Recommended Books on Family and Marriage

What Did You Expect? Redeeming the Realities of Marriage
by Paul David Tripp
“Paul Tripp brings many years of counseling, growth as a husband, and deepening discovery of the liberating power of grace to this realistic and challenging guide to God’s engagement in redeeming marriages that are threatened by complacency, misunderstanding, and selfishness. The Bible’s message of the humbling and healing power of Christ’s mercy and the powerful presence of his Spirit in our homes comes through loud and clear. The daily practicality of gospel doctrine is made crystal clear by Tripp’s transparency about his personal missteps in becoming a Christ-reflecting husband and the many examples of couples who have discovered that they are sinners married to sinners. But that the third, divine Party in marriage gives hope and change when unrealistic expectations are shattered and when we confront our sin. But be warned: Tripp’s diagnostic questions are downright uncomfortable. Even those with strong marriages by God’s grace will find their deep tendencies toward self-coronation challenged!”
Dennis E. Johnson, Professor of Practical Theology, Westminster Seminary California

 

The Meaning of Marriage: Facing the Complexities of Commitment with the Wisdom of God by Tim Keller
Modern culture would have you believe that everyone has a soul mate; that romance is the most important part of a successful marriage; that your spouse is there to help you realize your potential; that marriage does not mean forever, but merely for now; and that starting over after a divorce is the best solution to seemingly intractable marriage issues. But these modern-day assumptions are wrong. Timothy Keller, with insights from Kathy, his wife of thirty-seven years, shows marriage to be a glorious relationship that is also misunderstood and mysterious. The Meaning of Marriage offers instruction on how to have a successful marriage, and is essential reading for anyone who wants to know God and love more deeply in this life.

Timothy Keller was born and raised in Pennsylvania and educated at Bucknell University, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and Westminster Theological Seminary. His first pastorate was in Hopewell, Virginia. In 1989 he started Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City with his wife, Kathy, and their three sons. Today, Redeemer has nearly six thousand regular Sunday attendees and has helped to start more than three hundred new churches around the world. He is the author of The Songs of JesusPrayerEncounters with JesusWalking with God Through Pain and Suffering, and Every Good Endeavor, among others, including the perennial bestsellers The Reason for God and The Prodigal God.
 

Sacred Marriage: What If God Designed Marriage to Make Us Holy More Than to Make Us Happy? by Gary Thomas
Your marriage is more than a sacred covenant with another person. It is a spiritual discipline designed to help you know God better, trust him more fully, and love him more deeply.

Scores of books have been written that offer guidance for building the marriage of your dreams. But what if God’s primary intent for your marriage isn’t to make you happy . . . but holy? And what if your relationship isn’t as much about you and your spouse as it is about you and God?

Everything about your marriage--everything--is filled with prophetic potential, with the capacity for discovering and revealing Christ’s character. The respect you accord your partner; the forgiveness you humbly seek and graciously extend; the ecstasy, awe, and sheer fun of lovemaking; the history you and your spouse build with one another--in these and other facets of your marriage, Sacred Marriage uncovers the mystery of God’s overarching purpose.

This book may very well alter profoundly the contours of your marriage. It will most certainly change you. Because whether it is delightful or difficult, your marriage can become a doorway to a closer walk with God, and to a spiritual integrity that, like salt, seasons the world around you with the savor of Christ.

This Momentary Marriage: A Parable of Permanence by John Piper
The chasm between the biblical vision of marriage and the common human conception is—and has always been—gargantuan. Reflecting on over forty years of matrimony, John Piper exalts the biblical meaning of marriage over its emotion, exhorting couples to keep their covenant as a display of Christ’s covenant-keeping love for the church. He aims to lift the church’s low view of marriage to something infinitely greater, namely, a vision of Jesus’s unswerving allegiance to and affection for his bride. This Momentary Marriage unpacks the biblical vision, its unexpected contours, and its weighty implications for married, single, divorced, and remarried alike. Now available in paperback with a freshly redesigned cover, Piper’s book on marriage holds even greater appeal.

