I enjoy books in a variety of genres – theology, Christian living, biography, leadership, professional development, sports, etc. A few times each year I like to share a list of new and upcoming books that you might be interested in. Here are sixteen new and upcoming books, along with a bonus – Tammy and my new book, tentatively titled Use Us Up, Lord: Finishing Well for Our Good and His Glory.
The Spirit in You by Jordan Raynor, Illustrator Jonathan D. Voss
To be published June 16.
From the Amazon description:
From the author and illustrator team of The Creator in You, this simple yet profound picture book offers a kid-friendly introduction to what God saved us from and what God saved us for—the good works prepared in advance for us to do.
Jesus also loves you without your good deeds
But I hope that by now you are starting to see
That the Spirit is not just for your salvation
But to help you do good for all of creation.
Salvation by grace is what makes Christianity so dazzlingly different from every other religion—but salvation is far from the end of the story. In fact, it’s only the beginning! Rooted in Scripture and brought to life through vibrant and sweeping illustrations, this book will help kids understand the path to and purpose of salvation. From bestselling author Jordan Raynor, The Spirit in You explains in accessible language and engaging rhyme how the Holy Spirit empowers believers to bring heaven to earth their entire lives.
Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith by J.D. Vance
To be published June 16.
From the Amazon description:
From the bestselling author of Hillbilly Elegy—an intimate account of why Vice President JD Vance strayed from the Christianity of his youth and what led him back to faith.
Communion is a spiritual exploration of what it means to be a Christian in all the seasons of life JD Vance has experienced—as a child, a young man, a husband, a father, and a leader.
Picking up in some ways where Hillbilly Elegy left off, Communion recounts how Vance’s pursuit of material privileges ultimately led him into a secular wilderness.
Communion reveals how Vance regained his faith and discusses his conversion to Catholicism, how his faith guides his work in public life, and how it shapes his thoughts about the future.
Dust to Dust: Aging Wisely in an Anti-Aging World by Jen Wilkin
To be published July 21.
From the Amazon description:
In This Biblical Meditation, Jen Wilkin Offers Christians a Compelling and Hopeful Perspective on Aging and the Aged
The world tells us at every turn that aging is a steep descent into irrelevance, one to be avoided at all cost. This false story diminishes not only us but our elders and the time God gives us. But Scripture reveals a markedly different pattern of life, one of increasing value, that calls us to embrace our age and number our days rightly.
In this extended exploration of aging, Jen Wilkin draws poetic parallels between the first half of life and the second. Exploring the changing realities of caregiving, abilities, and potentiality, she helps us to trace God’s give-and-take design at every stage. Wilkin offers practical insights on body image, honoring the elderly, the essential value of family, and more. She urges us to trade an anti-aging mindset for the pursuit of biblical wisdom, encouraging believers to lean into―not fight―their place in the true story of the arc of life.
- A Biblical Perspective on Aging: This book is a thought-provoking resource for those in their 20s, middle age, and beyond
- Thoughtful: Using the metaphor of a chiastic poem, Wilkin explores the symmetry of life and helps us find value in each stage
- Practical Application: Invites Christians to reject the world’s lies about age, pursue wisdom, steward their time well, and serve others as image bearers of God
- Written by Bestselling Author Jen Wilkin: Author of None Like Him; In His Image; Women of the Word; and more
Everyday Hallelujah: Unlocking Deep Joy Through Everyday Acts of Worship by Phil Wickham with Matt LittonTo be published August 11.
From the Amazon description:
Every hallelujah doesn’t have to be sung. Some hallelujahs are lived.
What if understanding worship as our truest purpose could move us beyond a surface-level faith and into a life of true spiritual intimacy and joy with God?
In Everyday Hallelujah singer-songwriter Phil Wickham invites us to see worship not as a Sunday-morning ritual but as a way of life, a way to receive and give God’s grace and to celebrate his faithfulness. With contagious passion, Phil takes readers on a journey through Scripture to explore how worship shapes the way we live, work, love, and reflect God’s presence to the world around us. Phil shows us how
- Adam and Eve expressed their worship through their work, relationships, and obedience;
- Daniel’s everyday-worship habits prepared him for the lion’s den;
- Elijah worshiped by boldly declaring God’s promises on Mount Carmel;
- Mary and Martha learned how to worship in the waiting; and
- Paul and Silas sang songs in the night to break strongholds.
