The Reason for Church takes an honest look at why many people have drifted away from church and how the church can faithfully respond. Brad Edwards helps readers see the church not as an optional add-on to the Christian life, but as God’s primary means for discipleship, worship, mission, and spiritual growth. Addressing topics like social media, distorted identity, “virtuous victimhood,” and consumeristic discipleship, he shows that the local church is more beautiful, fulfilling, and life-giving than anything culture can offer. The book is theologically rich and thought-provoking while remaining accessible, engaging, and often humorous. Whether you’re struggling to prioritize church involvement or simply want a renewed vision for the beauty and purpose of the local church, this book will encourage and challenge you in all the right ways.

The Freedom of Self Forgetfulness is a great little book by Tim Keller. When I say “little,” I really mean it!  If anyone ever says they don’t have time to read, this book takes that excuse away. It’s a great, biblical reminder that we are happiest when we are loving God and living to serve others. This is how God has designed us. Trying to fight against that by pursuing your own desires is miserable. A must-read for anyone: teenager to adult.

Throughout my life, and in the last couple of years specifically, I’ve grieved over and longed for answers that never came. I’ve prayed prayers that don’t come back with anything I can hold and I’ve grasped to possess what was never mine to keep. Reading C.S. Lewis’s Till We Have Faces was an indictment that I’ve been asking the wrong questions, or at least expecting the wrong answers.

In what some consider his best novel, Lewis retells the myth of Cupid and Psyche from the perspective of Orual — the older, uglier sister, the one history would cast as the jealous villain. Lewis spends the first half making you understand her completely. You feel her love and devotion and sacrifice for her beautiful younger sister as the only pure thing in a brutal world — until you see that the love was also a kind of possession, a hand closing around something it refuses to lose. And by the end, I wasn’t reading about Orual. I was reading about myself.

Orual spends the whole book building a case against the gods of her world — pages of grievance, a demand that they explain themselves and answer for their silence. But what undoes her in the end isn’t a rebuttal, it’s their silent presence. Her questions don’t get answered but evaporate, and she finally understands that the gods gave no answer because they are the answer—that before their faces, questions die away.

What I keep reflecting on are the answers I want were never going to be a because. They were always going to be a who. So I’m learning to stop demanding the explanation and to instead look and trust that before the face of Jesus, even my oldest questions will die away.

A book that I have read that has been such an eye-opener for me is Gospel Treason (SO GOOD!).

The book challenged me to recognize that idolatry is still something that quietly happens within our hearts today. One of the biggest takeaways for me was realizing that even good things can become idols when they take the place that belongs to God. Things like success, approval, comfort, control, family, ministry, or personal goals can slowly become more important to us than we realize. The book helped me see that many outward struggles actually begin with deeper issues of the heart. I also appreciated how the author continually pointed back to the gospel as the true answer. Real change does not come from simply trying harder or improving behavior, but from having our hearts transformed by Christ. The gospel not only reveals our idols, but also offers grace, forgiveness, and hope for transformation. Overall, this book encouraged me to honestly evaluate my heart and reminded me that God desires more than outward obedience; He desires wholehearted worship.

I recently read Winning the War in Your Mind by Craig Groeschel, and it was so good. Maybe it just hit me at the right time, but I appreciated that he goes beyond simply saying “pray and trust God more” and actually gives practical wisdom for what it looks like to change the way we think. Rather than stopping at “read your Bible more” or “pray more,” he offers tangible steps alongside research and insights into the way God designed our brains, helping explain what’s actually happening in our thought patterns. His writing is witty, thoughtful, and encouraging, and the whole book felt incredibly practical.

This year, I’ve been reading through the Bible with a friend, and it has been so encouraging. Two resources that have been especially helpful are The Bible Recap by Tara-Leigh Cobble and the Enduring Word Commentary. Both provide insightful commentary that brings greater clarity to the passages and has helped deepen my understanding of Scripture and enlarge my view of God.

I also highly recommend reading through the Bible with a friend. Having someone to walk through Scripture with creates opportunities to encourage one another, share highlights from the daily readings, discuss questions, and celebrate what God is teaching us.