Septembe/October 2025 Issue:
by Emily Peterson
When my oldest was 4 months old, I sat her on my lap to read to her. The book I chose was not a great classic of literature but rather a baby’s board book like many you have seen before. Each page contained a photo of a farm animal with the appropriate name underneath. A wooly sheep curled up on some grass above “sheep” and a brown cow in a pasture was labeled “cow”. Suddenly I felt overwhelmed. “She doesn’t even know what a cow is!! How am I supposed to teach her all the necessary things?!?!” I began to panic at the sheer volume of the facts and figures she would need to know to be a fully functioning and independent adult. “How am I ever going to cover all the basics while also getting to the important things like who God is and what that means about who she is? How am I going to teach her about right, wrong, sin and forgiveness?” It seemed too much to manage.
However, God designed this little girl to be raised in a family. His design was for her to be taught about what God has done and will do for His people within the context of living models, flawed though they may be. As I cared for this little baby, she learned about God’s provision for His people. Christ and His relationship to His church would be modeled every day as she watched her parents follow the biblical guidelines for marriage and rearing children. God has provided lesson upon lesson about Himself through the relationships He has placed us in. Thus, the family is God’s continuous object lesson.
In October and November, Pastor Jay will be looking across the Scriptures at God’s design for families. Listed are several books Pastor Jay will be referencing. They may be beneficial to you as you learn about the beauty of marriage, parenting and family relationships as God designed them to be.
1. To the Tenth Generation: God’s Heart for Your Family, Far into the Future, by Ray Ortlund
2. The New Dare to Discipline, by James Dobson
3. What the Bible Says About Parenting: God's plan for Rearing Your Child, by James MacArthur
4. Parenting in the Pew: Guiding Your Children into the Joy of Worship, by Robbie F. Castleman
5. Parenting: 14 Gospel Principles That Can Radically Change Your Family, by Paul David Tripp
6. The Grace Marriage: How the Gospel and Intentionality Transform Your Relationship, by Brad Rhoads
7. The Meaning of Marriage: Facing the Complexities of Commitment with the Wisdom of God, by Timothy Keller
8. Will They Stand: Parenting Kids to Face the Giants, by Ken Ham
July + August 2025 Issue:
by Jackie Hayden
Do you ever wonder? Are you ever curious?
Do you ever think about how we can be certain the Bible is trustworthy?
Do you wonder why God allows so much suffering in the world? How can you suffer well?
Does absolute truth really matter?
Is God a genocidal bully?
Is there really only one path to God?
Is Christianity against diversity?
Curious minds need to know! If you have burning questions that need answers, we have the books for you! To go along with Pastor Jay’s summer series, we wanted to highlight the many resources the EFCCL Library has to help you navigate some of the challenging questions in life, whether you are 8 years old or 80. It is ok to wonder—everyone has questions—so pick up one of these books and get your questions answered!
You can browse the entire library collection of over 4000 items here!
BOOKS FOR KIDS AND TEENS:
How do we Know the Bible is True? by Lynn Walle
What Does the Bible Say About That? by Carolyn Larsen
Why Does God Let Bad Things Happen? by Chris Morphew
How Do We Know That Christianity is Really True? by Chris Morphew
Who am I and Why do I Matter? by Chris Morphew
How Can I Feel Closer to God? by Chris Morphew
How Can I be Sure What’s Right and Wrong? by Chris Morphew
What Happens When We Die? by Chris Morphew
10 Questions Every Teen Should Ask (and Answer) about Christianity Rebecca McLaughlin
BOOKS ABOUT TRUTH:
Truth Matters: Confident Faith in a Confusing World by Andreas Kostenberger
The Truth War: Fighting for Certainty in an Age of Deception by John MacArthur
Finding Truth: 5 Principles for Unmasking Atheism, Secularism and Other God Substitutes by Nancy Pearcey
Truth Unchanged, Unchanging by Martyn Lloyd-Jones
All Roads Don’t Lead to Heaven by Steven Garofalo
Christ Among Other Gods: A Defense of Christ in an Age of Tolerance by Erwin Lutzer
BOOKS THAT ANSWER SPECIFIC QUESTIONS:
Is God Anti-Gay? by Sam Allberry
Does the Bible Affirm Same-Sex Relationships? by Rebecca McLaughlin
Did the Resurrection Really Happen? by Timothy Paul Jones
Is Christianity Good for the World? by Sharon James
Where is God in a World with So Much Evil? by Collin Hansen
Is the Bible Intolerant? Sexist? Oppressive? Homophobic? Outdated? Irrelevant? by Amy Orr-Ewing
Why Trust the Bible? by Greg Gilbert
Is God Just a Human Invention? And 17 Other Questions… by Sean McDowell
BOOKS TO READ IF YOU’RE SKEPTICAL:
The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism by Timothy Keller
Making Sense of God: An Invitation to the Skeptical by Timothy Keller
77 FAQs About God and the Bible: Your Toughest Questions Answered by Josh & Sean McDowell
7 Reasons Why You Can Trust the Bible by Erwin Lutzer
Apologetics for a New Generation by Sean McDowell
Confronting Christianity: 12 Hard Questions for the World’s Largest Religion by Rebecca McLaughlin
BOOKS SPECIFICALLY ABOUT SUFFERING:
When God Weeps: Why Our Sufferings Matter to the Almighty by Joni Eareckson Tada
When God’s Children Suffer Horatius Bonar
The Sovereign and the Suffering: Hurting Hearts in the Hands of a Loving God by David Jeremiah
Suffering and the Sovereignty of God by John Piper & Justin Taylor
Walking with God through Pain and Suffering by Timothy Keller
Suffering: Gospel Hope When Life Doesn’t Make Sense by Paul David Tripp
Surprised by Suffering by R.C. Sproul
Suffering is Never for Nothing by Elisabeth Elliot
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)