Streams in the Desert, KJV


Mrs. Charles E. Cowman - 1904
    Lettie Cowman (who published under the name: Mrs. Charles E. Cowman) worked alongside her husband as missionary in Japan. In the years leading up to the death of her husband in 1924, the Lord gave her the “streams in her desert”. Its strength lies in its nature: it is a compilation of the devotional insights from some of the most spiritual people of the last 400 years. This feature makes the book both timeless and up-to-date, both challenging and comforting, both inspiring and convicting. In one word, by God’s grace, the prayerful reading of this book will be life-changing! The book is not an easy read. If you are looking for excitement or superficial encouragement, look elsewhere! But if you desire to follow the lamb wherever he goes (Rev 14:4), then you will find comfort, strength and joy in feasting on these pages. May the Lord meet with you daily as you use this book!

A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23


W. Phillip Keller - 1970
    This beloved classic will give new meaning to the ageless Shepherd Psalm, enriching your trust in and love for the Lord who watches closely over you.

The Songs of Jesus: A Year of Daily Devotions in the Psalms


Timothy J. Keller - 2015
    The Book of Psalms is known as the Bible’s songbook—Jesus knew all 150 psalms intimately, and relied on them to face every situation, including his death. Two decades ago, Tim Keller began reading the entire Book of Psalms every month. The Songs of Jesus is based on his accumulated years of study, insight, and inspiration recorded in his prayer journals. Kathy Keller came to reading the psalms as a support during an extended illness. Together they have distilled the meaning of each verse, inviting readers into the vast wisdom of the psalms.If you have no devotional life yet, this book is a wonderful way to start. If you already spend time in study and prayer, understanding every verse of the psalms will bring you a new level of intimacy with God, unlocking your purpose within God’s kingdom.

The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life in God


Dallas Willard - 1998
    In this classic, one of the most brilliant Christian thinkers of our times and author of the acclaimed The Spirit of Disciplines, Dallas Willard, skillfully weaves together biblical teaching, popular culture, science, scholarship, and spiritual practice, revealing what it means to "apprentice" ourselves to Jesus. Using Jesus’s Sermon of the Mount as his foundation, Willard masterfully explores life-changing ways to experience and be guided by God on a daily basis, resulting in a more authentic and dynamic faith.

Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ


John Piper - 2001
    But there is a way to know who he is. How? Jesus Christ-the divine Person revealed in the Bible-has a unique excellence and a spiritual beauty that speaks directly to our souls and says, Yes, this is truth. It's like seeing the sun and knowing that it is light, or tasting honey and knowing that it is sweet.The depth and complexity of Jesus shatter our simple mental frameworks. He baffled proud scribes with his wisdom but was understood and loved by children. He calmed a raging storm with a word but would not get himself down from the cross.Look at the Jesus of the Bible. Keep your eyes open, and fill them with the portrait of Jesus in God's Word. Jesus said, If anyone's will is to do God's will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. Ask God for the grace to do his will, and you will see the truth of his Son.John Piper has written this book in the hope that all will see Jesus for who he really is and will come to enjoy him above all else.

A Long Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society


Eugene H. Peterson - 1980
    If anything, email and the Internet may have intensified our quest for the quick fix. But Peterson's time-tested prescription for discipleship remains the same--a long obedience in the same direction. Tucked away in the Hebrew Psalter, Peterson discovered "an old dog-eared songbook," the Songs of Ascents that were sung by pilgrims on their way up to worship in Jerusalem. In these songs (Psalms 120-134) Peterson finds encouragement for modern pilgrims as we learn to grow in worship, service, joy, work, happiness, humility, community and blessing. This 20th anniversary edition of A Long Obedience in the Same Direction features these Psalms in Peterson's widely acclaimed paraphrase, The Message. He also includes an epilogue in which he reflects on the themes of this book and his ministry during the twenty years since its original publication.

Knowing Scripture


R.C. Sproul - 1960
    C. Sproul helps us dig out the meaning of Scripture for ourselves. He lays the groundwork by discussing why we should study the Bible and how our own personal study relates to interpretation. Then he presents in simple, basic terms the science of interpretation and gives practical guidelines for applying this science. Here is a basic book for both beginning Bible readers and those who have been at it for a long time.

Follow Me: A Call to Die. A Call to Live.


David Platt - 2013
    As a result, churches today are filled with people who believe they are Christians . . . but aren’t. We want to be disciples as long as doing so does not intrude on our lifestyles, our preferences, our comforts, and even our religion.Revealing a biblical picture of what it means to truly be a Christian, Follow Me explores the gravity of what we must forsake in this world, as well as the indescribable joy and deep satisfaction to be found when we live for Christ.The call to follow Jesus is not simply an invitation to pray a prayer; it’s a summons to lose your life—and to find new life in him. This book will show you what such life actually looks like.

