life. Highly recommended!
• The Ever-Loving Truth (audio) by Voddie Baucham | Apologetics – If you’re familiar with Voddie’s preaching, then you know what this is about. It’s a defense of the Faith in today’s relativistic culture. I listened to the audio; I recommend you actually read it.
• Expository Apologetics (audio) by Voddie Baucham | Apologetics – There is a lot of overlap with this one and The Ever-Loving Truth. I recommend both. I also recommend reading this one instead of listening to the audio.
• Family Driven Faith (audio) by Voddie Baucham | Family Leadership – It was a struggle to pick my top recommendation between this one and Joel Beeke’s book. Beeke will give you the how of leading your family, and Voddie focuses more on motivating you to get going with the why. It’s great.
• Family Worship by Donald Whitney | Family Leadership – This one covers a lot of the same stuff as Beek and Voddie. It’s a concise booklet. Give it a read!
• The Discipline of Grace (audio) by Jerry Bridges | Discipleship – This is a modern classic on the pursuit of holiness and worship of the Lord. It’s really good, but I think I would have gotten a lot more out of reading it than listening to it.
• Fight Like a Man by Emeal Zwayne | Discipleship – This is sold as a book about sexual purity for men, but it’s really a book about discipleship and growing in holiness generally. I gave two of these away to young men I care about for Christmas gifts this year. Give it a read!
• Lies My Therapist Told Me (audio) by Greg Gifford | Discipleship & Counseling – This is a great book about the truth of sanctification and renewing your mind by the power of the Word vs. the doctrine of demons that is modern psychology and “mental health”. The audio book was narrated by the author and was excellent! I highly recommend this.
• The Way of the Master (audio) by Ray Comfort | Evangelism – This is basically an expanded version of God Has a Wonderful Plan for Your Life by the same author. It’s great, but I think the most punchy and pertinent info can be found in the shorter title. Still, this one is worth reading. Ray lays out his exact methodology for evangelism step-by-step in this book.

Books You Can Skip

Just because I am saying you can skip these doesn’t mean all of them are bad. It just means that I didn’t think they were worth the time and effort to read. Where applicable, I make recommendations about what to read instead.

• Not Afraid of the Antichrist (audio) by Michael Brown and Craig Keener | Eschatology – This book wasn’t bad. It’s written by two well-known charismatics who break from the rest of the Pentecostal church on the issue of the end times (and specifically the pre-tribulation rapture of the Church). I generally agree with a lot of what they write on this topic and don’t find it to be useless at all. I still think that I would look for other sources on eschatology, though. I don’t have an alternative recommendation, but I am planning to start 2026 with a deep study on the Revelation along with a couple of commentaries.
• Victory in Jesus: The Bright Hope of Postmillennialism by Greg Bahnsen | Eschatology – This is an explanation and defense of postmillennialism. I found it pretty compelling, but unless you’re really geeking out over eschatology, I think there are better things you could spend your time reading. It’s certainly not bad, but it shouldn’t be a top priority either. Once again, I think you’d be better off carefully studying the Bible on this topic before you start listening to arguments for specific views of eschatology.
• Supernatural by Michael Heiser | Spiritual Warfare? – Michael Heiser has… interesting views on the unseen world of angels and demons. This was the first book I read back in the summer of 2024, and I was really impressed by it at the time. Since then, I have grown a lot in my knowledge, and I wouldn’t recommend it. He says some interesting things, but I don’t actually think much is valuable (aside from his idea of Scripture as a mosaic). I think Heiser was a faithful and devout man, but some of his teaching takes a lot of discernment to avoid slipping into error. I think there’s a lot risk in reading this and not much potential for reward. If you want to learn about spiritual warfare and that sort of thing, read Truth or Territory instead.
• Victory Over the Darkness by Neil Anderson | Spiritual Warfare & Discipleship – Stay away from this one. Neil Anderson has historically subscribed to a view of Spiritual Warfare that I would describe as unscriptural. Though in this book, he doesn’t focus on that stuff and actually puts forth a lot of truth, I just think that you’re far better off with other resources. If you’re struggling with doubt, anxiety, depression or spiritual attack, check out Truth or Territory or Lies My Therapist Told Me instead.
• So Many Lions, So Few Daniels (audio) by Ray Comfort | Evangelism & Encouragement – There is nothing wrong with this book at all. I think pretty much anything by Ray Comfort is good. I just think that he has better books that are more worth your time. If you read the other stuff I recommended above, then I don’t think this book would add much.