Another year has ended. It’s time to name the best books of 2012. As I’ve said again and again, choosing early on to read for spiritual growth was one of the best habits I’ve ever formed. I hope one of the books I mention here tempts you to read for spiritual growth also.

I make a point of reading 4 types of books – devotional, ministry, theology, and leadership. These books shape my heart, skills, mind, and influence, respectively. Alright, let’s jump to the fun part…

My Favorite Reads of 2012 –

My Devotional Pick:

Love Does by Bob Goff

This is a memoir of sorts. Weaving together life experiences and lessons learned, Bob Goff proves to be a master storyteller. This book is hilarious but you’ll walk away with a desire for a faith that’s bigger, bolder, and way more fun. You’ll love it, I promise.

We need to stop plotting the course and instead just land the plane on our plans to make a difference by getting to the “do” part of faith. That’s because love is never stationary. In the end, love doesn’t just keep thinking about it or keep planning for it. Simply put: love does.

My Ministry Pick:

Deep and Wide by Andy Stanley

This is a gutsy book. Picking it up, I expected to hear how Andy Stanley’s church got started and how their ministry model works. And he details both in great detail.

But I think that’s just a ruse. His real aim, I think, is to confront church leaders with the question of whether your church is really concerned about reaching unchurched people or not again and again and again. That’s where it gets gutsy. Consider this, for example:

If the primary thing bothering you about your church is that you lack the cool factor and therefore young families don’t stick, you’ve got some work to do. If your sudden compulsion to change is fueled by your board’s observation that people are leaving your church to attend the contemporary church down the street, that’s not enough. If your burden isn’t any deeper than a desire to update and upgrade so people won’t leave, you’re better off babysitting the previous generation’s model.

Reading this 2 years after launching ClearView reaffirms the value of doing church in a different way and gives us some good next steps. If it had been around several years ago, who knows, we might have pulled the trigger even sooner.

My Theology Pick:

Making the Best of It by John Stackhouse

While my other picks are just published, this one came out back in 2008. I finally got around to reading it in preparation for a series about politics. Six months before the election, I taught for a few weeks about how politicized (i.e. obsessed with and polarized by politics) life has become and how to remain Jesus people in a political culture.

My hope was that the series would increase thoughtfulness about political engagement, enable respect for those with whom you or I disagree, and remind us that our hope is in Jesus and his kingdom.

If that sounds like a minefield, you are quite correct. After sweating many bullets, the series came together to very good effect. All that said, no book was more helpful to me than this one by cultural theologian John Stackhouse. Asking the question, “Who are we to be for Jesus Christ today?” Stackhouse reminds us that our choices make a real difference.

We have faith in the God of paradoxes who, on the jumbled landscape of our broken world, draws straight with crooked lines. We trust that the God who specializes in bringing good out of evil will make something beautiful out of our efforts to love him and our neighbors in creation.

My Leadership Pick:

The Advantage by Patrick Lencioni

This book explains why some organizations remain healthy while others are mired in dysfunction. While you and I know that churches never struggle with dysfunction (wink, wink) you may find this useful nonetheless.

The part I appreciated the most, and have used with my leadership team, is his list of six questions that must be answered to create clarity within a team, church, business, or organization. They’re so simple you’ll be amazed how hard it is to answer them succinctly – Why do we exist? How do we behave? What do we do? How will we succeed? What is most important, right now? and Who must do what?

Alignment is about creating so much clarity that there is as little room as possible for confusion, disorder, and infighting to set in.

Ok, those are my picks. I’d love to hear what you’ve enjoyed lately, or what you’re diving into next!
 

Didn’t get what you wanted for Christmas? Buy yourself a good book!

As you start the new year, I hope one of your goals will be to pick up a book that draws you closer to God. Few things have shaped me as much as my habit of devotional reading, so I find myself constantly suggesting books to others as they’re wrestling with a certain question or struggle. That gave birth to the idea of a favorite reads list a year ago.

