I Am a Bookaholic Year in Review 2021

  This year again, I admit, am a book-a-holic.  I love to read.  I love to turn the page in anticipation of what is next.

So, this year, again, I share some of the books I have read that have challenged me.  I have read books that have helped chart the course for next steps.  I have read books that I disagree with, but above all, they have all challenged me.

These are in no particular order other than the first one that really helped me consider next steps in my own discipleship and others.....so, let's go.

1.  Replicate by Robby Gallaty
​Helped us to establish a process of establish a culture of disciple-making.  It was very practical in helping me know the How-to's of disciplemaking.  This is a great book that gave very practical advice to help me move our church towards making disciples who make disciples.

2.  Missionary God, Missionary Bible by Dick Brogden
This is my first year to go through this 365 day devotional.  This is a one-year devotional based on a chronological reading of the Bible. Each day author Dick Brogden builds the case and the message is reinforced: He who is holy delights to be our God. We are to be His holy people that He might dwell among us. His glorious presence will wholly bless us in order that all nations, every distinct people group, might be likewise blessed. This grand plan, centered on and culminating in Jesus as Savior, Lord, and eternal King over all nations, is what our faith, our Father, and our future is all about.

3.  Be Mean About the Vision by Shawn Lovejoy
My friend, Rusty Gunn, recommended this book years before we ever started Church Inside Out.  An incredible reminder to stay true to what God has said.  There have been those who will and have tried to hijack our vision and they will try to hijack your vision of what God wants, but we must stand firm and be "mean" about it.

One thing is certain—if our church or organization is going to accomplish its mission, we’re going to need to be: Determined. Resolute. Intentional. We’re going to need to be willing to do whatever it takes to keep the vision from being detoured or derailed. Where there is no vision, people perish. They wander off in random directions. On the flip side, when everyone understands and embraces the vision, there is life, passion, growth, and success! And God will be glorified.....thus, Be Mean About the Vision.

4.  Church Forsaken by Jonathan Brooks
I am not for sure how I heard about this book, but the fact that he expounded on Jeremiah 29--one of my favorite passages of Scripture.  Coming from the context of the inner-city ministry, which is different than mine, it did simply remind me I must be present, not just in person once in a while, but over the long haul.

Church Forsaken challenges local churches to rediscover that loving our neighbors means loving our neighborhoods. Unpacking the themes of Jeremiah 29, he shows how Christians can be fully present in local communities, building homes and planting gardens for the common good. His holistic vision and practical work offers good news for forgotten people and places.

5.  Disciples Making Disciples Level 1 by Timothy Initiative USA
I called my friend Charles Campbell from the North American Mission Board asking him if he knew of anyone that was training up leaders to multiply in a house church network model.   A few days later, he connected me with Pastor Dan Brendly, Pastor of  Cross Point Church, Farmingdale, NJ.  He graciously gave me some time to talk through things and this was how our Training Center got started for CIO/MMN to start raising up leaders who multiply.

 Disciples Making Disciples lays the groundwork for a disciple making movement. Combining solid biblical teaching with hands-on-training exercises, those who train through DMD Level 1 are given simple and reproducible methods to begin reaching their community with the Gospel.

6.  Church Plantology by Peyton Jones
I like Peyton Jones' books.  He has a missional outlook and it spurs me on to keep seeking the lost in our context.  I picked up this once it came out because I enjoyed all of his other books.  It is a great that has great perspective and tools that I can immediately use.

The Apostle Paul was a veteran church planter who "laid a foundation like a wise and master builder" and there is much we can learn from his example. Paul indicated that there were basic skills and experiences required to successfully plant a church. Church Plantology examines the wide variety of church planting methods and ideologies in contemporary pastoral practice and outlines a biblical model based on the New Testament.  During his time in prison, Paul spent much of his time writing to Titus, Timothy, and others who'd served alongside him in the trenches to complete their training as church plantings. We can continue to apply these time-tested, proven methods, following the pioneering example of the early church.  Church Plantology by Peyton Jones is a robust guide to planting that will help planters to provide the foundation necessary to survive beyond the initial first years so that they don't end up a walking statistic.

7.  Growing Up by Robby Gallaty
Another home run by Robby Gallaty that simply lays it out very straightforward in how to be a disciple who makes disciples.

If you are serious about being a disciple of Jesus Christ—really, truly serious—a discipleship group can help you achieve that goal. Jesus established this model for us by forming and leading the first discipleship group—and it worked. The men who emerged from that group took the gospel to the world and ultimately laid down their lives for Christ.  In Growing Up: How to Be a Disciple Who Makes Disciples, Robby Gallaty presents a practical, easy-to-implement system for growing in one's faith. This guide offers a manual for making disciples, addressing the what, why, where, and how of discipleship. D-Groups, as Gallaty calls them, can teach you and others how to grow your relationship with God, how to defend your faith, and how to guide others in their relationships with God.

