What an incredible feast we had in God’s word with Dr. Don this weekend. Hopefully you’re hungry for more. John Bell has read every one of his 60-plus books. Here are his recommendations for the five Carson books every Christian should read:
- The God Who is There: Finding Your Place in God’s Story – Carson plots out the salvation historical unity of the bible’s storyline, always with Jesus as its center. This is the first book I recommend new Christians read (or I send them the video link to the lectures).
- For the Love of God (Free PDFs: Volumes I and II) – A daily devotional covering every book of the bible, but providing a “big picture” view of salvation history. Carson places each reading into the larger framework of God’s eternal plan. A good companion piece to The God Who is There.
- Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and His Confrontation with the World – An exposition of first 10 chapters of the book of Matthew. A first rate resource for understanding the nature of the Kingdom, the requirements of that Kingdom’s citizens, and how Jesus fulfills OT scripture.
- How Long, O Lord? – The best book on suffering and evil you’ll ever read.
- The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God/Love in Hard Places (free PDF’s: Difficult Doctrine/Love in Hard Places) – These two books should be read together. The first looks at the nature of God and why he loves what he does, and how human beings distort those truths. The second book looks at God’s command to love our enemies. Very convicting!
As most Harborites know, you can also access Dr. Don’s daily devotional For the Love of God as a daily blog. It can even be emailed to you!