For the past few weeks, I’ve been really thinking and praying about what I need to soak into my life over the next several months in my reading schedule. I’ve actually been adding books to a stack tha has become my “To-Be-Read-Next-Year-Stack.” I’ve gathered, prayed over and sorted my list down to a manageable size. And by “manageable,” I mean I’ve narrowed it down to about thirty-five books that I feel like God will use to teach me this year. Thirty-five! Out of dozens more that looked like I would /could gain from reading them.

I know that this is possible for me, because I’ve read over sixty books over the past year, for 2009-2010. But it just seems so overwhelming…

And I know there will be several other books that will make it onto my shelf to be read this year as well. For instance, anything new that Ted Dekker releases will probably take immediate priority. I just can’t help it. Dekker gets my top priority whenever he releases a new book. Regardlss of what I might be in the middle of. It’s just that simple.

And so, after browsing in bookstores, and Amazon, and my own personal library for the past few months… And after praying over the books that I’ve pulled from the shelves or purchased… I feel like God has identified these books to meet needs in my life and in the lives of my family, and eventually in the life of our congregation.

The impact these authors could have in my life is potentially enormous. I pray that I’m big enough to take it all in, and process it, and grow from it…

I plan to post my reading list here in a few days. If you have read any of the books I list, and want to make a comment about them, I would love to hear it. And thank you for it. Or if you have any suggestions that you think I need to add to my reading list for the year, or in the future, feel free to do so. Please give me your input.

Stay tuned for the list…