Here are this month’s book suggestions from your friends at The Scroll:

Beat God to the Punch: Because Jesus Demands Your Life by Eric Mason — Jesus demands your entire life. In Beat God to the Punch: Because Jesus Demands Your Life, Author Eric Mason succinctly articulates God’s call of discipleship on every person. In a winsome, persuasive tone, Mason calls people into a posture of submission to the gospel.

Eric Mason masterfully roots out the areas of life where we try to tell God, “Do not enter.” In light of Jesus’ free offer of the good news, Pastor Mason challenges readers to turn our affections away from those things that hold hostage our hearts and consider what it means to be an authentic follower of the Messiah.

God desires to transform every area of your life. Yet, most often, transformation seems to come when we willingly submit ourselves to the lordship of Jesus Christ. Why not beat God to the punch and seize a grace-filled life?

Beat God to the Punch is for anyone who has ever asked, “What does it mean to follow Jesus?” Believers and unbelievers alike will find both comfort and challenge on the pages of Mason’s work.

Jesus Through the Eyes of Women: How the First Female Disciples Help Us Know and Love the Lord by Rebecca McLaughlin — If the women who followed Jesus could tell you what he was like, what would they say?

Jesus’s treatment of women was revolutionary. That’s why they flocked to him. Wherever he went, they sought him out. Women sat at his feet and tugged at his robes. They came to him for healing, for forgiveness, and for answers. So what did women see in this first-century Jewish rabbi and what can we learn as we look through their eyes today?

In Jesus through the Eyes of Women, Rebecca McLaughlin explores the life-changing accounts of women who met the Lord. By entering the stories of the named and unnamed women in the Gospels, this book gives readers a unique lens to see Jesus as these women did and marvel at how he loved them in return.

Deep Discipleship: How the Church Can Make Whole Disciples of Jesus by J.T. English — Everyone is being discipled. The question is: what is discipling us?

The majority of Christians today are being discipled by popular media, flashy events, and folk theology because churches have neglected their responsibility to make disciples. But the church is not a secondary platform in the mission of God; it is the primary platform God uses to grow people into the image of Jesus. Therefore, as church leaders, it is our primary responsibility to establish environments and relationships where people can be trained, grow, and be sent as disciples.

There are three indispensable elements of discipleship:

• Learning to participate in the biblical story (the Bible)
• Growing in our confession of who God is and who we are (theology)
• Regularly participating in private and corporate intentional action (spiritual disciplines)

Deep Discipleship equips churches to reclaim the responsibility of discipling people at any point on their journey.

Redeeming Singleness: How the Storyline of Scripture Affirms the Single Life by Barry Danylak —

Though marriage is highly esteemed throughout Scripture, the Bible also affirms singleness as an important calling for some Christians. Redeeming Singleness expounds a theology of singleness that shows how the blessings of the covenant are now directly mediated to believers through Christ.

Redeeming Singleness offers an in-depth examination of the redemptive history from which biblical singleness emerges. Danylak illustrates the continuity of this affirmation of singleness by showing how the Old Testament creation mandate and the New Testament kingdom mandate must both be understood in light of God’s plan of redemption through spiritual rebirth in Christ.

As the trend toward singleness in the church increases, the need for constructive theological reflection likewise grows. Redeeming Singleness meets this need, providing encouragement to those who are single or ministering to singles and challenging believers from all walks of life to reflect more deeply on the sufficiency of Christ.

The Meaning of Marriage by Tim and Kathy Keller — Based on the acclaimed sermon series by New York Times bestselling author Timothy Keller, this book shows everyone—Christians, skeptics, singles, longtime married couples, and those about to be engaged—the vision of what marriage should be according to the Bible.

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.