books on the cross

There are 22 days between today (Thursday, March 23rd) and Good Friday (Friday, April 14th). That's plenty of time to pick up and read a really good book on the cross of Jesus. I think we need to get a lot closer to the cross, to think and meditate on it's meaning and signficance, and what better time to do that than the time leading up to Good Friday. Here are a few good books on the cross I would highly recommend:

* The Cross Centered Life or Living the Cross Centered Life, both by CJ Mahaney (short, easy, yet deep and shaping)
* The Gospel for Real Life: Turn to the Liberating Power of the Cross Everyday, by Jerry Bridges (practical, very good)
* The Passion of Jesus Christ, by John Piper (answers the question why Jesus died on the cross)
* The Atonement or The Cross of Jesus by Leon Morris (in depth examination of the doctrine of the atonement)
* Spurgeon's Sermons on the Cross of Christ, Charles Haddon Spurgeon (he is deep theologically and a master of using language)
* The Cross and Salvation, by Bruce Demarest (honestly, i haven't read this one yet)
* The Cross of Christ, by John Stott (ok, not this one either)
* The Heart of the Cross, by Philip Graham Ryken and James Montgomery Boice (short devotionals centered on the cross)
* The Cross from a Distance: Atonement in Marks Gospel, by Peter Bolt (I'm reading this one now)