Have you ever wondered what your favorite authors, speakers, pastors, and scholars are reading? What influences them? Which books do they re-read?

What’re They Reading? will make you privy to what’s being read by those you admire.

I corresponded with Jason Meyer, pastor, author, and professor, about what’s on his bedside table, influential biographies, and more.

What’s on your bedside table?

1. The Bible

2. 365 Days with C H Spurgeon, Volume 1

3. Jason Mandryk’s Operation World (7th Edition)

4. Martyn Lloyd-Jones’s Great Doctrines of the Bible

5. Iain H. Murray’s The Life of Martyn Lloyd-Jones

6. Todd Ahrend’s In This Generation

What books do you regularly re-read and why?

The following books are the perennials in my library garden:

1. The Bible (God wrote a book – why on earth would we not read it and rank it above all others?)

2. Jason Mandryk’s Operation World (like a defibrillator that shocks my apathetic heart so that it beats in tune with God’s global glory agenda every morning)

3. Martyn Lloyd-Jones’s Evangelistic Sermons at Aberavon (these sermons are amazing examples of Paul’s evangelistic preaching in Athens in which one finds commonality with the culture in terms of the problem and then heralds the solution found in the gospel of Christ)

4. John Piper’s God’s Passion for His Glory (I find Edwards more helpful on soli deo Gloria than anyone and no one makes Edwards come alive more than Piper)

5. Martin Luther’s commentary on Galatians (no one stressed grace alone, faith alone, and Christ alone quite like Paul in Galatians and I love reading Luther’s lively exposition of this book)

6. John Owen’s Communion with God (Owen is a great guide reminding me that the end of all knowledge of God should be communion with God. All theology should lead to doxology. Owen is more helpful than any other author in terms of how to have distinct relationship with each member of the Trinity)

What biographies or autobiographies have most influenced you and why?

The biographies I read almost every year are Arnold Dallimore’s two-volume biography of George Whitefield, Iain Murray’s two-volume biography of Martyn Lloyd-Jones, and Spurgeon’s autobiography. I also deeply enjoy reading missionary biographies. Perhaps my favorite here is Jonathan Edwards’s biography of David Brainerd. I love these books for myriads of reasons, but chief among them are (1) the way the surpassing power of the gospel shines through these jars of clay, and (2) the stirring example of perseverance and sheer “sticktoitiveness.”

What are your favorite fiction books and why?

I love to read fiction books that fire the imagination and reflect the image of God. I marvel at authors like J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis for their ability to create other worlds that feel really real. Lessons learned in Middle Earth and Narnia are just as applicable in our world. These authors are profound pointers to the image of God in the way they reflect God’s ability to create. The fiction perennials in my library are The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and the Chronicles of Narnia. Over the course of the last two years my family has also greatly enjoyed Andrew Peterson’s Wingfeather Saga. Peterson combines fun-loving humor, adventure and valor very well.

**********************

You can follow Jason Meyer on Twitter.

**********************

Also in the What’re They Reading? series: Michael Bird, Trevin Wax, and Doug Wilson.

Comments

comments