Worship is the very reason we exist. When our hearts are turned toward God’s glory in the everyday moments of life, we begin to see that every place we stand is holy ground.
Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing: A Liturgy for Daily Worship with the Psalms by Jonathan Gibson
To be published August 18.
From the Amazon description:
A 31-Day Liturgy Focused on the Psalms
With beautiful prose that draws readers into worship, the Psalms serve as the Bible’s very own liturgy. But many lifelong believers encounter seasons when devotion grows dull, and Scripture reading becomes a matter of dutiful habit rather than heartfelt praise. Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing offers a 31-day liturgical guide rooted in the Psalms, providing content, structure, and rhythms that center hearts on honoring our God.
Designed to be read in 15–20 minutes per day, each reading includes a Call to Worship drawn from the psalter, an Old Testament reading, historical prayers, creeds, and catechisms that point readers to Christ. This edition of the Daily Worship Liturgy series offers fresh content participants may use as an alternative to Be Thou My Vision and alongside the seasonal liturgies, O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, and O Sacred Head, Now Wounded.
- 31 Daily Devotions: Features an Old Testament Scripture reading from the Psalms, hymns, prayers, and creeds, as well as time for meditation, petition, and confession
- Focused on the Psalms: Each daily reading includes a Call to Worship drawn directly from the psalter
- Repetition Throughout Readings: Content repeats to help readers memorize and meditate on important material
- A Part of the Daily Worship Liturgy Series: Written by Jonathan Gibson, author of Be Thou My Vision; O Come, O Come, Emmanuel; and O Sacred Head, Now Wounded
We Will Be Changed: 9 Inner Glories the Spirit Is Cultivating in You by Alistair Begg
To be published September 1.
From the Amazon description:
Discover the Daily Transforming Work of the Holy Spirit.
You want to be more like Jesus, but sometimes it feels that you’re not growing much. Despite your best efforts, spiritual progress seems frustratingly slow.
Take heart! In We Will Be Changed, trusted Bible teacher Alistair Begg offers hope and reassurance that the Holy Spirit is working in and through you. He is shaping your heart, transforming your character and forming your life into a testimony.
As you read, you’ll discover…
- How the Spirit is cultivating 9 Christ-like qualities within you
- Why experiencing the Spirit’s transforming power brings relief, joy and peace
- What it means to keep in step with the Spirit
- Greater confidence that God is faithfully shaping you day by day
Begg writes, “God saves us just as we are, but he is not content for us to remain just as we are.” Be strengthened by the truth that you are partnering with the Holy Spirit as you seek spiritual growth. God is at work in you, and you will be changed.
Create in Me a Clean Heart: Experiencing God’s Abundant Mercy in Psalm 51 by Matt Boswell
To be published September 1.
From the Amazon description:
Matthew Boswell’s Exposition of Psalm 51 Meditates on the Christian Experience of Repentance and Forgiveness Through Jesus
“Have mercy on me . . . Cleanse me from my sin! . . . Create in me a clean heart.” The prayers of David fill the book of Psalms, but few illustrate the pattern of sin, renewal, and revival as poignantly as Psalm 51. Written amid his biggest failings, David’s song overflows with wisdom and encouragement for believers today, teaching us how to run to God, not away from him, in our own dark moments.
Based on sermons by Matthew Boswell, Create in Me a Clean Heart reflects on the beauty of Psalm 51. In examining the chapter’s key themes of repentance, restoration, renewal, and response, Boswell offers a fresh, unhurried look into David’s heart and the Christian walk. This rich exposition teaches readers who long for forgiveness or need to understand their own need for repentance to find hope through the joy of confession and the mercy of Jesus.
- Expository: Examines the imagery, background, context, and application of Psalm 51 in chapters that take a verse-by-verse approach through the text
- Practical Application: Learn what it means to have a heart that is repentant, restored, renewed, and responsive to Christ
- Written by Matthew Boswell: Pastor, hymn writer, and professor of worship ministries at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
The Newborn King: 25 Devotions for Advent from C.H. Spurgeon, edited by J. A. Medders
To be published September 1.
From the Amazon description:
Meditate on the Coming of Christ with Rich Daily Truth.
Revel in the goodness of the newborn King with Charles Spurgeon! You’ll be drawn to worship as you see the wonder of Immanuel, God with us, and the glory of the gospel through this timeless Advent devotional.
