I have read a few books in my time, some of which I think rise to a level of “must reads”.  And so I am compiling a list of them here.  I will be adding more as time goes on; either from my current reading or a better remembrance.  (They are in no special order)

 

Leadership/Church Development

A Work of Heart: Understanding How God Shapes Spiritual Leaders, Reggie McNeal

  • A fantastic work on understanding our call and shaping moments!

Deep & Wide, Andy Stanley

  • This is just plain old good practical wisdom and insight.

Exponential, Dave Ferguson and Jon Ferguson

  • A fascinating look at the birth of vision and dreams.  It goes into detail of a multisite structure, but the greater values is encouragement to see that “You Can Do It”  Whatever “It” is.

it, Craig Groeschel

  • I appreciate how Craig reminds us our schemes and strategies and plans are far less important than the heart devotion to and the leading of the Holy Spirit.  This book has great practical advice of how they “do” church, but in the end the lesson you get is to do what, and go where, God is leading.

 

Personal Development

How People Grow, Henry Cloud and John Townsend

  • The mixture of theology and psychology, the acknowledgement the grace of God and the God-created humanity of man all comes together to really lay out a path for for real growth. 

Autobiography of God, Lloyd J. Ogilvie

  • I just loved this look at the parables as being God’s story/revelation of Himself to us.  I read this in college and return to it all these years later as a beautiful book.  His teaching on the Prodigal story was particularly impactful for me. 

Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist, John Piper

  • Intimacy, passion, hunger for more of God, the call to enjoy God and take pleasure in Him; this resonated with me and shaped my early years in personal faith and ministry.

A Greif Observed, C.S. Lewis

  • I read this at a very difficult time of loss and it walked me through a gut-wrenching time of dealing with grief.  I encourage you not to stop half way through as C.S. Lewis’ logic abilities might just talk you out of believing in God.  But he comes around full circle to share just how our grief brings us closer to God.

The Explicit Gospel, Matt Chandler

  • A thorough treatise of and correction of our sloppy cultural view of the Gospel.  The first two sections are a bit academic at times, but the third section offers great insight to the results of the imbalanced views.

Necessary Endings, Henry Cloud

  • Saying ‘no’ to good things allows you to say ‘yes’ to better things.  A great book to help you with boundaries, decision making, creating the urgency to walk through change, and to let those dreams come alive (again). 

Forgotten God, Francis Chan

  • A fantastic call to recognize the active and necessary role of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  It is free of denominational and doctrinal divisions that pendulum swing one way or the other.

The Five Love Languages, Gary D Chapman

  • Chapman gives us a ‘method’ to think of the way we show and received love as a ‘language’.  It is a brilliant approach to help give concrete application to such an abstract reality.

 

Fiction

Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis

Child 44, The Secret Speech, and Agent 6, Tom Rob Smith

Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown

 

What do you recommend?  Leave a comment.