I love to read.  

This I would say is my hobby.  My wife gets frustrated at the number of books I have collected over the years.  There is just something about having a book and a highlighter and allowing my imagination to roam or to allow the Lord to speak to me through others.

These are a few of the books I have read that have been an incredible benefit to me personally.  Take a look and consider taking the Book Challenge in 2021.

1.  The Gospel Comes With a House Key by Rosaria Butterfield
This book made me rethink hospitality.  It goes well beyond a "fellowship"--it goes deeper and requires sacrifice.  This book has helped form my thinking on how I can be better at hospitality in order to reach those different from me.

Butterfield invites us into her home to show us how God can use “radical, ordinary hospitality” to bring the gospel to our lost friends and neighbors. Such hospitality sees our homes as not our own, but as God’s tools for the furtherance of his kingdom as we welcome those who look, think, believe, and act differently from us into our everyday, sometimes messy lives―helping them see what true Christian faith really looks like.

2.  Live Dead Joy by Dick Brogden
This devotional will always be on  my yearly reading list as it is the most challenging devotional I have come across.  It encourages me to read the Bible through in a year, steps on my toes spiritually and challenges me to abide in Christ.

Every Christian is called to live the crucified life (Galatians 2:20). In that sense we are all dying daily―dying is how Christians live. We die to ourselves, our wills, our comforts, and our reputations for the glory of Jesus. The wonder of applying this biblical principle to everyday life is that it brings life and joy in the process. This daily devotional celebrates a lifestyle based on the example of Jesus, who showed us how to live dead―not with dread but with great gladness.

3.  The Amplified Study Bible
I use the ASB in my time with Jesus.  I like to preach out of the CSB

4.  The Lost Art of Disciplemaking by LeRoy Eims
This book has challenged me in the realization of how simple it is to disciple someone and how much I need to learn and simply be faithful in this area of my life.  I hope to take these principles and begin using them in 2021.

Eims revives the lost art of disciple making. He explains: - How the early church discipled new Christians - How to meet the basic needs of a growing Christian - How to spot and train potential workers - How to develop mature, godly leaders "True growth takes time and tears and love and patience," Eims states. There is no instant maturity. This book examines the growth process in the life of a Christian and considers what nurture and guidance it takes to develop disciples.

5.  The Emotionally Healthy Leader by Peter Scazzero
By far, the most challenging book for me in 2020.  During this season of COVID, it took an emotional toll on my leadership and my identity as a believer.  It helped get me back to center.   Again, this one book that I will carry over into 2021 that will help me stay center.

The Emotionally Healthy Leader shows leaders how to develop a deep, inner life with Christ, examining its profound implications for surviving stress, planning and decision making, building teams, creating healthy culture, and encouraging others.

6.  Gaining by Losing by JD Greear
Great insights by a pastor who sends his people to the mission field.  I love JD's heart for the nations and how he equips his church. 

When Jesus gave his disciples the Great Commission, he revealed that the key for reaching the world with the gospel is found in sending, not gathering. Though many churches focus time and energy on attracting people and counting numbers, the real mission of the church isn’t how many people you can gather. It’s about training up disciples and then sending them out. The true measure of success for a church should be its sending capacity, not its seating capacity.
But there is a cost to this. To see ministry multiply, we must release the seeds God has placed in our hands. And to do that, we must ask ourselves whether we are concerned more with building our kingdom or God’s.
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7.  The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert by Rosaria Butterfield
The story of a professor who describes her story as "a train wreck at the hand of the supernatural."  She lived a lesbian lifestyle and because of the the love and hospitality of a pastor, encountered Christ.  This is incredible insight on how to simply love those who may be different than us.

8.  You Can Change by Tim Chester
"The secret to living the Gospel life is being convinced that Jesus is the good life and fountain of joy." When I first read the title of the book my first thought was a "self-help" book, but as I read it, it clearly pegged me.  It is the one book in 2020 that I highlighted the most.

It's about heart change, not behavior change. That's the conviction of Tim Chester as he seeks to help everyday Christians "connect the truth about God with our Monday-morning struggles." This book is for newer Christians struggling with sin and for more mature Christians who have plateaued in their faith as they seek to find victory over sin in their lives.
With a conviction that sanctification is God's work and the journey to holiness is joyful, Chester guides readers through a "change project"-beginning with the selection of one area of life they would like to modify. Each chapter includes a question (e.g., Why would you like to change? What truths do you need to turn to?) to guide you as you deal with a specific sin or struggle, truths from God's word, and a reflection guide to help you through the change project.

9.  The Wingfeather Saga by Andrew Peterson
I like to read fiction as it takes my mind off of my responsibility.  I get buried into a world far, far away.  Andrew is not only an author but is also a songwriter.   The wing feather saga is a great series.  I am now on book three out of four.

10.  In His Steps by Charles Sheldon
What if?  What if there was a group of people who allowed the Word of God and the simple question of, "What Would Jesus Do?" dictate the moves we make.  It's a fictional story of a group of people who did this, but could it become reality?