 

 

When Sinners Say "I do":Discovering the Power of the Gospel for Marriage by Dave Harvey
Marriage is the union of two people who arrive at the altar toting some surprisingly large luggage. Often it gets opened right there on the honeymoon, sometimes it waits for the week after. The Bible calls it sin and understanding its influence can make all the difference for a man and woman who are building a life together. When Sinners Say "I Do" is about encountering the life-transforming power of the gospel in the unpredictable journey of marriage.

Dave's writing style embraces the reader as he speaks honestly, and sometimes humorously, about sin and the power of the gospel to overcome it. He opens the delightful truth of God s word and encourages the reader to see more clearly the glorious picture of what God does when sinners say "I do."

 

Married for God: Making Your Marriage the Best It Can Be by Christopher Ash
It is our natural tendency to seek personal happiness and satisfaction in marriage. We often give our own needs, wants, and goals first priority. But what is God’s design for our marriages? With clarity and conviction, Christopher Ash turns us away from marriage for ourselves and toward marriage in the service of God. With practical applications for everyday life, Ash shows us God’s purposes and patterns for every part of the marriage relationship.

By realigning our hopes, expectations, and goals for marriage according to the Bible, we will discover the deep joy and lasting fulfillment that comes from a God-centered marriage.

 

 

Christian Marriage: From Basic Principles to Tranformed Relationships By Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
In an age which has seen an almost total collapse of marriage and when, in many cases, marriages end in divorce with children being raised in 'broken homes', Dr. Lloyd-Jones; words speak powerfully into our present situation. It is a situation which may be seen as giving Christians, and especially Christian marriages, a valuable opportunity to bear witness to biblical truth. The way in which Dr. Lloyd-Jones, like the Apostle Paul, deals with marriage relationship, is extremely important - to attempt to deal with Christian practice apart from Christian doctrine is to tread a dangerous path. As these chapters on Ephesians make clear, the only Christianity powerful enough to penetrate and change society is that which is derived from the work of the Spirit of God.

 

 

Family Driven Faith: Doing What It Takes to Raise Sons and Daughters Who Walk with God By Voddie Baucham Jr.

More teens are turning away from the faith than ever before: it is estimated that 75 to 88 percent of Christian teens walk away from Christianity by the end of their freshman year of college. Something must be done.

Family Driven Faith equips Christian parents with the tools they need to raise children biblically in a post-Christian, antifamily society. Voddie Baucham, who with his wife has overcome a multigenerational legacy of broken and dysfunctional homes, shows that God has not left us alone in raising godly children. 

This bold book is an urgent call to parents—and the church—to return to biblical discipleship in and through the home. This paperback edition includes a new preface and a study guide to facilitate interaction in small-group settings and to help parents put principles into practice.

 

A Theology of the Family Edited by Chapel Library

A Theology of the Family is an excellent anthology featuring a wealth of mostly-forgotten material from great Christian leaders of the past 500 years... In fact, the current dearth of biblical wisdom, combined with the rapid decline of the family as an institution, illustrates precisely why the material in this book is more truly relevant and more desperately needed than ever. --Phil Johnson, Executive Director of Grace to You, Sun Valley, CA

This volume is a spiritual buffet for Christian family life, a delicious smorgasbord of short selections largely drawn from treasured Reformed writers. It dishes up biblical truth, loading the table with meaty explanation, sweet comfort, and well-spiced exhortation for fathers, mothers, children, and young people. --Dr. Joel R. Beeke, President of Puritan Reformed theological Seminary, Grand Rapids, Michigan, and author of A Puritan Theology

There are many books on the family, so why another one? This is not another one ! I commend A Theology of the Family because it is a compilation of some of the best articles on the subject of the family from proven teachers of the last five hundred years. --Conrad, Mbewe, pastor of Kabwata Baptist Church, in Lusaka Zambia, and author of Foundations for the Flock: Truths About the Church for All the Saints

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Strengthening Your Marriage by Wayne Mack

The Godly Home by Richard Baxter

 

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