These 25 short and profound reflections on the incarnation of Christ have been thoughtfully compiled by J.A. Medders from Spurgeon’s multitude of sermons. With light language edits, each devotion can be enjoyed by today’s reader while still capturing the piercing insights, vivid language and soul-thrilling meditations on Christ’s person and work that Spurgeon is famous for.
Each of the 25 daily reflections features…
- A key Scripture text grounding the meditation
- Doctrinally rich insights from Spurgeon’s classic sermons
- A written prayer to guide your response
- Meaningful questions for reflection and spiritual growth
Whether you’re new to Spurgeon or have enjoyed his writing for many years, you will find encouragement, inspiration and delight in the pages of this devotional.
Just Enough by David Eckstein with Jake Gronsky
To be published September 8.
From the Amazon description:
In JUST ENOUGH, two-time World Series Champion and 2006 World Series MVP David Eckstein shares the valleys and mountaintops that shaped him—years defined not by trophies, but by perseverance, faith, family, and the belief that purpose is found in how you rise when life tells you no.
You don’t need to be the biggest. You don’t need to be the strongest. You just need to keep going.
David Eckstein was never supposed to make it. Too small, too unlikely, too easy to overlook. From a fragile newborn fighting for his life to a young ballplayer told he’d never be good enough, the odds were stacked against him long before he reached a major league field.
But what he lacked in size, he made up for in heart.
Through intimate stories of his Florida upbringing, the challenges that forged his family’s bond, and the failures that taught him to fight back, David reveals the truth he learned long before he became a champion: a person isn’t measured in inches…they’re measured in feats.
More than a baseball memoir, this is a story about the people who carried him, the coaches who pushed him, the moments that nearly broke him, and the love that grounded him.
Honest and deeply human, JUST ENOUGH reminds us that if you’ve ever been doubted, dismissed, or underestimated, you can still win.
Contains a heartfelt introduction by actor Sean Astin, who calls Eckstein’s mastery of the game “just a thing of beauty.” This limited-edition hardcover also features specially designed edges, perfect for collectors and fans.
The Stories We Live By: Seven Cultural Myths That Fail Us and the Story That Never Will by Tim Keller and Michael KellerTo be published September 22.
From the Amazon description:
We are the stories we believe. But what if our culture’s stories are failing us? The Stories We Live By reveals the hidden cultural narratives that shape us and points the way to the life we’ve been looking for.
“Do what makes you happy.” “Be true to yourself.” “Live free.” If these slogans promise the good life, why do they so often leave us feeling hollow and empty? Could the very stories our modern world tells us about happiness, freedom, and identity be the source of our growing anxiety and disillusionment?
The culmination of a journey Michael Keller began with his father, beloved pastor and bestselling author Timothy Keller, before his passing, The Stories We Live By unmasks the hidden cultural narratives that shape our lives, often without our knowledge. Examining seven dominant narratives of modern culture–concerning identity, power, freedom, morality, truth, happiness, and progress–the authors show how these stories contain elements of truth yet are built on flawed assumptions and internal contradictions that leave us fragile, divided, and unable to cope with the realities of life.
The Stories We Live By helps us:
- Recognize where these stories appear throughout culture
- Understand why they leave us feeling hollow and unfulfilled
- Decode the specific ways these stories hijack our decision-making–and learn how to critically evaluate them going forward
- Understand why the Christian story offers a more satisfying answer to our deepest longings
- Make sense of both the beauty and the brokenness of the world
- Find a hope that can sustain us through suffering, grounded in a story that is bigger than death itself
For the skeptic, this book offers a challenge to examine the unproven beliefs that drive our lives. For the Christian, it is an essential tool for recognizing where we have unknowingly absorbed cultural narratives that conflict with our faith. And for everyone, it is an invitation to discover a story that is big enough to make sense of both the beauty and the brokenness of the world–a story of grace that has the power to carry us through life’s deepest joys and sorrows.
Born from a conversation between a father and son, The Stories We Live By is more than a cultural analysis. It is a guide to finding a truer, more beautiful, and far more satisfying story to live by.
The American Way of Killing: The Invention of an Epidemic by Malcolm Gladwell
To be published September 29.
From the Amazon description:
Malcolm Gladwell returns with a brilliant new work: an incisive investigation into gun violence, America’s deadliest and most polarizing crisis.