11.   Gospel Fluency by Jeff Vanderstelt
This year, I have realized how unbiblical my life is.  I do my quiet times, I spend time with Jesus, but the Word isn't in every conversation or thought.  Becoming fluent in the gospel happens after believing it, and in believing it, we have to intentionally rehearse it (to ourselves and to others) and immerse ourselves in its truths. Only then will we start to see how everything in our lives, from the mundane to the magnificent, is transformed by the hope of the gospel.

12.  Missional Made Simple Todd and Hannah Mohr  missionalmadesimple.com
It's not a book, it's a website.  Todd has been a mentor over the past year walking me through house church direction.  He has been a great help in being a lending help and hands to  Church Inside Out

13.  You See Bones, I See an Army: Changing the Way We Do Church
So challenging and encouraging to know that I am not the only one who thinks this way.  As I read this book, it resonated so much in my heart.  It seems that what God has called me to do is an uphill battle going against a culture that has created an in the box way of doing things. 

McClung envisions a valley of dry bones ready for use-ready to become an army-but only after they are prophesied over.  The dry bones are the poor, the rebellious, the marginalized of society, the young and the uneducated.  They carry wounds, have been abused, suffer, are widows and single parents.  They are waiting for someone to believe in them, uphold them in community and send them out in service to God.  He presents five principles of leadership, church and mission to help make radical disciples of Jesus

14.  The UNLeader by Lance Ford
How is it we have incorporated a CEO mindset into the church.  The one thing that Jesus said to do in serving is what most of us don't want to do.  We want the spotlight, the accolades, etc.  Jesus himself is not our first choice when it comes to who we model ourselves after as leaders.  It seems we follow John Maxwell more than Jesus when it comes to leading our churches.

​Many times the life of Jesus directly contradicts much of what is being imported into the church under the mantra of effective leadership.  This book is not about eliminating leadership, but it's a call to redefine and recalibrate to Jesus' life.

15.  Five Presidents: My Extraordinary Journey with Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon and Ford by Clint Hill.
I love history.  This book was fascinating to see through the eyes of someone there almost every step of the way in history.

His career spanned the administrations of Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard M. Nixon, and Gerald R. Ford. A witness to some of the most pivotal moments in the twentieth century, Hill lets you walk in his shoes alongside the most powerful men in the world during tumultuous times in America’s history—the Cold War; the Cuban Missile Crisis; the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy; the Vietnam War; Watergate; and the resignations of Vice President Spiro Agnew and President Nixon.

Our country is looking more and more like Babylon. It is becoming even more clear that this world is not our home.

I am not a fearmonger nor a conspiracy theorist, so as I share this know that these words are meant to prepare for a spiritual battle, not hide from it. It is meant to offer an alternative to the hyper frenzy that is ravaging believers at this time by what they see.

I believe in the sovereignty of God. What comes will come and I have to stand on the secure foundation of my faith in Christ and under the shadow of His wings.

So, how do we live in a post-Christian world-our new Babylon?

1. Abide (John 15)
Before we DO something, BE something. There is power in the Words of God. The words of God will have to be our go-to in this exiled land. It must become our lamp, our guide and our wisdom. We must rest in Him and spend time with Jesus if we are going to thrive in Babylon.

2. Trust (Prov. 3:5,6; Isaiah 9:6)
May we remind ourselves that “the government rests on His shoulders”. The government rested on God’s shoulders during the times of Nebuchadnezzar, Herod, Nero, Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama, Trump and now, Biden.
Trusting goes back to His Word and being reminded of His promises and His principles. You must spend time with Him.

3. Prepare your mind. (Romans 12:1,2; 1 Cor. 10:5)
First, I must lay mind mid and my heart on the altar-not just my physical body.
We must set ourselves apart and fast from the world so we can be prepared with our minds.
Note: renewing of the mind comes through the Word!

4. Live out Jeremiah 29.
We need to be prepared for the long haul. In Jeremiah, he prescribed how to live in Babylon:
-build houses and live in them, work amd have kids....(we are not meant to bunker down and hide-we are to engage with the Gospel)
-seek peace and well-being for the city He has sent us and pray to the Lord on its behalf; for in its peace you will have peace
-don’t let false prophets deter you
-CALL ON THE LORD

5. Live out Acts 2
Gospel. Community. Mission.

-Live on purpose with the people God has called you to. Don’t just go to church, be a family of people. Be family of missionary servants SENT to a particular place to make disciples who make disciples in everyday life.

-Take the Gospel to your work, your home, your mission field.

The time has come where we are going to have to move beyond the brick and mortar as believers. The Good News is He has given us help. This is not something we have to try to muster up ourselves-we have an incredible Helper....
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“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever. He is the Spirit of truth. The world is unable to receive him because it doesn’t see him or know him. But you do know him, because he remains with you and will be in you.”
‭‭John‬ ‭14:16-17‬
Let’s Go!!!