Top 11 of '11

When I moved to Romania back in 2009 I found myself with more time and freedom to read and study all kinds of Christian materials. At the end of the year I compiled the best into a Top 9 of ’09. This continued in 2010. And so I figured, why not keep it up? So, here is the third annual Top Christian resources list- the Top 11 of (20)11. In no particular order, other than grouped into books and sermons. Please note that I consider these supplements, not replacements for dedicated time in the Word. My walk with Christ has been transformed more radically by an hour a day in the Bible than any amount of time reading/listening to anything else. Yes, including Tim Keller. So, I send these to share quality solid resources, but above all pray for myself and each of you that regular deep study of the life-giving Word would be our primary source of wisdom and truth. 

Books

1) Think: The Life of the Mind and the Love of God by John Piper. Great book on how to use our minds/intellect/intelligence/reason for God’s glory. My review here.
2) The Pursuit of Holiness by Jeff Bridges. This book talks about what holiness is, why we’re called to be holy, and how to live that out. My review here.
3) Quest for Love by Elisabeth Elliot. Covers a huge range of topics including waiting on the Lord for a spouse, submitting our emotions and feelings and desires to the Lord, emotional and sexual purity before marriage, trusting God with our love life, and maintaining Biblical roles for men and women. My review here.
4) Eternity in Their Hearts by Don Richardson. Incredible book filled with stories of how God has prepared various cultures and people to receive the gospel. My review here. 
5) Radical by David Platt. The basic idea is that Jesus called all of his disciples to go and make disciples of all nations. So a “missionary calling” is not just for some Christians, but all. Platt challenges much of our comfort-driven Christianity and exhorts individuals and churches to live missionally. This would be great paired with Don’t Complicate The “Missionary Call”-  a brief article by John Piper. 

Sermons

6) John Piper- Make Your Mouth a Means of Grace. Raise your hand if your tongue is a flaming fire? You’re in good company, and this is rockin. Link here 
7) Covenant Life Church (mostly Josh Harris) sermon series on Nehemiah, available on the Covenant Life Church Podcast (Jan 30- April 17, 2011) or here. Oh the gems and lessons in this beautiful little OT book!
8) 52 Key John Piper Sermons especially Open my Eyes That I May See and Wonderful Things From Your Word. I meant to listen to one a week over the past year but didn’t end up doing so. Maybe a good goal for 2012! Link here to all 52.
9) Mark Driscoll sermon entitled Dating. The most practical sermon I’ve ever heard on the topic. Well worth the entire hour.
10) Two incredible sermons about sharing Christ with non-Christian family members and on evangelism in general. They’re both by Randy Newman (who I don’t know apart from these sermons), entitled Bringing the Gospel Home and Questioning Evangelism, and they can be found here and here or you can find them on the Covenant Life Church podcast from May.
11) Phenomenal Tim Keller sermons (they’re all great, but these are my top from this year)- Cross; the way to endurance. Forgiving and Forgiven. A Counter-Culture of Grace. 

I pray these are a blessing to you and source of growth in your walk with the Lord!