This rainy December, grab a hot drink and sink into your favourite chair with Faithworks’ annual reading list. From new takes on classics to fictional thrillers, there’s a book for everyone and every reading interest in the coming year!
1. DAVID WILKERSON
This is the story of David Wilkerson, a man of conviction who took the dream God gave him to change the city of New York, and marched into its streets with love and humility. Against tremendous odds, David Wilkerson brought the life-changing gospel into the heart of a dangerous city and into the lives of violent men, including gang leader Nicky Cruz.
This book documents a life of radical obedience – a life that can be ours to live if we hear and obey God’s plan for our lives. What can be a more glorious start to 2020 than a real-life account of timeless courage?
2. THE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT
Beloved author and teacher, Derek Prince, lays out a biblical foundation for the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The bold premise of this book is this: Any believer who is not manifesting the gifts of the Spirit is living far below the level of God’s provision for his or her life.
Derek Prince writes that one of the greatest necessities in the church today is to demonstrate that Jesus is alive and that His gospel is true – through the power of the Spirit. Are you ready to stir up the gift within you?
3. THE PILGRIMS PROGRESS-ILLUSTRATED EDITION
Strengthen your faith with this exquisite collection of classic Christian literature by the gifted John Bunyan. While imprisoned in the 17th century for not conforming with the Church of England, Bunyan, a lay preacher, penned Pilgrim's Progress.
Known today as one of the most inspiring allegories of the Christian faith ever written, and the second most read book in the world, this Christian classic is now accompanied by beautiful illustrations.
4. HINDS' FEET VISUAL JOURNEY
Hinds’ Feet on High Places, with more than 2 million copies sold, is another Christian allegory that has inspired countless people to become sure-footed in their faith even when facing the rockiest of life’s terrain.
Journey with Much-Afraid to new heights of love and victory in a story based on Psalm 18:33: “He makes me as surefooted as a deer, enabling me to stand on mountain heights.” As you read and connect with the story of Much-Afraid and her trials, the pages of this book become a canvas on which to chronicle your own story, struggles, and personal triumphs.
5. MORNINGS WITH TOZER-DAILY DEVOTIONAL READINGS
Many of these 365 devotional readings come from sermons Tozer preached close to his death in 1963, marking them with a deep concern for spiritual intimacy and true worship.
In this devotional, Tozer urges his readers to pursue God, confess sin, pray fervently, and seek the Spirit. As you greet each morning in 2020 with all its glorious sights and sounds, let Mornings with Tozer awaken your heart and inspire your walk!
6. HUDSON TAYLOR’S SPIRITUAL SECRET
James Hudson Taylor has been honoured as one of the most significant figures in the history of China in the nineteenth century. For 51 years, he served as a missionary in China, baptizing an estimated 50,000 converts and bringing in over 800 missionaries under the China Inland Mission, which he founded.
This is the classic biography written by his son Howard and daughter-in-law Geraldine, who also served as missionaries to China. It is the inspiring story of Taylor's uncovering of the spiritual secret that paved the way for China Inland Mission to become a reality. Make this biography a must-read in 2020!
7. THINK LIKE A BILLIONAIRE BECOME A BILLIONAIRE
Get ready to break some mindsets in 2020! While this book by Scot Anderson is about primarily about money and investing, it’s also a challenge to think differently in the area of jobs, risks, problems, preparation, and time. Scot takes you on the journey he took in changing the way he thinks, sharing that if you learn to think like a billionaire, then you can become one.
How can that be? Well, he says, that’s because billionaires think differently than most people. If you took away all of Donald Trump's money, he would be right back to where he is today because of the way he thinks. This is definitely not a book for the faint of heart!
8. THE LEADERSHIP HANDBOOK
Both leadership veterans and those aspiring to positions of leadership will enjoy John C. Maxwell’s compact instructional. In this book, Maxwell presents 26 insights that serves a road map for a path many may cross but few choose to follow.
Maxwell’s highly relatable principles are peppered throughout the book; Gems such as “Keep learning to keep leading” and “People quit people, not companies” will keep you in the running to become more effective in whatever leadership capacity you’re in. This is another must-read for 2020, for everyone from cell leaders to company leaders, from mums to managers.
9. PROFOUND GOOD
Fascinating and gripping, this book will leave you undone by the profound goodness of God. From the time Blake Healy was a small child, he had had seen angels, demons, and other spiritual things. After thirty years of seeing in the spirit, one thing has consistently been the most painful for him to see, and that is when he sees the goodness of God go unclaimed by His people.
In 2020, let your eyes be opened to Blake’s account that God’s glory, truly, covers the earth. All we have to do is learn how to see it and receive it, and then we will watch every corner of the world be completely transformed by the power of His profound good.
10. GLORY WARFARE
It’s time to engage in spiritual battle - and win! When it comes to spiritual warfare, many Christians have thrown in the towel after repeated defeat. But take heart, you can be victorious, and 2020 can be your start to waging warfare in wisdom.
Glory Warfare offers a powerful revelation on waging spiritual warfare from the place of triumph, which is God’s manifest Presence. Respected prayer leader, Becca Greenwood shows all believers how cultivating a lifestyle of encountering the Holy Spirit is the secret to victory.
11. 30 DAYS TO UNDERSTANDING THE BIBLE, 30TH ANNIVERSARY
This title falls under essential reading for every believer, and we reckon, even pre-believers. If you've ever confused the ark of the covenant with the ark of Noah, or Jericho with Jeroboam, Max Anders' classic book, 30 Days to Understanding the Bible, is for you. In just fifteen minutes a day, you'll learn the Bible's key people, events, and doctrines to get more out of God's Word.
This simple-to-use guide features core beliefs of the Christian faith, focusing on the teachings that have united Christians for the last 2,000 years. At Faithworks, we especially love the ‘Arc of Bible History’, which will help you visualize the bible’s overarching themes.
12. THE PERSIAN GAMBLE
Rounding up our terrific twelve is New York Times bestselling author Joel Rosenberg’s latest thriller, The Persian Gamble. It’s a stunning narrative about aterrifying nuclear alliance among three world powers―Russia, Iran, and North Korea―and the man who must halt their deadly strategy.
Too incredible to be true, even for fiction? Well, if you’ve been following Joel’s books since he first wrote The Last Jihad, then you would have been kept at the edge of your seat with the some very real events that had taken place after his books were published. Would it be the same with The Persian Gamble…?
And there we have it – Faithworks’ best reads of 2020! We hope that you’ll be blessed with this incredible range of titles. You may have your favourites too, so share them with us through the comments below. We wish you an amazing, faith-filled 2020!