I’ve recently read three books that I feel would be worth your time as well and wanted to share those here. The first, on preaching, is Preaching the Cross, which comes out of the Together for The Gospel movement. Dever, Duncan, Mahaney, and Mohler combine with John MacArthur, John Piper, and R.C. Sproul to bring this fantastic little book on the preaching and its central theme, the cross. Piper’s chapter on preaching as expository exultation phenomenal and is alone worth the price of the book. This book is well worth your time as a preacher to help you improve the God-given craft that you are entrusted with.
Next, I would recommend a little book on re-planting a church entitled Church Planting is for Wimps by Mike McKinley. McKinley took on the daunting task of pastoring a dead church with the mission of seeing it revitalized as a gospel witness in its community. His little book chronicles his journey through Capitol Hill Baptist Church to Guilford Baptist Church and the work that God has done along the way. This book should serve as a great encouragement to pastors who are struggling in difficult churches.
Finally, in the realm of aplogetics, I would recommend to you, The Historical Reliability of the Gospels, by Craig Blomberg. Certainly, this book drags a little in some places, but the information contained within its pages will serve as a fantastic reference resource on the shelf of any pastor or lay person concerned with defending the reliability, not only of the gospels, but of all of God’s word.