I believe reading is invaluable to growth, both personally and spiritually. Obviously we should start with the Bible because it is God's revelation of Himself to us. In order to get to know Him better, we should be spending quality time with Him on a regular basis. We should read good books and then apply them to our lives. So I simply wanted to share with you what I am reading currently and maybe offer some other great books in specific areas.
I am currently reading....
1. Valley of Vision
- This is a great daily devotional that is made up of Puritan prayers of all kinds. I simply read a page or two a day and work my way through the book over a period of time. It offers valuable nuggets of truth about God and our relationship to Him. I really recommend this book to anyone looking for a book to supplement their quiet times.
2. Christian Atheist
- A book written by pastor Craig Groeschel for those who are Christians but are struggling with certain areas of their lives. Each chapter covers a different topic. For example, "When you believe in God, but are ashamed of your past." or "When you believe in God, but not in prayer." This is a super-practical book, one of the most applicable to the life of any Christian that I have read in a long time. THIS WILL DEFINITELY BE A SERMON SERIES IN THE FUTURE!
3. Leaders Who Last
- As a young leader, I am always looking for ways to become a better leader by studying great leaders and reading leadership books. I believe a church or ministry can only be as good as its leadership. So far in this book, I have learned that great leaders need to have a God-given purpose, they need to pursue that purpose with passion, they need to set priorities in order to accomplish their purpose, and they need to set a pace so they avoid both extremes of burn-out and laziness. If you are a pastor, business owner, Sunday school teacher, etc then you need to read this book on leadership.
4. Radical
- As personally challenging as any book I have ever read. Pastor David Platt challenges readers to live radically for the Gospel. He presents a five-fold "Radical Experiment" 1) Read through the entire Word, 2) Pray for the entire World, 3) Give sacrificially to something, 4) spend 2% of your time in the next year in a context different from your own, and 5) make disciples. This is going to be a difficult challenge but by sticking to it day by day one that I believe anyone who is willing to take on the "Radical Experience" can do. Read this book and challenge yourself.
5. Adopted For Life
- I have always thought adoption was cool but maybe not for me. Then over the past year or so, God has really been working on my heart calling me to adopt in the future so I decided to read Dr. Moore's book on adoption and his own story of adopting boys. This book confirmed God's call to adopt and gave valuable insight to both the process of adoption and the emotions. Adoption is not for everyone but have you at least prayed about how God could use you to change the lives of orphans.
6. Words From the Fire
- I decided I wanted to read a book about the Ten Commandments and I am so glad I did because the Ten Commandments are so much more than just rules from God. I think many Christians have such a misguided view of the Ten Commandments and why God gave us them. This book was so helpful in providing clarity in this area for me and I foresee it being a sermon series also.
So there it is, a list of just a few of the books that I am reading or have just finished in the past month. I encourage you to pick one of the books off this list or if you find another book that would be beneficial to your walk with God then by all means read that one. I will do another post on one or two books that are helpful in specific topics or areas. Be blessed and serve God.
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