Today is World Book Day, which celebrates reading and authors around the world. Reading can be difficult for a lot of people, but it makes a huge difference when you do. I encourage you to get into it and take reading more seriously, audio books are easier for some, and I’d encourage you to listen to them if that’s you. I wanted to take the time and highlight a few books that should be in your library! They range from fiction to theology, and will greatly enhance your life. It just so happens that some of these books are written by my favorite authors as well, here they are below, with links to purchase! Just click on the name under the photos to purchase.

Francine Rivers “Mark of the Lion Series”

This is by far the best book series I’ve ever read from an author in my personal opinion, Christian or not. These books were written over twenty years ago, yet maintain relevancy today. The setting is in the ancient Near East, from empire of Rome to the forests of Germania, and centers on three characters. Their names are Hadassah, Marcus, and Atretes respectively. These books are written as historical novels, and accomplishes what few Christian novels can in helping you feel what it’s like to live in the same world early believers did.

Michael Reeves “Delighting in the Trinity”

Usually the Trinity is a philosophical and theological landmine, but Michael Reeves has written a book that shows the practical implications of God’s triune nature. It even affects how and why we worship the way we do, as well as whether or not we can declare that God is love. The trinity is not just meant to be a philosophical debate for theologians, its relevant to our lives.

Dr. Michael Brown “The Real Kosher Jesus”

Dr. Michael Brown is a prolific author who earned his PhD in Near Eastern Languages, and is a Messianic Jew. It’s easy to lose sight of Jewish/Hebrew origin of our Messiah as Gentiles, but this book helps unpack issues that we would commonly overlook. Many unbelieving Jews have the picture that Jesus is a Gentile, and has nothing to do with being Jewish. This book will greatly enrich your faith, and open your eyes to many New Testament scriptures that you’ve been reading the entire time.

Randy Alcorn “Heaven”

Randy Alcorn has provided an incredible work concerning our future eternal home in Christ. This is the kind of book where the idea of Thoughts Of Redemption is communicated, because of how it challenges our thinking about heaven. There are so many conceptions about heaven, but the chief idea is that “We can’t imagine anything about it, just that it’s amazing!” Yet, the Bible has a lot more to say about where we were meant to be, and what we will do, but we’ve been trained to spiritualize much of it. I cannot recommend this book enough, it’ll provide an immense level of encouragement to you, and strengthen your hope for eternity. This will in turn reignite your drive for why you do what you do while here.

A.R. Bernard “Four Things Women Want From A Man”

I couldn’t leave my own pastor from this list! Aside from that bias, the book is an incredible value to my life, and men around the world. To spark your interest, the four things are: decisiveness, consistency, strength, and maturity. The book never comes from an accusatory place, and as you read it, you begin to see why these four things are incredibly important in a man’s life.

Honorable Mentions

Jamaal Bernard “Unapologetic Christianity”

Jamaal Bernard is the son of Dr. AR Bernard, as well as the pastor of Christian Cultural Center’s Long Island campus. This is the most recent release of this list, and very important for the times we’re in. Don’t hesitate to purchase and be reminded of how to be bold as a Christian.

Brady ‘Phanatik’ Goodwin Jr. “Navigating the ‘N’ Word”

Brady is a prolific writer who’s released multiple books after his career in Christian Hip Hop, and this is his most recent release. He took an extremely tough and controversial topic and dealt with it in such an in-depth yet approachable way. I’ll honestly say it felt weird reading the profanity when he analyzed Hip Hop songs in order to show the progression of the n word, since he’s never used it in his music, but don’t let that deter you from the biblical content inside.