8.  The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
I have had this book for a really long time, but honestly seemed to be a daunting read and "am I up to the task".  It has proven to be a very challenging, to the heart, read as I question and examine my heart.   There is a demand and a sacrifice for discipleship.  There is cheap grace where most people tend to live.....and then there is a steep reality of living a lifestyle under the umbrella of costly grace.   I am still reading and processing this great work.

What can the call to discipleship, the adherence to the word of Jesus, mean today to the businessman, the soldier, the laborer, or the aristocrat? What did Jesus mean to say to us? What is his will for us today? Drawing on the Sermon on the Mount, Dietrich Bonhoeffer answers these timeless questions by providing a seminal reading of the dichotomy between "cheap grace" and "costly grace." "Cheap grace," Bonhoeffer wrote, "is the grace we bestow on ourselves...grace without discipleship....Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the girl which must be asked for, the door at which a man must know....It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life."

9.  Live Dead Joy by Dick Brogden
This will always be on this list each year as it continues to step on my toes when needed and encourage me in my deepest disappointments as Brogden brings the Word front and center.  If you are looking for a devotional to move you beyond the shallow end, I encourage you to pick up a copy.

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.

Written in a deeply personal style that provides a fresh perspective on the disciplines of the Christian life, each one of the 365 devotions is based on a suggested Bible reading. This devotional will put you on the path to a life of deeper faith and stronger dedication to Christ.

10.  Church Discipline by Jonathan Leeman
I grabbed this handy book at a For the Church Conference at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.  I am grateful for my church.  The question for us is not if there will be issues that arrive that will call for church discipline, but , When?  There has always been tension arise when we talk about church discipline, but a better way to consider it is, "How does the church protect the name of Jesus?"  Not that He needs protecting, but we are salt and light--how do we present Jesus well to a lost world and what happens when people sling in the mud the name of Jesus? How do we use a theological framework to love people back to Christ?

Leeman helps us face the endless variety of circumstances and sins for which no scriptural case study exists, sins that don’t show up on any list and need a biblical framework to be corrected appropriately in love.
Here is a contemporary and concise how-to guide that provides a theological framework for understanding and implementing disciplinary measures in the local church, along with several examples of real-life situations and the corresponding responses.

11.  Church Membership by Jonathan Leeman
Another book I grabbed as we consider Church Membership.  I am not a fan of what Church Membership has become, so I have been praying as to what it should be according to Scripture.  Leeman gives wisdom in this matter of church membership.  I am excited about this next part of the journey for Church Inside Out as we set out to live out the vision God has given us.

"Salvation and my following through with Baptism publicly recognizes me as a child of God.  Church membership publicly recognizes I am a kingdom citizen."

Becoming a member of a church is an important, and often neglected, part of the Christian life. Yet the trend these days is one of shunning the practice of organized religion and showing a distaste or fear of commitment, especially of institutions.  Jonathan Leeman addresses these issues with a straightforward explanation of what church membership is and why it’s important. Giving the local church its proper due, Leeman has built a compelling case for committing to the local body.

12.  Grasping God's Word by Scott Duvall and Daniel Hays
I am not inclined to read textbooks or am I an astute theologian.  Books like these are daunting as I am not a deep thinker, but they do such a great job making it applicable and understanding.    It challenges me to keep learning and helps me know that I still have a lot to learn.  I want to keep learning and this challenges my mind.  I don't want to become lazy in my thinking, so I need books like this to challenge me.  This for me is an on-going read continuing into 2022 as I want to marinate in it and apply what's being taught.

 Grasping God's Word has proven as an invaluable help to students who want to learn how to read, interpret, and apply the Bible for themselves. It will continue to serve college-level students and lay learners well in their quest to gain a firm grasp on the rock of God’s Word.  Old Testament scholar J. Daniel Hays and New Testament expert J. Scott Duvall provide practical, hands-on exercises to guide students through the interpretive process. 

13.  The Starfish and the Spirit by Lance Ford, Robert Wegner, and Alan Hirsch: ONE OF MY FAVORITES!
I loved this book as it presented a different way of leadership moving from a hierarchy to a decentralized leadership empowering others to serve and lead.  It was different and intriguing and has helped me rethink ways I can empower my church.  I don't have to be THE guy, but how can I empower many.
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The Starfish and the Spirit is about creating a culture where church leaders view themselves as curators of a community on a mission, not the source of certainty for every question and project. It's about creating a team of humble leaders "in the middle" of the church, not at the top--leaders who naturally reproduce multiple generations of leaders, from the middle out.

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​So....there you have it.  Some of the books I have read that have been challenging!  Just pray my wife let's me get more bookshelves!!!

(If you are interested, I am starting a Live Dead Joy devotional group to discuss what God is teaching us as we read His Word in 2022.  Let me know if you are interested!)  mike@mobilemissionsnetwork.com