New Morning Mercies: A Daily Gospel Devotional


Paul David Tripp - 2014
    --TobyMac, hip hop recording artist; music producer; songwriterMornings can be tough. Sometimes, a hearty breakfast and strong cup of coffee just aren't enough. Offering more than a rush of caffeine, best-selling author Paul David Tripp wants to energize you with the most potent encouragement imaginable: the gospel.Forget "behavior modification" or feel-good aphorisms. Tripp knows that what we really need is an encounter with the living God. Then we'll be prepared to trust in God's goodness, rely on his grace, and live for his glory each and every day.

Experiencing God: How to Live the Full Adventure of Knowing and Doing the Will of God


Henry T. Blackaby - 1990
    Knowing and Doing the Will of GodA study of the Bible encouraging us to see God at work and join Him as He reveals

What's So Amazing About Grace?


Philip Yancey - 1997
    Gordon alone survived. And forgave. He said of the bombers, ' I have lost my daughter, but I bear no grudge . . . I shall pray, tonight and every night, that God will forgive them.' His words caught the media's ears — and out of one man's grief, the world got a glimpse of grace. Grace is the church's great distinctive. It's the one thing the world cannot duplicate, and the one thing it craves above all else — for only grace can bring hope and transformation to a jaded world. In What's So Amazing About Grace? award-winning author Philip Yancey explores grace at street level. If grace is God's love for the undeserving, he asks, then what does it look like in action? And if Christians are its sole dispensers, then how are we doing at lavishing grace on a world that knows far more of cruelty and unforgiveness than it does of mercy? Yancey sets grace in the midst of life's stark images, tests its mettle against horrific 'ungrace.' Can grace survive in the midst of such atrocities as the Nazi holocaust? Can it triumph over the brutality of the Ku Klux Klan? Should any grace at all be shown to the likes of Jeffrey Dahmer, who killed and cannibalized seventeen young men? Grace does not excuse sin, says Yancey, but it treasures the sinner. True grace is shocking, scandalous. It shakes our conventions with its insistence on getting close to sinners and touching them with mercy and hope. It forgives the unfaithful spouse, the racist, the child abuser. It loves today's AIDS-ridden addict as much as the tax collector of Jesus' day. In his most personal and provocative book ever, Yancey offers compelling, true portraits of grace's life-changing power. He searches for its presence in his own life and in the church. He asks, How can Christians contend graciously with moral issues that threaten all they hold dear? And he challenges us to become living answers to a world that desperately wants to know, What's So Amazing About Grace?

The Christian Atheist: Believing in God but Living As If He Doesn't Exist


Craig Groeschel - 2010
    After over a decade of successful ministry, he had to make a painful self admission: although he believed in God, he was leading his church like God didn’t exist.To Christians and non-Christians alike, to the churched and the unchurched, the journey leading up to Groeschel’s admission and the journey that follows—from his family and his upbringing to the lackluster and even diametrically opposed expressions of faith he encountered—will look and sound like the story of their own lives.Now the founding and senior pastor of the multicampus, pace-setting LifeChurch.tv, Groeschel's personal journey toward a more authentic God-honoring life is more relevant than ever.Christians and Christian Atheists everywhere will be nodding their heads as they are challenged to take their own honest moment and ask the question: am I putting my whole faith in God but still living as if everything was up to me?

A Call to Spiritual Reformation: Priorities from Paul and His Prayers


D.A. Carson - 1992
    The apostle Paul found that spiritual closeness in his own fellowship with the Father. "A Call to Spiritual Reformation" investigates the Epistles, claiming that Christians today can still achieve the confidence Paul enjoyed by following his life-shaping principles and searching for a deeper devotional experience. (67)

Telling the Truth: The Gospel as Tragedy, Comedy, and Fairy Tale


Frederick Buechner - 1977
    A fresh, creative look at the underlying meaning of the Gospels that stresses the many dimensions of God's relationship to humanity.

To Live Is Christ to Die Is Gain


Matt Chandler - 2013
    While many give their lives to Jesus, few then go on to live a life of truly vibrant faith. In this disruptively inspiring book, Chandler offers tangible ways to develop a faith of pursuing, chasing, knowing, and loving Jesus. Because if we clean up our lives but don't get Jesus, we've lost! So let the goal be Him. To live is Christ, to die is gain—this is the message of the letter. Therefore, our lives should be lived to Him, through Him, for Him, with Him, about Him—everything should be about Jesus.