May + June 2025 Issue:

by Jon Peterson

Are you a fan of book lists? Perhaps you have seen the University of Chicago’s Great Books of the Western World, the Everyman’s Classics, or the PBS “Great American Read”.

Christians have our own lists, like Christianbook’s “Books to Read in a Lifetime”, the annual book awards from The Gospel Coalition, and of course Pastor Jay and Becky’s Top 10s.

I like book lists. But not when there is an urgency attached to them. Take for example the Penguin Random House “22 books to read before you die” (One wonders, why 22?), “30 Books Every Christian Should Read Before Turning 30” (Too late! And I have only read 5 of them!), or “Christian Books Everyone Should Read ASAP” (ASAP!!).

In his excellent little book, The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction, Alan Jacobs offers relief to those of us who feel the weight of “too many books, too little time” when he writes, “Read what gives you delight—at least most of the time—and do so without shame. And even if you are that rare sort of person who is delighted chiefly by what some people call Great Books, don’t make them your steady intellectual diet, any more than you would eat at the most elegant of restaurants every day. It would be too much. Great books are great in part because of what they ask of their readers: they are not readily encountered, easily assessed.”

In other words, enjoy great books like you enjoy fillet mignon: sparingly, slowly, savoringly.

John Piper (who has his own excellent book list, by the way) says it better: “Beware of reading for quantity to impress anyone. Read for your soul.”

A great place to start would be one of the 4000 titles in our church library. Find one here!

RECENT ADDITIONS TO THE CHURCH LIBRARY:

  • Collin Hansen Where Is God in a World with So Much Evil?

  • Justin S. Holcomb God Made All of Me: A Book to Help Children Protect Their Bodies

  • Bethany McIlrath Abigail and the Career Day Catastrophe: It’s Time to Be a Hero... Right?

  • John Wesley The Works of John Wesley

  • Daniel Morrow That's When I Talk to God

  • Kathryn Butler The Last Keeper (The Dream Keeper Saga Book 5)

  • Sam Allberry God's Go-Togethers: A Celebration of God’s Design for People

  • Jimmy Dodd The Magnificent Names of Jesus: Prayers and Praises to Love Him More

  • David M. Gustafson Evangelical Heritage: From Immigrants to a Church of All People—The Story of the Evangelical Free Church of America

  • Laura Wifler Like Me: A Story About Disability and Discovering God’s Image in Every Person

  • Chris Morphew How Do We Know That Christianity Is Really True?

  • David Powlison God's Grace in Your Suffering

  • Sharon James Is Christianity Good for the World?

  • Timothy Paul Jones Did the Resurrection Really Happen?

  • Kathryn Butler Sonia and the Biggest Block Tower Ever

  • Marty Machowski The Prophecy and the Hope (Redemption Tales #2)

March + April 2025 Issue:

Happy Spring, brothers and sisters! I am so thankful God gave us spring. After a long, cold, dark winter, we really need the anticipation of warmth, light, and new life from spring. We also can spend this time anticipating the celebration of the work our Savior Jesus did for us on the cross. Not only did He drink the full cup of God's wrath on our behalf and venture into the dark depths of hell, He burst forth in glorious light and victorious life, conquering what we could not. Praise be to the Lord our Savior Jesus Christ!  A way we can spend anticipating the Easter season is with good reading. The library team at EFCCL hopes you consider adding some good reading to your Lenten studies this month—the church library has many options to choose from! Below is a list of a few; you can find these on the seasonal shelves or on the endcap in the middle of the room.

You can browse the entire library collection of over 4,000 items here.

BOOKS FOR THE EASTER SEASON:

CHILDREN:

• The Donkey Who Carried a King, by R.C. Sproul
• The God Contest, by Carl Laferton
• The Garden, the Curtain, and the Cross, by Carl Laferton
• My Friend Jesus: The Gospel for Kids, by Kathryn Slattery
• The Case for Christ for Kids, by Lee Strobel

ADULT:

• Scandalous, by D.A. Carson
• Christ Crucified, by Donald Macleod
• Man of Sorrows, King of Glory, by Jonty Rhodes
• Surprised by Jesus, by Dane Ortlund
• And the Angels Were Silent, by Max Lucado
• He Chose the Nails, by Max Lucado
• Six Hours One Friday, by Max Lucado
• Christ from Beginning to End, by Trent Hunter & Stephen Wellum
• Rich Wounds, by David Mathis
• Confronting Jesus, by Rebecca McLaughlin
• To the Cross, by Christopher Wright
• One Perfect Life, by John MacArthur
• Cries from the Cross, by Erwin Lutzer
• The Final Days of Jesus, by Andreas Kostenberger
• Witness the Passion, by Richard Exley
• Experiencing the Cross, by Henry Blackaby

BOOKS FOR THE NEXT SERMON SERIES:

On March 9, Pastor Jay will begin a new series called Ezekiel: God's Passion for His Glory. We will have multiple copies of the recommended commentaries in the library on the shelves in the middle of the room. 

• Entry Level: Warren Wiersbe, Be Reverent (Ezekiel): Bowing Before Our Awesome God
• Intermediate Level: Iain Duguid, Ezekiel (NIV Application Commentary)
• Advanced Level: Lamar Cooper, Ezekiel (The New American Commentary)