Just like last year, I’ve got some good ones to mention. I tried to stay with the same categories – devotional, ministry, theology, and leadership – but, honestly, I didn’t read any ministry books that blew me away in 2011, so I’m skipping that one and recommending two books in the devotional category instead.

Here they are, My Favorite Reads of 2011.

My Devotional Picks:

Beautiful Outlaw by John Eldredge and King’s Cross by Tim Keller

My teaching at ClearView has been pretty topical this fall, and I’m craving the chance to do an extended series on Jesus this spring. In part, my hunger to know and help others know Jesus has been reawakened by these two books which focus on his life.

Eldredge’s book, Beautiful Outlaw, has a laser-like focus. Ever notice how in some books the chapters seem independent of each other, and, while you might have several takeaways, there’s no singular, lasting impression made? This is not that.

Each chapter shares the same aim – to illuminate Jesus. To show us who he was and is. To show us the Jesus we can know today, free of religious baggage or branding. Why shine the spotlight on Jesus? As Eldredge says,

“Loving Jesus will not be a problem when you know him as he truly is.”

You may have already encountered Eldredge’s writings about spirituality and masculinity, but the uniqueness of this book is its tight focus on Jesus’ life. He does a great job revealing Jesus’ personality and likability as he walks through story after story from the four gospels.

If Eldredge’s book is a spotlight, consider King’s Cross by Tim Keller a map that situates Jesus’ life and teachings within both the narrative arc of the Bible and the first-century world in which he lived.

Section one builds to the conclusion that yes, Jesus is the long awaited King (Messiah). Section two explains why this King went to the cross. Thus, Keller is concerned with both Jesus’ identity and his redemptive purpose. For example,

“Christianity…is not a completely new thing. Jesus is the fulfillment of all the biblical prophets’ longings and visions, and he is the one who will come to rule and renew the entire universe.”

These two books, though quite different, both make you desire Jesus. Neither is perfect (though I think their strengths and weaknesses are complementary), but both are really, really helpful.

My Leadership Pick: 

The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor

I picked up this book, a synthesis of positive psychology research, on a whim. Next thing I know, I’ve ordered and read half a dozen books in that area.

If you’re not familiar, positive psychology is a relatively new academic interest that benefits not only from psychology but also new findings in neuroscience that show (a) it is possible to become happier, (b) we don’t have to guess anymore about what makes us happier, and (c) it’s worth it to pursue this happiness. As Achor puts it,

“It turns out that our brains are literally hardwired to perform at their best not when they are negative or even neutral, but when they are positive.”

I’ve heard way too many people give up on the possibility of transformation, saying things like “I’ll always be this way,” or “I can’t help my circumstances” and even “It’s just how God made me.” This book opens up a world of science that confirms what Scripture has always said about the possibility of change and the importance of the choices we make each day.

My Theology Pick:

Why? by Adam Hamilton

Say what you will about Adam Hamilton, the man is not afraid to ask and answer tough questions. In this book, he does a remarkable job handling three hugely difficult theological queries: Why do the innocent suffer? Why do my prayers go unanswered? and Why can’t I see God’s will for my life?

Oh, and he does it all in 98 pages.

That’s amazing. This book should encourage any Christ-follower, but could also benefit those for whom the “Why?” questions are an obstacle to belief. To the latter of those two groups, he says,

“Rejecting God doesn’t change the situation that has caused our suffering; it only removes the greatest source of hope, help, comfort, and strength we have.”

A clear, concise book on a difficult topic.

Surely one of these has piqued your interest! Leave a comment and let me know which one you’re likely to read or tell me what you think should be on my reading list next. As always, thanks!

I buy books. The kind that are made of paper. I’m not ashamed of that. In fact, I buy more books than I read. So last year, for the first time ever, I kept track of how many books I finished. I figured keeping score would motivate me to read more. I set a goal and everything.

