War of Words: Getting to the Heart of Your Communication Struggles (P&R, updated edition 2025) by Paul David Tripp
The war we wage with our words is most fundamentally a war for our hearts. As Jesus put it so well in Matthew 12, the mouth speaks what is in the heart, so our words serve as something of an X-ray machine of our hearts. As the author puts it, this means there is trouble in our talk. With teaching based on four fundamental, life-altering principles, Tripp reshapes our perspective and transforms our fight into a daily gospel-centered reality.
Taming the Tongue: How the Gospel Transforms Our Talk (TGC, 2021) by Jeff Robinson
It’s been estimated that the average human being utters between 10,000 and 20,000 words per day. Consider that fact in light of Solomon’s words in Proverbs 10:19: “When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent,” and you have 10,000 to 20,000 opportunities to sin.
We are fallen people, and we utter fallen words. But we serve a communicating God. In this recent work, Baptist Courier Editor/President Jeff Robinson reminds us how in the gospel the Lord gives us a remedy for our troubled talk.
God Is God and I’m Not: How God’s Sovereignty Matters Every Day (Ligonier, 2026) by Timothy Z. Witmer
At times, the ups and downs of life can leave us feeling lost at sea. When the winds of shifting circumstances bring trials beyond our control, where can we find an anchor for our souls? For Christians, our safe harbor in both the calm and the storm is found in God alone.
The author offers encouragement for anyone worn out by the changing tides of life: the truth that God is in control. He pairs biblical insight with practical application, helping us find comfort in our sovereign God, no matter what lies ahead.
Amazing Grace: The Life of John Newton and the Surprising Story of His Song (Thomas Nelson, 2023) by Bruce Hindmarsh and Craig Borlase
Amazing Grace is based on years of research on the life and writings of John Newton. It tells of a prodigal who returns home, and a young love that defies the odds; of a young man whose life is torn by grief and wounded by the cruelty of others, following his descent into deeper suffering and finally into the brutal world of the slave trade. Newton rejects God repeatedly but is rescued by a divine mercy that reaches deeper than he could ever have imagined as he ultimately faces his past and repents.
Newton’s story is shocking, and Amazing Grace does not try to airbrush or excuse his faults. There are glaring contradictions in the life of a ship’s captain who retreats to his cabin to study his Bible and write tender love letters to his wife while hundreds of slaves lie in chains in the hold below.
Since the first public singing of “Amazing Grace” almost 250 years ago, every generation has been profoundly moved by the song, and now readers can connect with Newton’s story like never before.