Publishers, Books, and Resources You Should Pay Attention To: Spring 2021 Addition
I’ve gotten to the point where I’m receiving so many books that I can’t possibly read them all. In this post, I want to highlight some publishers and books that you should be paying attention to and that I think will make an impact in your life in one way or another. I received complimentary copies of these books from the publishers, but they are books I was specifically interested in and think you should be paying attention to as well.
Crossway
To be honest, Crossway releases so many quality books that I wish I could order and read them all, but who has the time? Crossway puts out amazing resources including the instant classic that came out last year titled Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortlund. If you haven’t read my review of it, be sure to click and check it out!
The book I want to mention here is Reformed Systematic Theology Volume 2 by Joel Beeke and Paul Smalley. This is a thick volume of systematic theology featuring the topics of Man and Christ. There is so much rich information in this volume that I can’t begin to touch it all, but it’s a valuable resource to have on your shelf. I especially love that each section ends with a song, questions for meditation or discussion (so you could use it for a small group study), and questions for deeper reflection. You’ll want to be sure to check out both Volume 1 and Volume 2!
Pick it up here! (affiliate)
The Good Book Company
The Good Book Company is another publisher that constantly puts out books and resources I love. I’m going to do an entirely separate post on their children’s books.
Ruth For You by Tony Merida is one of their newer commentaries in their God’s Word for You Series. This series is one of my favorite easily accessible and practical commentary sets on the market. These commentaries are easy to read and great for small group studies as well as sermon helps. Each section has questions for reflection and I love how they are written in a way that pastors, small group leaders, and anyone wanting to just study a book more can benefit and easily understand them. Ruth for You is no exception and Tony Merida is a great teacher!
Pick it up here. (affiliate)
Also from The Good Book Company comes a devotional for the season of Lent called An Ocean of Grace by Tim Chester. The season has just started so you can pick it up now and not be too behind! What I love about this book is that these meditations and prayers are from writers across church history and they’ve been compiled into a devotion. In it you’ll find entries from names like Charles Spurgeon, John Calvin, John Owen, Augustine and more! This is a great resource for any season and I’m sure you’ll be blessed by it.
Pick it up here. (affiliate)
Holman
Holman is releasing fantastic resources in their Bible translation: The Christian Standard Bible.
First are their new line of CSB Scripture Notebooks. Beautifully designed, these are great, cheap resources to help you study particular books. I have the Romans Notebook and I love having such a great resource at my fingertips. The whole book is found inside the notebook and beside each page of Scripture is a lined journaling page. Things I particularly love about the CSB Scripture Notebook are the cream colored paper and the nice font size. The font is nice and large at 11 point and easy to read. These notebooks are useful for personal study, small group study, and sermon/teaching preparation. I’m not one to write in my Bible so these notebooks are amazing because I can mark them up and then get another to start fresh with a new small group study or new sermon series. You’ll love this resource.
Pick them up here. (affiliate)
Holman is also updating one of my favorite commentary series. Formerly The New American Commentary, this series is now known as The Christian Standard Commentary and instead of using the NIV, it will use the CSB. It’s also been given a complete redesign looks wise. Only a few books have been released in the series thus far and my recommendation is to start with 1 & 2 Peter and Jude by Thomas R. Schreiner or grab them all to begin building your set! The redesign is great and the layout of the commentary is much more user friendly. The commentary uses a true white paper for easy reading and the font is also larger, which helps improve readability. I also love the switch to the CSB as it has quickly become one of my favorite translations. This commentary is accessible both for the lay person and pastor. If I could only own one full series, it would be this one. Be sure to check it out.
Currently released titles include:
Galations: Timothy George
1-2 Peter and Jude: Thomas R. Schreiner
2 Corinthians: David E. Garland (preorder)
Pick it up here. (affilaite)
Intervarsity Press
I’m really excited to share some titles from Intervarsity Press with you. Intervarsity Press publishes the amazing work by J.I. Packer called Knowing God, which I’ve covered extensively on this site. They also have a ton of other amazing titles!
Speaking of Packer, I think it’s worth reading biographies of this amazing saint and IVP has published one by Alister McGrath called J.I. Packer: His Life and Thought. McGrath was a friend of Packer and shares about Packer’s faith, his ideas, and the central themes of his work. I love reading about heroes of the faith and this biography of Packer is one you’re sure to want to check out.
Pick it up here. (affiliate)
I’ve benefited a lot from the writings of Graeme Goldsworthy and IVP published a book he’s written on biblical theology, which happens to be a topic that really has my interest. Goldsworthy focuses on Christ in Christ-Centered Biblical Theology and this book is such a good resource. Goldsworthy gives a full treatment of biblical theology here and examines the method biblically, he talks about it in relation to the church as a whole, he looks at models from other people, and he lands the plane by showing you how to do it. There are multiple methods of biblical theology and I think the practice as a whole is worth studying, but Goldsworthy has given a great resource here that you should check out!.
Pick it up here! (affiliate)
Finally, from IVP is a commentary by J. Alec Motyer titled The Prophecy of Isaiah. Isaiah is a key Old Testament book in Scripture that’s worthy of diving into and working to understand. Motyer has written what is widely regarded as the best commentary on Isaiah. What I especially love about this commentary is that it is written to be accessible. I’ve used this commentary to preach on Isaiah and it was hands down the best. If you can only have one resource on Isaiah, this should be it!
Pick it up here. (affiliate)
Kregel Academic
I love the 40 Questions series from Kregel books. I have several of them, but want to highlight two today.
40 Questions About Calvinism by Shawn D. Wright is a comprehensive look at a controversial subject. The word “Calvinism” triggers a lot of people, but Wright treats the subject thoroughly and gracefully. This book will help those unfamiliar with Calvinism to understand it. It will clear up some misconceptions that are commonly held by people unfamiliar with the subject or who think they’re familiar. It will also serve as a model to humbly help the conversation continue in real life between those of disagreeing positions. I love the 40 Questions series because the books are laid out in a way where you can read straight through or use it as a helpful reference for your most pressing questions.
Pick it up here. (affiliate)
Also in the 40 Questions series is 40 Questions About Biblical Theology by Jason S. DeRouchie, Oren R. Martin, and Andrew David Naselli. There’s a lot of helpful information on biblical theology in this volume and like I said, I love the way it is laid out. As I also said earlier, I think studying biblical theology across the board is helpful. That being said, one thing I didn’t like as much about this book was the emphasis on Progressive Covenantalism, which is a position I don’t agree with. I think this book could’ve been extremely helpful without pushing a certain covenantal model, but instead the book pushes Progressive Covenantalism throughout. I still think this book is helpful and there’s a lot of useful information, but it’s worth being aware of the clear model being pushed.
Pick it up here. (affiliate)
Lexham Press
A topic not typically covered is Christ’s ascension to heaven, but it’s an important subject worth giving attention to. Patrick Schreiner has written a short, but powerful book titled The Ascension of Christ and it is worth your time. In this book, Schreiner will show you the importance of the ascension and how it is still affecting you here and now. This book is definitely worth your time.
Pick it up here. (affiliate)
Conclusion
There are so many great books and resources out there, but I think you’ll benefit from all of these. We are blessed to have such a vast amount of resources as English speakers. May we not only be hearers or readers of these resources, but doers and teachers.