Well, color me competitive–it worked! I read almost twice as many books in 2009 as I ever had prior. So for 2010 I had to do the same. But the thing about reading is that starting a book is like deciding to go exploring. Most turn out to be less than thrilling, but some turn into great discoveries, discoveries that you just have to share with someone.

With that in mind, I present to you my favorite reads of 2010. As you’ll be able to tell, I generally read in the areas of biblical study/theology, spirituality/devotional, church/ministry, and communication/leadership. I hope you find one or two that would be valuable to you in 2011 (It’s never too late to lengthen your Christmas list). Let me know what piques your interest.

My Devotional Pick:

Desiring God’s Will by David Benner

It seems to me that far more people should be reading David Benner. Every time I read one of his books, I think, “Why don’t I hear his name more often?” He’s like a mixture of Brennan Manning and Eugene Peterson, or maybe Richard Foster made more accessible.

This short book is one of a family of three books, the other two being Surrender to Love and The Gift of Being Yourself. I read the former of those a couple years ago and decided in January to go after the other two, of which I definitely prefer Desiring God’s Will.

Benner opens by distinguishing between discerning God’s will and desiring it. He believes the latter is usually the crux of our decision-making and, in the rest of the book, talks bout discipleship using that as a platform.

We fail to recognize that our problem is not so much knowing God’s way as being utterly convinced that choosing God is choosing life.

Honorable Mention: Christian Atheist by Craig Groeschel. This book is a small-group leader’s dream.

My Ministry Pick:

Think Orange by Reggie Joiner

This book qualifies as my surprise of the year. If not for the insistence of ClearView’s Student Minister, Matt, I’m certain I would have never picked this book up. It’s a book about ministering to families, and while it looks light and fluffy with lots of pullout quotes and illustrations, it’s really a manifesto.

It cuts through all the good intentions of church leaders and says, “If you really valued families, you’d do almost everything differently. You’d quit scheduling so many events. You’d make the most of the 40 hours/year (on average) that kids are in your building, and you’d focus a lot more on the 3,000 hours/year that they’re at home with their parent(s).”

There are two powerful influences on the planet–the church and the home.

Honorable Mention: Lasting Impressions by Mark Waltz is a surprisingly-rich, quick read about encouraging newcomers at your church to take spiritual next-steps.

My Theology Pick:

Creation Untamed by Terence Fretheim

You probably haven’t heard of Terence Fretheim, a Princeton-educated theologian specializing in the Old Testament, and for that reason you should consider your life deprived. Seriously. I don’t know anyone who reads the Bible any better than this humble, gentle man.

You’d be blessed by any of his books. This one is actually one of his shorter ones, but I pick it because of the central question it explores. In Fretheim’s words:

To put it crassly, if our God cares so much for all creatures, why didn’t God create a world in which there would be no natural disasters?

Fretheim doesn’t want to remove all of the questions, but he does want to get you to think about the choices God, the Creator, had to make, and then reexamine the world as we see it today, with it’s wildness, pain, and suffering, and your role in it. In that aim, I can’t imagine anyone being more successful. Best read of the year, hands down.

Honorable Mention: Surprised by Hope by N.T. Wright. This will definitely get you thinking about heaven and resurrection, but I’m late to the party on this one and you’ve probably already heard of it.

My Leadership Pick:

Wellbeing by Tom Rath and Jim Harter.

Wellbeing is about the combination of our love for what we do each day, the quality of our relationships, the security of our finances, the vibrancy of our physical health, and the pride we take in what we have contributed to our communities. Most importantly, it’s about how these five elements interact.

That pretty well sums it up. Based on research from Gallup, the book outlines the five essential elements that distinguish a balanced, thriving life from a struggling one. While not intentionally a Christian book, there are spiritual themes throughout, and that may be why I like this book so much. If you know someone who’s struggling but doesn’t want to hear another salespitch on “going to church,” I think this book, with it’s practical, proactive suggestions, could be enormously helpful. If read together, this would open up a number of opportunities for spiritual conversations.

