The 5 books I enjoyed the most in 2023

You should know a couple of things about me when it comes to reading.

First, I partially read a whole lot of books. I splurge on a chapter or two. Skim books for sermons. Get lost reading about a particular issue or topic. My attention span isn’t all that great if you can’t tell.

Second, I love nonfiction—especially Christian and leadership/business nonfiction. I don’t think I’ve read a fiction book in at least 2 years—that is, apart from the ones I share with my boys!

With that in mind, I fully read around 25 books in 2023. And I thought it’d be fun to tell you about the 5 I enjoyed the most.

5. Parenting by Paul David Tripp

I wrote a short review last year on Age of Opportunity—Tripp’s book for parenting teens. And it’s very similar to the one I’m writing about now.

In Parenting, Tripp describes 14 gospel principles. He emphasizes the importance of parenting the heart of children through a gospel lens. He reminds us that we’re more like our children than we often admit—sinners in desperate need of gospel change. But only God can change hearts.

Tripp writes, “… the greatest danger to your child is not the evil outside them; it’s the sin inside them that is the greatest threat to their well-being” (p. 51).

It’s easy to be more concerned with how well our children behave—or how good we look as parents—than how much our children hunger for God. So, in our parenting, Tripp encourages us to keep the root of the struggle (sin) and the rescue from the struggle (the gospel) in mind at all times.

4. The Care of Souls by Harold L. Senkbeil

This is the best book I’ve ever read when it comes to pastoral care. Having been raised on a farm and a pastor for 5 decades, Senkbeil gives a beautiful picture of what it looks like for a pastor to shepherd the flock entrusted to his care.

He makes an interesting connection between a pastor and a medical doctor. He says, “Since at least the fourth century, pastors have been known in the church as ‘spiritual physicians.’ They tend Christ’s sheep and lambs much as a shepherd would, guarding them from predators, seeing to their feeding and their care with an eye out for their health and safety” (p. 33).

While Senkbeil has an interesting take on the sacraments (a Lutheran perspective), his book taken as a whole is incredibly helpful and encouraging.

3. Strange New World by Carl R. Trueman

This is a condensed version of Trueman’s larger work called The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self. It describes some of the history behind the sexual revolution and the fruit of the sexual revolution in our strange world today.

He writes about guys like Descartes and Rousseau, Marx and Nietzsche. He says, “The modern self is not simply one that sees inner feelings as authoritative; the modern self also largely rejects the idea that human nature has any intrinsic moral structure or significance” (p. 51).

Trueman explains the prevailing cultural idea that a human can choose his/her own identity, especially as it relates to sexuality.

He ends the book by encouraging the church to hold fast to the biblical understanding of identity and sexuality. He says, “Older Christians can no longer assume that biblical ethics make sense to younger Christians because the social imaginary in which they operate is so different to the one many of us grew up in” (p. 184).

2. Holy Sexuality and the Gospel by Christopher Yuan

Speaking of sexuality and culture, this book by Christopher Yuan is both enlightening and practical.

Yuan leads a ministry focusing on sexuality—especially as it pertains to understanding and ministering to those who struggle with same-sex attraction. Yuan himself has struggled in those ways.

He makes some of the same points Trueman does, but I find Yuan’s experience and insights more applicable and helpful for holding conversations with those who have same-sex attractions. But this book is about more than homosexuality. It’s about understanding biblical sexuality in general.

Yuan writes, “Holy sexuality consists of two paths: chastity in singleness and faithfulness in marriage. Chastity is more than simply abstention from marital sex; it conveys purity and holiness. Faithfulness is more than merely maintaining chastity and avoiding illicit sex; it conveys covenantal commitment” (p. 47).

His book relates to a new digital discipleship resource called The Holy Sexuality Project for parents and teenagers. Yuan’s work is very much needed in the world today, and I’m thankful for it.

1. Growing Young by Kara Powell, Jake Mulder, and Brad Griffin

I enjoyed this book the most. It’s written by a group of researches from the Fuller Youth Institute at Fuller Theological Seminary. The idea behind the research is helping young people love the local church.

Not only do I (almost 24 years old) belong to the demographic they write about, but I also pastor students who belong to the demographic.

They studied 15- to 29-year-olds from various churches of numerous denominations. Some small churches, some large ones. Some rural churches, some urban ones. The churches were also ethnically diverse.

Through their intense research, they identified 6 commitments a church must make to help young people love the church (p. 43):

• Unlock key leadership (empower young people to lead).

• Empathize with today’s young people.

• Take Jesus’ message seriously (be genuine).

• Fuel a warm community.

• Prioritize young people (and families) everywhere (involvement in church).

• Be the best neighbors (engage the world instead of being overly negative).

So, there you have it—the 5 books I enjoyed the most in 2023!

This post is far from a good review of each one, but hopefully it gives you a good idea of what the books are about. Oh—and if you’re looking for some good books to read in 2024, read some of these!