Why, when it comes to lethal violence, is America so different from the rest of the globe? The United States is wealthier, better educated, more technologically sophisticated, more religious than almost any of its peers in the developed world―all of which would suggest that it should also have the lowest levels of violence. Yet the opposite is true.
In this bold new book, Malcolm Gladwell investigates the paradox through a series of stories―the miracle of a young gunshot victim in Washington, D.C., the legal travails of a seventeenth-century English knight, a professor in Alabama with a terrible secret, a famous town in Kansas that Americans have been lying to each other about for 100 years, and a prison in Germany that would be unrecognizable to any American, among others.
Using original interviews, archival footage, and his trademark insight, Gladwell confronts one of today’s most urgent moral dilemmas and examines what’s actually being done to fix it.
Finally Home: The Christian Hope of Heaven by Dane Ortlund
To be published October 6.
From the Amazon description:
Exploring the Hope of Our Eternal Future with Christ
If we are not in Christ, this life is the best we will ever experience. If we are in Christ, this life is the worst we will ever experience. But amid the hurry and distractions of this life, we’re only dimly aware of the celestial bliss just around the next bend in the road.
In Finally Home, Dane Ortlund plunges into the word of God and the wisdom of the saints to help us rightly think about heaven, and to draw strength from our coming future more deeply than we ever have before. Writing with the same pastoral warmth and enchanting prose that mark his well-loved books Gentle and Lowly and Deeper, Ortlund speaks directly to the heart, providing insights into what our eternity with Jesus will be like. Finally Home is a timely invitation to lift our focus from the turmoil of our broken world to the wondrous surprises of our eternal home, where the Lord Jesus Christ himself will wipe away every tear from our eyes (Rev. 21:1–5).
- A Vision of Eternity: This book prompts readers to wonder at what awaits us in heaven and the joy of dwelling with Jesus forever
- From the Author of Gentle and Lowly (Over 1 Million Copies Sold): Written by Dane Ortlund, this book is marked with the same pastoral warmth and enchanting prose
- Wisdom from Figures Throughout Church History: Including Thomas Goodwin, Jonathan Edwards, C. S. Lewis, Richard Baxter, and others
- Scripture-Based: Explores passages throughout the whole Bible to arrest readers with the heavenly realities inevitably awaiting believers
Redeeming Your Goals: 7 Biblical Principles for Achieving Your Goals with Christlike Confidence, Consistency, and Character by Jordan Raynor To be published October 13.
From the Amazon description:
The bestselling author of Redeeming Your Time offers a gospel-centric, ultra-practical playbook for pursuing your goals with, like, and for God.
If you are unsure how to discern if your goals are aligned with God’s will, can’t figure out how to progress in your goals while swamped at work and home, or feel discouraged by goals you haven’t achieved, you’ll find freedom and clarity in these pages.
Rather than treating God as a means to achieving your goals (like some books do) or ignoring God altogether (like most authors do), Jordan Raynor presents a biblically-based road map to pursuing your goals with Christlike confidence.
Because Jesus is the most successful person who ever lived—by the world’s standards and by God’s—Raynor has studied the four gospel biographies to better understand how Jesus pursued his goals. The result is seven biblical principles to help you
1. Choose redemptive quests: Trade the common goals of recreation, retirement, renown, and retreat for Christ’s quest of redemption.
2. Baptize your imagination: Move from incremental to exponential vision for what God can accomplish through you.
3. Order your steps: Break big goals into a sequential plan of small steps pursued with singular focus.
4. Lighten your load: Achieve more by doing less and lightening the load on your soul, to-do list, and hurried calendar.
5. Trust God and get going: Work hard while trusting God with 100% of the results.
6. Maneuver the messy middle: Prayerfully discern when and how to quit, pivot, or persevere through the hardest part of pursuing your goals.
7. Measure upward, backward, and forward: Evaluate your success in radically different ways than the world.
Each of the seven biblical principles is followed by a menu of optional practices—fifty-eight in total—to help you live out this timeless wisdom in a modern context.
By offering a clear, gospel-centered framework you can turn to again and again, this book will be the last book on goals you’ll ever need—helping you pursue your goals with Christlike confidence, consistency, and character.
All God’s Creatures: What the Bible Says About Animals, Heaven, and the New Earth by Randy Alcorn
To be published November 17.
From the Amazon description:
For everyone who’s ever wondered, “Will there be animals in Heaven and on the New Earth?”
