Books I Read in 2012

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Welcome to the blog post that makes me feel like a geek.

Here is a list of every book that I read in 2012 (to my knowledge).

A few reasons why I read so much:

1. I have to (I’m in school!)
2. Leaders are readers.
3. I’m so stinkin’ curious. Seriously, the more I read, the more I want to read. It is an interesting world out there!
4. I want to know God more. Reading great works by people who can powerfully communicate gospel truths can help me think of some things in ways I have never thought before.

Best books I read in 2012

• The Meaning of Marriage by Tim Keller. A great book on a very important subject that I recommend for everybody: single or married. A surprising benefit for me of this book was learning important communication skills that can be applied to many relationships in life.
• The Leadership Secrets of Billy Graham by Harold Myra and Marshall Shelley. A fascinating examination of a fascinating life. Not many people had the influence, affluence, and resolve that Billy Graham had. This book examines why he was successful in his ministry, and tells many awesome stories from Billy’s life: ranging from Evangelistic crusades in Los Angeles or the USSR, to the disappointment in his relationship with disgraced US President Richard Nixon after he found out about Watergate.
• What is the Mission of the Church: Making Sense of Social Justice, Shalom, and the Great Commission by Kevin DeYoung and Greg Gilbert. The term “social justice” is often thrown down in a conversation like a trump card, virtually shutting down any opposition, I mean, who would claim to be against “social justice”? DeYoung and Gilbert explain what the Bible says about several ambiguous, but very important phrases heard a lot in churches. Strengths of this book include a fair and accurate treatment of the Bible’s teaching of these issues, and being written in a very readable and almost conversational style.
• Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from Its Cultural Captivity by Nancy Pearcy. This book is a great fairly-comprehensive manifesto on the Christian worldview. Pearcy is definitely an academic with tremendous understanding of worldviews and how they shape our reality and our decisions. The main thesis of the book is that Christianity is not just religious truth, but Total Truth about all of reality, and has a voice into every area of life: personal, religious, educational, societal, and political. There aren’t many books that teach me or shape me as much as this one did.
• A God-Sized Vision: Revival Stories that Stretch and Stir by John Woodbridge and Collin Hansen. Reading church history has a nasty consequence: shattering the way you used to view things, and replacing them with a dose of God and reality. The thing this book challenged was my view of prayer. I knew of the amazing things Peter and Paul did in Acts and “believed” revivals could happen. But my prayer life did not reflect that. This book gave a quick theology of revival and shared a half-dozen or so stories of how God moved in amazing ways in the past few hundred years. Read this book and pray big prayers.

All books:

• The Deep Things of God: How the Trinity Changes Everything by Fred Sanders. The thesis of this book is to show how the Trinity is an essential part of every part of Christianity: how the Trinity is central to the gospel and underlying everything else in Christianity.
• Unlocking the Bible Story Part 1, 2, 3 by Colin S. Smith of Unlocking the Bible
• The Holiness of God by R.C. Sproul
• Free eBook: The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer
• Basic Economics: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy by Thomas Sowell. In my book, there are no other economists at Sowell’s level. He explains economic truths in clear fashion, based on years of study and research and not emotional arguments.
• Jonah: Navigating a God-Centered Life by Colin S. Smith
• Son of Hamas: A Gripping Account of Terror, Betrayal, Political Intrigue, and Unthinkable Choices by Mosab Yousef
• Jukes-Edwards: A Study in Education and Heredity by A.E. Winship
• How Now Shall We Live by Chuck Colson
• A Passion for Souls: The Life of D.L. Moody by Lyle W. Dorsett (related: 10 Keys to Dwight L. Moody’s Effectiveness)
• Pastoring the Pastor by Tim Cooper
• Platform: Get Noticed in a Busy World by Michael Hyatt
• The Writer’s Manifesto by Jeff Goins
• Managing Money God’s Way by Randy Alcorn
• The Heavenly Man: The Remarkable True Story of Chinese Christian Brother Yun by Brother Yun
• A Christian Manifesto by Francis Schaeffer
• Hope Stands: Ten Reasons Why You Must Not Give Up by Sam Kee
• Jonathan Edwards on Heaven and Hell by Strachan and Sweeney

Seminary Books

• Exploring the Old Testament Vol. 2: The Historical Books by Philip Satterthwaite and J. Gordon McConville
• Handbook on the Pentateuch: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy by Victor Hamilton
• An Introduction to the Old Testament Prophetic Books by C. Hassell Bullock
• Handbook on the Wisdom Books and Psalms by Daniel J. Estes
• Themes and Transformations in Old Testament Prophecy by Samuel Meier
• The Deliberate Church by Mark Dever
• Exegetical Fallacies by D.A. Carson
• The Worship Architect by Constance Cherry
• Ministry in the Image of God: The Trinitarian Shape of Christian Service by Stephen Seamands
• Ministerial Ethics by Trull and Carter
• Putting the Truth to Work: The Theory and Practice of Biblical Application by Daniel Doriani
• The Religious History of America by Gaustad
• The American Evangelical Story: A History of the Movement by Douglas Sweeney
• Deep Church: A Third Way Beyond Emerging and Traditional by Jim Belcher and Richard Mouw
• Leading Across Cultures by James Plueddeman
• Reviewing Leadership: A Christian Evaluation of Current Approaches by Banks and Ledbetter
• The Leadership Challenge by Koutez and Potzner
• Reading Biblical Poetry by Fokkelman

Finances/Business

• Living Rich by Spending Smart by Greg Karp
• The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America’s Wealthy by Thomas Stanley
• 50 Success Classics: Winning Wisdom for Life and Work from 50 Landmark Books by Tom Butler-Bowdon
• Gazelles, Baby Steps, and 37 Other Things Dave Ramsey Taught Me by Jon Acuff (kinda counts as finance, Dave Ramsey is in the title 🙂 )

On the Docket:

• Heaven by Randy Alcorn
• The Christian Ministry by Charles Bridges
• Dangerous Calling by Paul Tripp
• Christianity in Latin America: A History by Justo Gonzalez
• Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…and Others Don’t by Jim Collins
• The Four-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss
• Economic Facts and Fallacies by Thomas Sowell
• The Pleasures of God by John Piper
• The Next Story: Life and Faith after the Digital Explosion by Tim Challies
• C.S. Lewis’ Space Trilogy
• Conviction to Lead by Albert Mohler

Grand Total… 47 books read in 2012.

Goal for 2013? Nothing specific, I just want to continue learning, reading, and growing. There is no use reading so many books that you can’t process what you’ve read!

What have been the most life changing books you’ve ever read?

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