Each month I publish a list and a few short reviews of what I have read. I do this to both keep myself accountable, keep a record, as well as share what might be helpful to others. Here is what I have read so far this month.
Atomic Habits | James Clear
I started this book years ago, but it fell by the wayside. I wanted to pick it back up because I have been doing a great deal of personal reflection over the last couple of months and want to make some conscious changes so 2020 doesn’t become habit forming. This is a fantastic, short look at how the decisions we make have tangible results in our life. I’d recommend it in a heartbeat.
Last year I tried an experiment of reading only one Bible for the year. I chose a Cambridge Wide Margin Hardback for the Bible and went to it like I would normally approach my scripture reading. It was a great experiment and everyone who follows me on instagram saw plenty of pictures of the Bible as the year went on. Here is my review video of the project and my plans for 2021.
Folks have asked me if I plan to do it again and the answer is YES! I’m already a month into my 2021 wide margin.
I always seem to find myself in a pull and push with reading more. Reading is cathartic for me, it always has been. It also forces me to slow down and gives me the space to think about things. I’ve never set a goal of how many books to read in a year, and I’m not doing that in 2021, but I know I want to read more. I’ve been satisfied with around 5 books a month, so that puts me inside a place I feel comfortable with. With all of that, here are the books I finished in January of 2021. I read every one of them on Kindle, and it is getting interesting shifting over to totally reading digital.
Dynamics of Spiritual Live | Richard Lovelace
I kept seeing this quoted on Instagram by Jon Tyson late in 2020. It took me a few months to get through it. Lovelace was a Presbyterian theologian with a huge influence on Tim Keller. I appreciated how he looked at revival and awakening as both sociological AND a supernatural movement of God. The last portion of the book does a great job outlining the variegation of Protestantism in America. This book was great on multiple levels.
Boundaries For Leaders | Henry Cloud
I actually bought this book awhile back and never got around to it. While it wasn’t written for this reason, it is a fantastic lesson in the great pivot of COVID19. Much of the lessons Cloud writes about came during the 2008 financial crisis and the financial industry trying to flip the ship back over and lead through turmoil. Great lessons for leadership.
What you do is who you are | Ben Horowitz
I’ve been thinking a lot about culture and how it contributes to any organization, especially church staff teams. This was recommended to me and was a great look at how cultures are made and what it means to be intentional about organizational culture
Didn’t See It Coming | Carey Niewhof
I have heard about this book again and again from other leaders. I read it a couple of weekends back as I have been processing through a tough season of ministry. It was a fantastic read and a breath of fresh air. The book centers around understanding challenges from a biblical perspective.
The Deeply Formed Life | Rich Villodas
I think this book seemed to take the church world by storm during the 4th quarter of 2020. Villodas (and his precursor in ministry Pete Scazarro) have a fantastic look at living life in the way of Jesus in a busy, hectic world. I am thankful for the richness and depth in this extremely easy to read book.
It’s almost the beginning of a new year and many folks are making plans to start new practices in the new year to change things. After the year most of us have had, many of us are willing to start some drastically different things in life.
And I think daily Bible reading is the biggest change agent in anyones life. I’m not going to take the time to convince you of that, but trust me…nothing in my life has a more positive impact that a consistent, daily practice of reading and engaging the scriptures. And I don’t do it for the sake of knowledge, but because scripture consistently has served in my life as a pathway to lead me towards the presence of God.
Here are 3 super approachable ways to read the bible in 2021.
The Daily Office Lectionary.
The Episcopal Book of Common Prayer has a 2 year cycle of scripture reading as part of the Daily Office. I secretly think it is the hidden gem of the B.O.C.P. Over the last few years I have used it as my daily pattern of devotional reading. Each day has a couple of readings from Psalms, and one from the Old Testament, New Testament, and Gospels. It is designed to be a morning and evening thing. While it isn’t a traditional Bible reading plan, for folks starting off for the first time I think it is perfect. It keeps you in parts of scripture for a few days and lets you get a really wide reading path throughout the year. The easiest way to do this is picking up a copy of the B.O.C.P. The hardest part of this plan is figuring out which week of the lectionary you are on when you start. There have been times were I think I get off track (#OrdinaryTime) and have to google around to make sure I’m on the right week. Some of the biggest times of personal devotion and attention to the presence of God have come through using this resource.