Perhaps best of all, the book fosters an attitude that you can make small, concrete decision that improve your life. Every book comes with a code to take their online assessment as well.

Honorable Mention: I discovered the Heath brothers this year, Chip and Dan. Their two books are so, so good. If their next book is about flying kites I’ll read it. The only reason I didn’t pick one of them is I couldn’t decide between them. Their first book is Made to Stick and their second is Switch. Buy both.

I think one of the more common knocks against grace is that it’s not practical. Grace is one of those words we’ve all heard but struggle to define. So we often leave it in the realm of abstraction, not the day-to-day world where all of our choices are lived out.

Even preachers buy into this notion that grace isn’t practical, skewing their teaching to topics that are more accessible, more applicable.

That’s crazy. Grace is fundamental to good theology, and theology is the most practical thinking in the world. For example:

Imagine God (whether you believe in him or not). Imagine that suddenly his attention is fixed on one person: you. What do you assume God feels when he thinks about you?

Apathy?

Disappointment?

Anger?

Whatever your answer, it is enormously practical. I think that what we believe about God, particularly his posture and disposition toward us, bleeds out into virtually every facet of our lives: our drive to achieve, our defensiveness, our hesitations about intimacy, our vanity and ego, our sarcasm…and on and on you could (and should) go.

So, what could be more practical than teaching or thinking about grace? When people hear (and really believe) that God is good and his affection is for you (yes, you!) it changes everything.

We stop living our lives to be accepted by God and begin living new lives because we’re accepted by God.

It begins to sink in that we’re valuable, simply because he values us.

We cling to the truth that we are deeply loved by God though we’ve done nothing to earn it or deserve it.

We extend grace to others, and freely, because, well, it’s the best example we’ve seen.

Jesus came to give us new life, and the power to live that new life begins, for many, with the realization of God’s grace. So let’s hear it for God’s grace, his amazing, practical grace.

I’ve just begin teaching through our core values, grace being one of them. For more on grace, read this.

I talk a lot about transformation. (In the past, some of the teens at church would actually keep score each Sunday of how many times I said the word.) It’s my belief that knowing Jesus changes everything. As a teacher I want to make sure that the Gospel doesn’t stay in the clouds but comes down to earth and connects with our lives in specific ways.

Virtually all Christians have some awareness that transformation isn’t optional.

“If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.” (Luke 9:23-24)

“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Notice the words “anyone,” “daily,” and “whoever.” They don’t exactly leave much hope of an exemption, do they? The Gospel is about transformation.

If that’s so, then how do you explain the resistance to change so common in churches? It’s a horrible irony. The Gospel is the most powerful call to change in history, and the gathered Christian community is known for being the most change-resistant bunch on earth.

See if you can imagine the following conversation:

Minister: “Church, we believe in a God who makes all things new.”

Church: “Amen!”

Minister: “So beginning next Sunday we’re going to experiment with a few changes in our Sunday assemblies…”

Church: “Whoa, who said anything about change?”

It seems that we Christians are apt to forget that transformation requires change. As funny as that sounds (they are synonyms after all), I’ve come to believe it. We hear transformation and feel warm inside; we hear words like change, adapt, or experiment, and our hands get shaky. What kind of mental gymnastics does that evidence?

Maybe we should start printing little labels to stick around our church buildings: “Warning: transformation may involve change!”

As Erwin McManus puts it, we need a proper theology of change. In his powerful book, An Unstoppable Force, he writes pointedly about what we so often downplay, “If you don’t like change, you’d better not become a Christian. Once you belong to Jesus, change is inevitable. Our whole Christian experience is an experience of change.”

Read through the Bible and try to find one time when God’s spirit moved, but the status quo for his people went undisturbed. Seriously, take a shot. You won’t find it, and my guess is this: if you can’t find such an example in your Bible, you’re not going to find it in your church either.

Ready for God to transform everything? Careful, He may just ask you to change something.