Book Recommendations for Quarter 2 in 2023

Books Recommendations for 2023: Quarter Two

Shaping Virtues

This past January 2023, KingsWay’s pastoral staff began an intentional work to recommend members read particular books as we strive to apply our faith to every facet of our lives. As Christians we know that when we embrace the gospel, we begin to see its fruit in our lives and among us, and so we pursue those qualities that are in keeping with the message of grace. To that end, our selection of book recommendations has been guided by our Sovereign Grace denomination’s seven Shaping Virtues: humility, joy, gratitude, encouragement, generosity, servanthood, and godliness. May the Lord use the following books to develop this fruit in our hearts as we work to follow Him in every aspect of our lives.

Recommended titles

For this second quarter of 2023, your pastoral staff recommends the following titles. This list includes five books new to the list:

1. How Does Sanctification Work (Powlison)

2. Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands (Tripp)

3. Christ from Beginning to End (Wellum)

4. The Missionary Fellowship of William Carey (Haykin)

5. Generous Justice (Keller)

and three that have remained on from quarter one:

1. Strange New World (Trueman)

2. God and the Transgender Debate, Expanded and Updated (Walker)

3. The Gospel at Work (Gilbert and Traeger)

Highlighted title

“The Missionary Fellowship of William Carey” by Michael Haykin (#4 above) is particularly relevant to KingsWay’s recent focus on evangelism in our adult Sunday class and our church-wide priority on international missions. The book portrays the life of the father of the Modern Missions Movement of the 1800s from the unique perspective of his friends and co-laborers who made his mission possible, and we see that many Christian friends made William Carey the man that he was. His mission, and all missions at large, are not accomplished by big personalities, but by the local church and within community. Haykin’s book presents a powerful reminder that missions are not so much about great persons who did great things as much as they are about God working through local churches to make ordinary Christ-followers faithful and effective disciples of the nations.

Caleb Collins