It’s that time of year again. Every year, as I wrap up the summer and initiate plans and actions for the fall, I try to take a break and review my year spiritually. Every August, I try to limit my busy-ness in ministry and spend some time with family and friends, and spend some time alone to refresh and renew myself spiritually.

At this point each year, I try to set for myself several goals that I want to accomplish. I’ve learned that my goals are more likely to get finished if I break the year down into quarters. I started doing this last year, and my percentage of goals and tasks completed shot up drastically. It is simply easier to view my near future, over the next three months, and accomplish goals in shorter time frames, than it is to view the year as a whole. At least for me, in most cases.

One of the goals that I set for myself for the year is putting together a pretty extensive reading list. I will break this list down into smaller chunks throughout the year, to be read as part of my quarterly goals lists.

This year, part of my “down time” was with the family, as we took a few days and spent it at some friends’ home on Table Rock Lake. I prayed over this list extensively. Hopefully, I will be able to take a couple of days early in September to get away with a few of these books and my Bible, just to spend some time allowing God to completely refresh me.

And so, I’ve gathered this collection of books, most of them over the course of the last several months, placing them in a stack ready for this year’s reading. Of course, there are other books that will be added to this list as the year goes on; books that catch my eye at the bookstore, or that are recommended to me by a friend, or a new book out by a favorite author (Ted Dekker). And, as always, there were several books that didn’t make the list. Some of these are sitting in my office, waiting for next year, or the off-chance that I might get to them this year.

Another source of new books for me is direct from the publisher. I review books and post my thoughts on my blog, as well as a retail site for several publishers. Here are a few of the publishers that I review for:

– Thomas Nelson: BookSneeze
– Tyndale Blog Network:
– NavPress Blogger Review Program
– Nordskog Publishing
– Waterbrook Multnomah

This naturally adds several books to my reading list each year.

I make my reading choices based on three basic criteria: The book is about a topic I’m interested in. The book addresses a need in my life or my family. The book has a potential impact on my ministry. Hopefully the creative sparks ignited in my thinking will create uncountable ripples within the context of my life and ministry.

But this year’s list is fairly large, and the topics are pretty scattered.

Here they are, as shown in the photo, starting from the bottom of the left stack…

– Simple Church – Thom Rainer & Eric Geiger
– The Way Of The Wild Heart – John Eldredge
– Why Guys Need God – Mike Erre
– Know Why You Believe – Paul Little
– Compelled By Love – Ed Stetzer & Philip Nation
– Encouragement Changes Everything – John Maxwell
– The Jesus You Can’t Ignore – John MacArthur
– Tea With Hezbollah – Ted Dekker
– The Christian Athiest – Craig Groeschel
– Plan B – Pete Wilson
– Forgotten God – Francis Chan
– Counterfeit Gods – Timothy Keller
– Primal – Mark Batterson
– Ashamed Of The Gospel – John MacArthur
– The Hole In Our Gospel – Richard Stearns
– Axiom – Bill Hybels

And the stack on the right…

– Leading On Empty – Wayne Cordeiro
– Terrify No More – Gary Haugen & Gregg Hunter
– Sustainable Youth Ministry – Mark DeVries
– It Happened In Italy – Elizabeth Bettina
– Christianish – Mark Steele
– When God Builds A Church – Bob Russell
– The Prodigal God – Timothy Keller
– Know What You Believe – Paul Little
– Fasting – Jentezen Franklin
– Radical – David Platt
– Simple Life – Thom Rainer & Art Rainer
– Chi Running – Danny Dreyer
– Holy Discontent – Bill Hybels
– The Next Wave – David Wraight
– A Million Miles In A Thousand Years – Donald Miller
– When Helping Hurts – Steve Corbett & Brian Fikkert

On my Kindle:

– Out Of Water: From Abundance To Scarcity – Colin Chartres
    & Samyuktha Varma
– City Of Dust: Illness, Arrogance and 9/11 – Anthony DePalma
– Ronald Reagan’s Leadership Lessons
– Breakthrough! How The 10 Greatest Discoveries In Medicine Saved
    Millions And Changed Our View Of The World – Jon Queijo
– Germs, Genes, and Civilization – David P. Clark
– Better Dads, Stronger Sons – Rick Johnson

And of course,

– The Bible, this year in NKJ

I realize that this is an even more ambitious list than last year’s list. But I love a challenge; and I love to read.

May God use these authors to inspire me and others!

If you’ve read any of these and would like to comment, I’d appreciate the dialogue. Reading is not only one of my best avenues of personal growth, but also a source of great enjoyment for me. Any convseration and/or sugestions about this list are welcome.