I love reading books, and like many of you, I read a lot of books in the last 10 years. Half of the decade I spent in graduate school (finishing up my Doctor of Ministry degree) so there were a lot of books to be read and I just really enjoy reading anyways. I read about 500 books this last decade and there were a lot of great ones….some good ones….and some not so good ones. But there were definitely some books that stood out and really changed my life.
There are many books that I consider to have greatly been a part of spiritually transforming my life. When I chose my books there were some basic criteria that I considered:
- I didn’t list the bible, because I’m hoping you assume that that is the book that has spiritually transformed me the most.
- They were memorable (some books are just forgettable, and these were not)
- They didn’t have to be written this decade
- They are ones that I recommend to everyone
- They are leading works in their field
- They are ones that I have read multiple times, or are back on the reading rotation to read again
- They needed to have fundamentally shifted some area of my thinking–paradigm shifting influence
- They transformed me spiritually (my theology, my ministry, my prayer life, my leadership, my preaching, my counseling, my pastoring, my understanding of humanity, my relationship with God, etc.)
Additionally, since I have so many recommendations, I’ve decided to break them down into the following categories: Church Growth, Theology, Christian Living, Leadership, Self-Improvement, Business, Sociology, and African-American Studies. I will devote blog space to cover each category in subsequent posts.
Here we go:
Church Growth
African American Church Management Handbook by Floyd Flake
Highly regarded pastor Floyd Flake; his wife, co-pastor, author, Elaine Flake; and church chief financial officer Edwin Reed offer a design based on key needs in the black church, and their experience at one of the nation’s most respected and largest black churches, Greater Allen A.M.E. Cathedral in New York. This unique, detailed, and thorough resource for black churches of any denomination covers virtually all aspects of church management from the theoretical and theological to the practical “nuts and bolts” of church administration. The authors include a special section offering principles for economic development, an area in which Greater Allen A.M.E. Cathedral has experienced extraordinary success. The African American Church Management Handbook is sure to find a permanent place on the desks of African American pastors, seminarians, and church leaders for many years to come.
Church Growth From An African American Perspective
Church Growth From An African American Perspective is a MUST READ FOR EVERY INNER-CITY PASTOR!!!
This book is Pastor Donald Hilliard’s charge to active church groups to adopt and integrate a healthy Christian/biblical model for congregation growth and development. Senior pastor of Cathedral International in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, Pastor Hilliard posits the value of the three basic L’s for growth: love, lift, and liberate. The power of the church to love, lift and liberate people through the truth of the gospel will sustain and propel them to become what God intends them to be. Pastor Hilliard differentiates between healthy and unhealthy growth in a church. He advocates purposeful prayer and preaching the whole word of God, not just favorite Scriptures. He believes that people matter more than programs, and that programs exist only to meet people’s needs. At the end of each chapter of explanation there are a series of action steps that will lead to a full and healthy development of the practical dimensions of a powerful African American church. “Church Growth From and African American Perspective” has many sound principles to recommend it to all congregations.
The Purpose Driven Church by Rick Warren
This book forever changed my view of church growth. The thesis of The Purpose Driven Church is that when churches think first about their health, growth is sure to follow. “If your church is healthy,” writes Rick Warren, “growth will occur naturally. Healthy, consistent growth is the result of balancing the five biblical purposes of the church.” These five purposes are to “Love the Lord with all your heart,” “Love your neighbor as yourself,” “Go and make disciples,” “[Baptize] them,” and “[Teach] them to obey.” I will forever be grateful for Rick’s contribution to the Kingdom of God.
Natural Church Development: A Guide to Eight Essential Qualities of Healthy Churches by Christian Schwarz
Critics of the church growth movement have often emphasized the need for quality congregations. We should not focus on numerical growth, but rather, we should concentrate on qualitative growth.
Although it’s a bit academic, Christian Schwarz has done extensive research world-wide and found that healthy, growing churches seem to share eight quality characteristics. These characteristics are:
- Empowering leadership
- Gift-oriented ministry
- Passionate spirituality
- Functional structures
- Inspiring worship service
- Holistic small groups
- Need-oriented evangelism
- Loving relationships
Schwarz uses the illustration of a barrel with eight staves to symbolize the eight quality characteristics. The barrel can only hold water to the height of the lowest stave. So too, Schwarz argues, a church can only grow as far as their ‘Minimum factor,’ which is the lowest of the eight quality characteristics in their church. He challenges churches to resist the temptation to work on improving areas in which they already excel, for by doing this they do not increase their minimum factor or their church quality.