Whole Bible Reading Plan
For folks who aren’t wildly familiar with reading scripture, often a one year Bible plan is a great way to get started. While I wouldn’t recommend it to jump start a daily reading practice, it is fantastic for some folks. If you want to go this route, I’d suggest using the classic One Year Bible because it jumps around each day giving you a few things to read. The only part I don’t like about this is it can get you bogged down in certain places that end up being tough for folks not familiar with scripture yet (can we say Leviticus!!!!). If you miss a few days it also sometimes turns into a bummer. You can also find a bunch of reading plans on the YouVersion Bible app.
Reading Books of the Bible at a time
For years I took a small piece of the Bible (generally all of the verses under one heading) and read one each day, slowly working my way through an entire book. I took down notes on what I was thinking and engaging with each morning. I liked doing this because it kept me focused on a single book at a time and let me slowly work through it. I was especially a fan of always answering a couple of the same questions each day. I’d suggest starting with a Gospel, then reading a letter from the New Testament and then reading through one of the historical books of the Old Testament. The only amendment I would make with this would be also reading from the Psalms each day, but that is just a devotional must have for me!
I hope these three ways help inspire you to jump into the Bible for the first time this year.
Looking for a bit more information? Here is the first in a video series I filmed on reading the Bible earlier in the year.
Each month I try to put together a list of what books I have read and a short review. Here is my list for November of 2020.
Destroyer of the Gods | Larry Hurtado
I have been wanting to read this book for a long time, and as I have been slowly reading through sociological history’s of the Early Church I decided it was time to go for it. It was really good, but I think if you are going to read one book on the idea/subject, I would read Stark’s “Triumph of Christianity” first. This was a great read though. And it has a pretty heavy metal sounding title.
Talking Back | Evagrius
This is an academic investigation of an early Monastic handbook for combatting demons. Sounds fun…right? The 2nd half of the book is the actual text, and to be honest…it is actually really good. What Evagrius did was make a list of human emotions that cause struggle in the Christian life and attach specific scriptures to them to enable the reader to form a better spiritual life. I wish someone would update the 2nd half and prepare it for every day use.
Paul | Edgar J. Goodspeed
Goodspeed was a biblical scholar in the middle of the 20th century. He wrote his biography of the apostle Paul in 1947. I’ve been on a Paul kick this year and it was the latest biography to fall in my lap. It was really good, but the most interesting part of it was seeing how someone in a different era handles Paul and the dates of the books written. Goodspeed was a more conservative Biblical scholar before it was really popular and folks were still holding to a later dating for around half of the letters of Paul.
Every month I list out what I have read. It’s a form of accountability, but also to share. As I mentioned on an episode of Stuff I Want to Say this month, my reading was. a a little troublesome this month…but at the 9th hour, I finished a book. Only one book read this month, but it was a big guy. Still not an excuse though.
Paul: A Biography – NT Wright.
Ok. Are you ready for it? This is the first NT Wright book I have ever read. I’ve got a few and used them for citations, but I have never finished (much less really started) any of his books. Since I have been on a Paul fascination lately, I saw a few pages of this at a bookstore and it jumped out to me. It was a really great read. It would serve as a decent intro to the whole “new perspective on Paul” theory as well. If you are into the Bible, or teach/preach, make sure to pick up a copy and read this.
Chad Brooks is a United Methodist Pastor serving in Louisiana. Married to Meredith, he is currently starting a new church in northeast Louisiana. Host of the Productive Pastor Podcast and lover of motorcycles, Chad would love to find Bigfoot one day.
Chad Brooks is a United Methodist Pastor serving in Louisiana. Married to Meredith, he is currently starting a new church in northeast Louisiana. Host of the Productive Pastor Podcast and lover of motorcycles, Chad would love to find Bigfoot one day.