Books You Must Read

For Marriage: Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas (this is the best book on marriage ever written) and a pair of very practical books called For Men Only and For Women Only by Jeff and Shaunti Feldhann

For Leadership: Leadership and Self Deception by the Arbinger Institute (a group of highly intelligent but not-necessarily-Christian leadership gurus stumbled onto the sin nature) and The Cross and Christian Leadership by D. A. Carson (this is an exposition of 1 Cor 1-4 on Paul’s view on Christian leadership. Truly life changing.)

For Church Philosophy: Simple Church by Thom Rainer and the Deliberate Church by Mark Dever.

To Totally Energize you Spiritually: 50 Days of Heaven by Randy Alcorn. (Nothing like Heaven to give focus to your life now) and The Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri Nouwen. (All I can say is "wow." This book is breathtaking).

For a Great, intelligent but very readable interaction on hot topics: How to be a Christian in College by J. Budizewski

For Nerdy Worldview/Apologetics Stuff: The Victory of Reason by Rodney Stark and The Rise of Christianity by Rodney Stark; Creation Regained by Albert Wolters

For Evangelism Motivation: Confessions of a Reformission Christian by Mark Driscoll and Tell the Truth by Will Metzger.

I would encourage you, especially if you’re training for ministry, to read widely and with balance. Don’t read all leadership books; don’t read all theology books; don’t read all Christian books. I try to balance my reading in the following categories: 1. Biography; 2. Theology; 3. Leadership and Church Philosophy; 4. Devotional; 5. Culture and Philosophy; 6. Fiction or Historical Novels.

As John Wesley said, "Either read or get out of the ministry!"