Do you like reading? There’s books, and there’s great books! Some books are helpful…useful…interesting, but then there’s books that are highly impacting, life-changing, and you remember where you were when you read them! Below are some books I’ve found to be exceptional and which made a difference to my life.

Preachers’ biographies
There’s nothing like a good preachers’ biography! (for preachers anyway!). Spurgeon by Arnold Dallimore is an excellent biography of the ‘Prince of Preachers’ – Charles Spurgeon It does justice to this remarkable man. Be Myself is Warren Wiersbe’s autobiography and is a thoroughly enjoyable read, with Wiersbe’s wit showing through. The Memoirs and Remains of Robert Murray McCheyne by Andrew Bonar is first class.

Holiness
The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges is an excellent book, and one that could be given to any new Christian. It’s one of the best explanations on how to live the Christian life. Holiness by Henry Blackaby is also very good, and a challenge to the modern church. He points out that holiness is the highway over which God brings revival.

Cell Groups
Home Cell Group Explosion by Joel Comiskey is a superb book that can change the way a man or woman leads a cell group and approaches cell group ministry. I’d recommend it to every home group leader and every pastor and elder.

Leadership
Books on leadership abound, and people have their favourites. The ones I’ve found most helpful are Ablaze for God by Wesley Duewel and Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Sanders. The Book on Leadership by John MacArthur is also good, as is Courageous Leadership by Bill Hybels.

Encouragement
If you want a good dose of encouragement, I’d recommend Fresh Faith by Jim Cymaba. But even better, in my opinion, is his book The Life God Blesses. It’s excellent. That book really blessed me when I was going through a difficult time. Jim Cymbala is easy to read, and yet his writings have depth and his discernment shows through.

David Hunt

When it comes to recommending books, this can be a subjective thing because people have their favourite authors and different tastes. But for what it’s worth, I’ve listed below some books that I would highly recommend.

Prayer
The Complete Works of E.M. Bounds on Prayer is a must-read for anyone who wants to go deeper and higher in their prayer life. It is a collection of Bounds’ smaller books, and is both ‘deep’ and yet easy to read. I highly recommend it. It had quite an impact on my life when I first read it ten years ago.

If you like smaller (and cheaper!) books, two of the best are Mighty Prevailing Prayer by Wesley Duewel (containing inspiring stories) and Don’t just stand there.. Pray Something by Ronald Dunn (very practical). Another excellent book is Revival Praying by Leonard Ravenhill which may be harder to obtain these days.

For biographies of men of prayer, two of the classics are Praying Hyde (edited by E.G. Carre) and Reese Howells, Intercessor by Norman Grubb. Praying Hyde moves me every time I read it.

Evangelism
In my opinion, one of the best ever books released on evangelism is Charles Spurgeon’s The Soul Winner. It is over one hundred years old, but very readable and practical. Some excellent modern books include The Way of the Master by Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron, That none should perish by Ed Silvoso, and Out of the Saltshaker by Rebecca Manley Pippert.

Revival
Leonard Ravenhill’s classic Why Revival Tarries is must reading for anyone concerned about the state of the church, and particularly for preachers. Wesley Duewel’s Revival Fire is an excellent survey of history’s revivals and is one of those rare books you can read time and again. The Welsh Revival by Thomas Phillips recounts the thrilling story of the 1859 revival – containing eye witness accounts – and The Welsh Revival of 1904 by Eifion Evans is also good reading.

Church growth
The popular Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire by Jim Cymbala (1997) is the best modern book I’ve read on church growth. It emphasises prayer, not methods. Much of it is biographical, tracing the growth of the Brooklyn Tabernacle Church in New York City.

Preaching
The books on preaching that have had the biggest impact on me are Preaching and Preachers by Martyn Lloyd-Jones (excellent), The Supremacy of God in Preaching by John Piper, and Preaching with freshness by Bruce Mawhinney. Preaching for impact by Australian author Kel Willis is also excellent.

Missions
The Challenge of Missions by Oswald J. Smith is high-impact book, and Revolution in World Missions by K.P. Yohannan a real thought provoker and should be read by every missions committee. There are simply too many great biographies to name, but for me, some ‘on the top shelf’ are Gladys Aylward – The Little Woman (Aylward & Hunter), King of the Cannibals – the Story of John G. Paton (Jim Cromarty), A chance to die (Elizabeth Elliot‘s biography of Amy Carmichael), Goforth of China (Rosalind Goforth), and the excellent biography of C.T. Studd by Norman Grubb.