I was having lunch with a friend a while back. It was in my Fresno days. He was a fellow youth ministry veteran and we were having a great lunch. We got on the topic of various books and he said something I won’t soon forget (as proved by the fact I remember it even right now, 10 years later): “One of the things I’ll regret at the end of my life is that I haven’t read more.”
I think I agree! So every turn of the year, I always plan to read more & watch a little less TV. I hope you are with me. I know that we are all a little different. I even said in last weekend’s message at Journey that some of us love to read & some of us just don’t. For some of us it’s a chore. For some it’s a delight. For a lot of us it’s somewhere in between.
I have no illusions. I know that most people that I speak to will not read Divine Conspiracy much less The Confessions of St Augustine. I wish it were different. But I do think it is reasonable to hope, encourage, cajole & pray that we might read MORE. Just a little more!
So in that spirit, here’s what I’m reading lately, kind of like a family picture.
The ME I Want to Be by John Ortberg. I’m reading this in conjunction with our beta launch of Monvee. It’s a good accessible book. I would recommend it to anyone that things Dallas Willard or Richard Foster might be a little too much.
A Year With Dietrich Bonhoeffer – this is a reading a day from the great 20th century martyr. I’ll be enjoying this all year.
The Works of Josephus – I always have a long-term reading project going. I read a few pages a day working my way through a long, often ancient or dense work. This is how I got through the Qur’an, The City of God by Augustine etc. I’m finally on volume 4… the last one! My goal is to finish it before my next trip to Israel.
The Practice of The Presence of God by Brother Lawrence & Letters by a Modern Mystic by Frank Laubauch – this is a re-read for the message that I did 3 weeks ago called Mystic Me. It was sheet joy going through these little gems. Everyone could & should read these 2 little works.
Freakonomics by Levitt and Dubner – I’m reading it kind of in conjunction with the upcoming Journey series “Godonomics”. Just started it.
When The Game Was Ours by Magic & Larry – if you need last names you won’t read this book anyway. Rod Kaya gave this to me as a Christmas gift. It’s like getting a box of Sees Candy. I’m deliberately reading this as slowly as I can. I could easily just take a day & whiz through it; it’s that fun.
So what are YOU reading so far? Leave a comment. I’d love to hear.
Watch for in an upcoming post – books I wish EVERYONE would read.
