Friday, December 21, 2007

Reading Challenge for 2008

Previously I mentioned that one of my goals for 2008 was to read 28 books in '08. I won't decide on all 28 books because I need to leave room for some new releases and books yet to be determined for a graduate class I will be taking. I'd love to have some more suggestions, but here's the start of my list:

Go put your strengths to work by Marcus Buckingham

Going all the way by Craig Groeschel

Prayer by Phillip Yancey

Planting Missional Churches by Ed Stetzer

Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamont

Who moved my cheese by Ken Blanchard

Listening to beliefs of emerging churches by various authors

Vintage Jesus – Mark Driscoll

I became a Christian and all I got was this lousy t-shirt by Vince Antonucci

The Treasure Principle by Randy Alcorn

Glocalization by Bob Roberts

Words that Work by Frank Lutz

Emerging Churches by Eddie Gibbs and Ryan Bolger

Breaking the Missional Code by Ed Stetzer

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

This sounds good, but it's all non-fiction, ministry-related stuff. Didn't you say you wanted some quality fiction? And did I mention that "Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry" was a Newberry Award winner?

Anonymous said...

seriously though, there are other things to read about than just ministry.
but then again i stick to a few subjects myself. i have a bunch of psychology and philosophy books on the shelf that are half read. i need to finish them, that should be my new years resolution...again.

Anonymous said...

ps maybe you could find a picture that doesn't have you sqinting into the sun.
you know what else you need. HUGS!
-rachel

Shan said...

Hey D-oug-
Good list of books...
make sure "Traveling Mercies" gets on the list!!! She's great!

Doug Gamble said...

Good point, Lynn and Rachel. I do need some fiction. I have had a couple recommendations, just not sold on putting them on the list. Fiction may have to be one I just leave out there and grab the book that appeals to me at the time. I do want to stretch the subject of the books, but not all are "ministry" books even though they all could be used in ministry. :)

Doug Gamble said...

Shan, I love Lamont's honesty. I wish I had the guts to be so honest.

Anonymous said...

As far as fiction goes, I would suggest you check out Frank Peretti, Ted Dekker, John Grisham, and Michael Crichton. All very talented authors (Christian and non).

I find that an type of reading helps my ministry, and I particuarly love fiction.

I try to think about preaching as good story telling. You grab the audience, you develope plot lines, you show a crisis, and then you resolve the conflict. Reading fiction also teaches me how to be creative and descriptive in how I tell stories for sermons too. A fictional novel will often use metaphors, images, and colors to represent certain issues. Those types of ideas often inspire ideas in my brain whenever I'm thinking about a sermon.

This isn't about fiction, but have you heard of the book called, "The year of living biblically"?

http://www.amazon.com/Year-Living-Biblically-Literally-Possible/dp/0743291476

It's about a guy who tries to follow all the OT laws for an entire year. The whole idea intrigues me, but I have not read it.

tim

PS
wow...did EVERYONE in my family respond to this post... =)