10 Favorite Books of 2014 (Timothy Raymond)

Once again, I’m late in blogging about my favorite reads from this last year.  But since most people our ilk enjoy reading about good books, here’s my list for 2014.  Like last year’s list, and the year’s before that, this is not a list of favorite books published in 2014 but favorite books I read last year.  (I’m not much of a fan of reading the recent bestsellers, and someday I might blog about that.)  Again, instead of being enumerated in a countdown of good-better-best, these are what I considered my favorite read in a variety of different categories.  (If anybody’s interested in my 2011 list, it’s here.)

Favorite Novel: The Promise, by Chaim Potok – This story of Jews in 1960’s Brooklyn struggling to maintain their Jewishness in a modern world was the first novel I read since college but I really enjoyed it.  It helped me understand how not all fiction is a waste of time and can be a lot more enjoyable than watching TV.  I could also continually sympathize with the challenges of living an ancient faith in contemporary America.  Quite a moving story.

Favorite Book on the Family: Family Shepherds: Calling and Equipping Men to Lead Their Homes by Voddie Baucham – While containing a few strong sentences arguing for the primacy of the family-integrated church, on the whole, this little primer on the role of the husband/father as the spiritual leader of the family is a gem.  I don’t know of anything on this subject this concise and helpful.  It’d be a great one to use in discipling new Christian men.

Favorite Uber-Academic Book: Ancient Egypt and the Old Testament, by John D. Currid – Usually when I read a book on something having to do with the Bible, I already know a little bit about the subject.  Not so here as I knew practically nothing about Egyptology, and what I thought was true was inaccurate.  This remarkable book taught me tons about Ancient Egypt, one of Israel’s main nemeses, and how that information illuminates so much of the Old Testament.  This is definitely one to consult before preaching Genesis, Exodus, or Isaiah.

Favorite Pastoral Ministry Book: The Trellis and the Vine: The Ministry Mind-Shift that Changes Everything by Colin Marshall and Tony Payne – Five years ago when I first read this book, I thought I understood it.  But going through it a second time, I was surprised by how much I didn’t.  In some ways local church ministry is a lot simpler than we want it to be; it’s really nothing more than speaking God’s truth in love to the people the Lord has entrusted to our care.  So why is it so easy to get distracted by program maintenance and neglect actually shepherding people?

Favorite Biography: Forgiving Hitler: The Kathy Diosy Story by Kel Richards – I read a lot about the Holocaust this year and this true account of a young, nominal Jewish woman who is constantly on the run from the Nazis throughout occupied Europe is downright harrowing and reminded me a lot of Adrien Brody’s movie The Pianist.  But the nice part of this story is that this Jewish woman eventually meets Jesus and is transformed.  A real page-turner.

Favorite Biblical Studies Book: The Messianic Hope: Is the Hebrew Bible Really Messianic? (NAC Studies in Bible & Theology), by Michael Rydelnik – The Messiah in the Old Testament has been one of my favorite themes for years and this volume does a superb job demonstrating how there is a clear and consistent Messianic hope running throughout the first 77.2% of our Bibles.  While not as thorough as Kaiser’s, in some respects it is more helpful, and should definitely be near the top of the list of studies of the OT Messiah.

Favorite Book about the Bible: Bible Revival: Recommitting Ourselves to One Book, by Kenneth Berding – Want to hunger more for the Bible?  Read this short book.  Want a tool for teaching your people how to rightly interpret and apply the Bible?  Distribute this book freely.  This neglected gem hasn’t received the publicity it’s due and could be an incredibly useful tool in small groups or youth ministries.  It’s clear, simple, and practical and will convict, inspire, and equip you to want to meditate on Scripture day and night.

Favorite Book on Preaching: Expositional Preaching: How We Speak God’s Word Today by David Helm – I didn’t expect much from this book, mostly because it’s of the size and feel of The Prayer of Jabez.  But man, was I wrong.  Though only about as long as a substantial journal article, it contains the very best simple method I know of for taking a bare-bones passage of Scripture and turning it into a practical expositional sermon.  This is one to definitely use in the training of young men in exegesis and creating sermons.

Favorite Devotional Book: The Plight of Man and the Power of God by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones – This brief book, a collection of five expositions from Romans 1, sat on my shelf since I received it at the 2010 T4G Conference.  But for whatever reason I began reading it on a whim and wound up being profoundly moved in my soul.  The Doctor does that to me from time to time.  I don’t think I’ve ever felt my own sinfulness more deeply than while reading this book.

Overall Favorite Book: Going the Distance: How to Stay Fit for a Lifetime of Ministry by Peter Brain – This was the sort of “come out of nowhere”, knock my socks off, powerhouse book that I wasn’t expecting.  Feeling rather exhausted and discouraged in ministry, I picked up this title due to its topic.  It’s all about pastoral burnout; it’s causes, cure, and prevention.  I don’t know anything about Peter Brain, but he comes across as compassionate as Jesus, as clear as Spurgeon, and as wise as Solomon.  If pastors actually followed the recommendations in this book, I’m certain the Church would be far healthier and more effective.  I intend to write a longer review of this book, as it is really outstanding in every way.  It may end up saving my ministry (and my life) and ought to be required reading for all seminarians, pastors, elders, and deacons.

So that’s my list.  Now I’m curious; what were some of your favorite reads from 2014? Point us to them in the comments section below.

Timothy Raymond is an editor for Credo Magazine and has been the pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in Muncie, Indiana since April 2006. He received his MDiv from the Baptist Bible Seminary of Pennsylvania in 2004 and has pursued further education through the Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation.