Highlights from Reading in 2025

I don’t have a “Best Books of 2025” list to share this time around.

I was blessed to read many great books in 2025, but most weren’t in the categories I’ve included in that sort of list in previous years. And I haven’t yet finished the two books that have won my attention the most in 2025–The Sing! Hymnal and The Devil’s Redemption.

The Sing! Hymnal 

A few months ago, I listened to an incredible interview with Keith Getty on "Gospelbound" with Collin Hanson. They talked about the new hymnal that Keith and his wife Kristyn have produced with a team of pastors, theologians, and musicians. I went out and ordered one right away.

This hymnal brings together the best of transatlantic English hymnody of the past and the present in a beautiful format (including online offerings). I am reading it every morning as part of my devotions. The Gettys have curated a wonderful collection of God-glorifying and Gospel-centered songs and readings. I’m giving copies out as gifts left and right!

The Devil’s Redemption: A New History and Interpretation of Christian Universalism

This two-volume work on universalism came out in 2018, but this is the year I had the gumption to try to read it. Michael McClymond is a scholar’s scholar, and he has written a top-notch history of the heresy of universal salvation in all (and I mean all!) of its forms. The scope and depth of the book is truly breathtaking. It is way beyond my abilities to comprehend (and even, at times, to follow), but I am making progress and learning a lot as I go. I borrowed the two volumes in July and keep getting extensions from the very patient lending library. I’ve reached page 892 (out of 1180) and hope to have it completed by the end of January.

The reason I want to have it read before February is that I get to meet the author then! Michael McClymond is going to be one of the main teachers at the 2026 EFCA Theology Conference. He will also be teaching a breakout session which I have been tasked with hosting. I’m excited (and a bit intimidated) to get to spend some time with him next month.

Jane Austen

It is a truth that should be universally acknowledged, that if you are a world-class genius author having a 250th birthday, you must be congratulated and your classic books read afresh. So this year I started to read through the works of Jane Austen starting with Sense and Sensibility. I’ve seen the Emma Thompson movie many times but (to my shame) never read the book. I’m now about halfway through Pride and Prejudice which I read many decades ago. 

I was informed and inspired in my Austenalia by the Undeceptions episode dedicated to her. Give it a listen!

Speaking of the classics, I also read Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson in 2025. It took me a while to get through the copious Scottish words sprinkled throughout, but what an adventurous ride! I read Treasure Island the year before. I wonder what Stevenson I could dive into for 2026? By the way, if you get to read some RLS, try to find one with illustrations by N.C. Wyeth. Heather and I visited the Brandywine museum again on our vacation in August. Wyeth’s art captures the motion and emotion of every scene.

More Inspector French!

I always have at least one story going about a detective, a sailor, or a spy–often all three. 

In 2025, I continued my quest to read all of the detective stories by Freeman Wills Crofts. Crofts was a genius who invented different kinds of detection novels including the "how-catch-em" (instead of a who-dun-it) like Columbo would eventually make popular on TV.

I think I read seven more Crofts’ novels starring stalwart Inspector Joseph French and began re-reading some of them to Heather Joy in the evenings. One standout this year was one where the murderer became repentant and confessed before the police caught him. I didn’t see that coming!

In a similar vein, I discovered a new golden age detective novelist, E.C.R. Lorac (the pen-name of Edith Caroline Rivett). Her main detective is Chief Inspector Robert Macdonald, a “London Scot” with a love for the English countryside. Reading her books is my current “next-best-thing” to getting to travel back to the UK. I enjoyed them so much, I read one of them twice this year!

Reading for Preaching 

The greatest amount of reading I did in 2025 was studying commentaries for preaching for Lanse Free Church. I focused on books of the Bible that I had never preached before: 2 John, 3 John, Daniel, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, and Esther. I was blessed to spend hours upon hours with at least two dozen experts on the biblical text. 

It’s incredibly hard to choose, but probably the most amazing commentary I read this year was J. Paul Tanner’s Daniel: Evangelical Exegetical Commentary. 

In my commentaries round-up review I said, “Tanner’s commentary is “the total package.” This is the height of evangelical scholarship on Daniel at this moment. Tanner has clearly read everything, and I mean everything. No stone is unturned. He provides an extensive bibliography and painstaking text critical notes, translation notes, and footnotes.

At the very same time, Tanner’s book is incredibly readable. He writes straightforward, accessible sentences in clearly marked sections so you always know where you are in the flow of the argument. There are helpful charts. Tanner is judicious and fair with all of his scholarship. He points out the strongest arguments of his opponents and the weakest of his own. He comes to dispensational conclusions but does not presuppose them. And it’s is warm-hearted, as well! Every unit includes commentary that ties that section of scripture to the rest of biblical theology and offers personal application, too. This is the very best kind of evangelical scholarship!

Tanner’s big books is probably too much for most ordinary readers, but most pastors should have this one if they’re going to tackle preaching Daniel.”

What a privilege it is to be set apart to study these faithful scholars and then feed the people of God!

Books by Friends 

A number of my friends published books in 2025 that I was privileged to read (some before they got out into the world!).

Raised in Splendor by Jason B. Alligood

Jason and I went to Moody together, and we’ve stayed in touch over the years. His Raised in Splendor, which is about the sanctifying power of glorification was named as a finalist for the 2025 Christianity Today Book Awards. 

The Far Bank by Zeke Pipher

My endorsement: "Zeke Pipher knows about deep waters. In The Far Bank, Zeke has penned forty searching meditations on holy Scripture through the eyes and heart of a true fisherman. I’ve never been an angler myself (fishing always sounded more like work than rest), but my friend Zeke almost makes me want to tie a fly and wade into a river with his mesmerizing descriptions and meaningful tales.

The Far Bank is far from shallow. Zeke draws from some of the richest sources in Christian theology and plumbs some spiritual depths. I was personally encouraged by every insightful essay. I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review, and my honest opinion is that Zeke is a man of understanding who is always worth reading (see Proverbs 20:5)."

Prophesying Daughters: Female Evangelists of the Swedish Evangelical Free Mission, 1892-1918 by David M. Gustafson

David and I are teammates on the EFCA Spiritual Heritage Committee, and I am always impressed by his careful scholarship, deep memory, and evangelistic heart. This book is a comprehensive study of the women who served as evangelists with the Swedish Mission, part of the foundational legacy of the EFCA.

What was really fun was to find references to our church and area in here. The entire book is online and searchable (put “Lanse” or “Winburne” in the search bar to find out more!).

Wholeness: Vol. 1 Where God Is Bringing Us  & Vol. 2 How God Is Transforming Us by Bruce Weatherly

Bruce and I served as elders together at Lanse Free Church when I first started here as a pastor. At the end of 2024, I read what would eventually become this two volume work on transformation. Here’s what I said when he graciously asked for my endorsement:

“Wholeness is the result of decades of deep rumination on a few life-altering truths. My friend, Bruce Weatherly, has marinated his mind on a number of cherished passages in God’s Word for a very long time, personally experiencing freedom and joy, and is now sharing his discoveries with us. I recommend reading Wholeness as it was written–in snatches, over time, and with much reflection.”

EFCA Blog Book Reviews

And once again I had the privilege of coordinating book review for the EFCA Blog. We published three review articles, and two of them even featured my friends!

- Defending Sin by Hans Madueme  

- De-Sizing the Church by Karl Vaters

- A.I. Goes to Church by Todd Korpi

Boy-howdy, I am not ready for that last one! But I am glad that some smart people are thinking about it. 

Port William Once Again

Near the end of 2025, I got to read what will most likely be the last book by a living legend, Wendell Berry. Marce Catlett is a forceful story indeed. I am reminded that I need to re-visit Port William again anon.

Tolle lege in 2026!