Simple Church: Returning to God’s Process for Making Disciples by Thom Rainer
While The Purpose Driven Church taught me how to grow a healthy church, The Simple Church taught me what to do with the harvest. According to Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger, the simple revolution has begun. From the design of the iPod to the uncluttered Google home page, simple ideas are changing the world.
Simple Church clearly calls for Christians to return to the simple gospel-sharing methods of Jesus. No bells or whistles required, so to speak. Based on case studies of four hundred American churches, authors Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger prove that the process for making disciples has quite often become too complex. Simple churches are thriving, and they are doing so by taking these four ideas to heart: Clarity. Movement. Alignment. Focus. Each idea is examined here, simply showing why it is time to simplify.
Seven Practices of Effective Ministry by Andy Stanley
In my humble opinion, Andy Stanley is Rick Warren 2.0! I love Andy’s practical writing style and he understands the mind of pastors & church leaders. Seven Practices of Effective Ministry taught me how to measure our church’s effectiveness. There’s no scoreboard in the sanctuary, and the only plate is probably for the offering. But every church leader needs to know how to win, and every congregation needs to know when to cheer.
This insightful book speaks to every church leader who yearns for a simpler, more effective approach to ministry. An engaging parable about one overwhelmed pastor is followed by an overview of seven successful team practices, each one developed and applied in a ministry setting. Reinforced by relevant discussion questions, these clear, easy, and strategic practices can turn any ministry into a winning team. Like your own personal trainer, 7 Practices of Effective Ministry is an insightful guide for any leader who yearns for a simpler, more effective approach to ministry.
When God blesses a church with numerical growth, the organization can drift towards complexity. Deliberate Simplicity taught me the principle “less is more” and how this approach to church can equip believers for eternal influence. Church innovator Dave Browning unpacks the six elements of a new equation for church development. These concepts—minimality, intentionality, reality, multility, velocity, and scalability—provide a realistic plan for streamlining church while maximizing impact.
Biblical Church Growth: How You Can Work with God to Build a Faithful Church by Gary McIntosh
There are many popular models for church growth based on outstanding churches led by outstanding pastors. But unfortunately, specific models are temporary and go out of style quickly. Gary McIntosh explores the biblical principles for church growth and applies them to today’s culture. Instead of concentrating on the ephemeral how of church growth, he focuses on the unchanging why. McIntosh defines church growth as “all that is involved in bringing men and women who do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ into fellowship with him and into responsible church membership.” In other words, church growth is effective evangelism, not a methodology for increasing membership.
Taking Your Church to the Next Level: What Got You Here Won’t Get You There by Gary McIntosh
All local churches experience a predictable life cycle of growth and decline. But if a church is on a downward trend, how can it turn around? Taking Your Church to the Next Level explains the impact of age and size on churches and outlines the improvements that must be made at each point for a church to remain fruitful and faithful to its mission. McIntosh deftly describes the cycles of fruitfulness and the importance of continual improvement to diminish destructive forces that keep a congregation from its mission. Church leaders, pastors, and all who care about the church and desire to see it experience biblical growth will benefit from the sage wisdom offered in these pages.
Growth by Accident, Death by Planning: How Not to Kill a Growing Congregation by Bob Whitesel
A congregation that had been growing in numbers and spiritual vitality reaches a plateau, and then begins to decline. Most of the time, the plateau occurs long before the church arrives at the optimum numbers of members it hoped to attract. The real question, says Bob Whitesel, is why the church grew in the first place. A GREAT READ!
Church Unique: How Missional Leaders Cast Vision, Capture Culture, and Create Movement by Will Mancini
Will Mancini (founder, Auxano consulting group) believes that all churches need not be megachurches like Willowcreek (IL) or Saddleback (CA). He helps leaders focus on their own unique cultures and congregational fingerprints. Once churches grasp that they are one of a kind-much like galaxies, fossils, DNA, and sandbanks-they can then, Mancini writes, unleash their full potential. The book, complete with an appendix as well as logos and icons illustrating various churches’ visionary thinking, is strengthened by numerous flow charts, diagrams, graphics, and pithy quotes.
According to some, it has the potential to unseat Rick Warren’s The Purpose-Driven Church in popularity. In my opinion, academic libraries will probably pass on this title for its admitted lack of supporting empirical evidence.
Which books have you read?
Did any of these books change your life?
Which ones do you want to read?
