Books I Read in 2017

I love to read. That has not always been the case but it is today. I won’t get into details about it but my love for reading is an answer to prayer. If you have a desire to read more but can’t motivate yourself to crack open a book then I encourage you to pray about it and ask God to give you the desire, ability, and discipline to read more. I wholeheartedly believe that today’s readers are tomorrow’s leaders.

My goal the past few years has been to read one book per week. I will not quite make that goal in 2017 but I am close. I am, and have been, very fortunate to have an occupation that allows a budget to purchase books. But even if my work did not help I would still make the investment. I am a sucker for the Scholastic Book Fairs at my kids’ schools each year. My kids know I will almost always fork out the money for a book. (Unfortunately, my oldest also has inherited a love for hardback books which typically are more expensive, but again to me, they are worth it.)

In this picture are the books I read in 2017 (yes, I rearranged my bookshelf for this picture.) I also read a couple that were exclusively digital books. One of those is Start with Why by Simon Sinek. I still have not settled which I prefer between print and digital. I love the portability and search-ability of digital books but few things are as enjoyable as hearing the spine crack on a brand-new print book.

The books I read in 2017 were pretty diverse. There were a few written by close friends (Communicate: Talking and Staying Close with Youth in Today’s Culture by John Gross, Biblical Counseling and the Church: God’s Care Through God’s People by Kevin Carson, and Life lessons: How Jesus Guides our Path to Happiness in His Sermon on the Mount by Greg Burdine). There were a few read as part of the BBFI Coaching Network (The Essential Guide to Fasting by Elmer Towns, Money Matters in Church by Steve Stroop and Aubrey Malphurs, The Healthy Renegade Pastor by Steve Reynolds and Nelson Searcy, The New Guidebook for Pastors by Mac Brunson, Biblical Counseling and the Church by Kevin Carson, Advanced Strategic Planning by Aubrey Malphurs, and Rediscovering Discipleship by Robert Gallaty).

Several were leadership books, mostly ministry focused but some from a business perspective. A couple were specific about fundraising to help with my job. There were a few books that I have read before but chose to read again (I read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People every year. I also re-read Heaven because of a couple personal losses in my family this year. Another great book worth reading regularly is Jim Collins Good to Great.) Looking back over my list of books I realized there are a few categories that I did not read enough. I did not read enough biographies. I greatly enjoyed reading Elmer Deal’s Out of the Mouth of Lions but I typically try to read 4-5 biographies each year. I also did not read enough specifically on missions. Another category I would have liked to have read more is theological books. The last two categories I read parts of many books, but not books in their entirety (I teach a theology course at Baptist Bible College so I read much on the topics of Bibliology, Theology Proper, Christology, Pneumatology, and Ecclesiology, but not entire books.) One theology book I read that is not included in the picture is Heaven’s Doors: Wider Than You Ever Believed by George Sarris. I read this book to have a better understanding of the false doctrine of Christian Universalism.

With all that said, here my top five books read in 2017. I would highly recommend each one of them.

Predictable Success by Les McKeown and The Unstuck Church by Tony Morgan are very similar books. Actually, Morgan’s book is basically a “baptized” version of McKeown’s as he takes the principles from Predictable Success and applies them to the local church. Each talk about life cycles of an organization, in Morgan’s book he writes on the life cycle of a church.

No Limits is one of John Maxwell’s newest books. Yes, many of his books have a tendency to sound like similar content, but I still read about everything he writes. This book shares seventeen “core capacities” and how you can grow in each.

Greater by Steven Furtick is based on the life of Elisha. It highlights a portion of Scripture that God used over 20 years ago to change my life forever. This Scriptural story is transition of leadership between Elijah and Elisha.

Start with Why by Simon Sinek is an expanded look at his famous TED talk which has over 36 million views (3^rd most all-time). When I spoke at the national meeting of the BBFI in February I used many of the principles from this book. The primary idea behind the book is that major influencers all have one thing in common, they begin everything by asking the question “why.” Even in the church world we lose focus on basing everything we do on “why” rather than “what” or “how.”

Your Best Year Ever by Michael Hyatt has not been publicly released yet but I was fortunate enough to preview an advanced copy. It is one that I highly recommend you pick up and read in January. This is not a happy-feel-good “best life now” kind of books. With my engineering background I love to study systems and Hyatt shares a great system for setting and achieving goals.

So, what are some of your favorite books read this past year? I would love to hear as I prepare my reading list for 2018.