Whether at home or in the wild, animals bring comfort, joy, fascination, and wonder into our lives. It’s only natural, then, to hope the animals we cherish so much on Earth will someday live with us again.
For generations, however, many pastors and scholars have dismissed this idea, believing that Scripture is silent on the matter. And while countless pet-lovers cling to the hope that animals will be in Heaven, their belief is often rooted more in sentiment than in solid biblical teaching.
Not anymore.
Now, in the most comprehensive, Scripture-based theology of animals ever written, noted Bible scholar and bestselling author of Heaven, Randy Alcorn, presents a paradigm-shifting vision of God’s restorative plan for all His creatures―from Eden to the New Earth.
A captivating blend of rich biblical insight, inspiring stories, and surprising animal facts, All God’s Creatures thoroughly explores:
- God’s love for and delight in every animal He created
- how the destiny of animals and people is intertwined throughout Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation
- why God’s design for His creatures is neither secondary nor temporary, but woven into His eternal plan
So, if you’ve ever wondered whether animals will be in Heaven―or hoped for the possibility of one day being reunited with the pets you love―prepare yourself for an enlightening treat. You’ll discover how God’s Word tells us much more about animals than many of us have been led to believe.
This book makes a meaningful gift for animal lovers, and anyone experiencing pet loss, as well as for Bible-believers who have never explored what Scripture reveals about animals.
Journey to the Cross Family Devotional: A 40-Day Guide for Lent by Paul Tripp
To be published January 5.
From the Amazon description:
A Family Devotional That Helps Children Reflect on the Actions of Christ This Lenten Season
Lent is an important season of reflection. It’s a time to remember the suffering of our Savior and our need for his grace. And everyone, regardless of age, needs this reminder. In this new family-friendly adaptation of his bestselling devotional, Journey to the Cross, Paul Tripp provides 40 reflections that make Lent more accessible for parents and children.
Over the 40 days of Lent, families can use these daily devotions together to deepen their understanding of, and need for, Jesus. Each reading features a Scripture passage, a devotional passage, discussion questions for a range of ages, and a closing prayer. As families read, discuss, and pray over these gospel truths, children will be encouraged to confess their sins, celebrate Christ’s redeeming grace, and apply what they’ve learned to their lives.
- Adapted from Paul Tripp’s Journey to the Cross: Adapts, distills, and simplifies the vocabulary for kids and families
- 40 Daily Devotions: Each reading features a Scripture passage, a devotional passage, discussion questions for a range of ages, and a closing prayer
- Written for Kids 7–14: Intended to be led by parents at family devotional time
Echoes of Mercy: A Year of Poetic Gospel Meditations by Paul Tripp
To be published February 9.
From the Amazon description:
Year-Long Devotional from Bestselling Author Paul David Tripp Features 260 Free Verse Poems
Pastor and author Paul David Tripp has experienced God’s mercy and grace in the joys and struggles of everyday life. In Echoes of Mercy, he ministers to readers through personal, poetic reflections on his journey of faith, sharing his celebrations, disappointments, cries for help, confessions, and confusions in the form of meditations written over many years. This edition combines existing poetry from Tripp’s book, My Heart Cries Out, with 140 new poems. Together, all 260 poems are arranged in a 52-week devotional style.
Every week, Tripp writes a short introductory meditation and 5 entries focused on a gospel theme such as eternity, surrender, or comfort. Each entry includes a Scripture verse, two reflection questions, and a Bible reference for further study and encouragement. Vulnerable yet pastoral and wise, these meditations showcase how God’s amazing grace intersects with the mundane, unexpected, messy, and beautiful moments of everyday life.
- Poetry and Devotionals by Paul David Tripp: Bestselling author of New Morning Mercies (more than one million copies sold)
- Weekly Encouragement for Every Season of Life: 260 poems reveal God’s grace through trials and joys
- Applicable: Related Scripture and devotional questions invite readers to worship and meditate on God’s grace in their own lives
Use Us Up, Lord: Finishing Well for Our Good and His Glory by Bill Pence with Tammy Pence
We anticipate that our book on finishing well will be available on Amazon sometime this summer. Consider the book as Tammy and I personally walking with you on the path, on your journey, toward finishing well, from retirement to glory. At times the journey will be pleasant, and at other times very hard.
What new and upcoming books are you most looking forward to?
