Best Books Read in 2010

I sent out a Twitter/Facebook message asking people what were the best books they read this year. Listed below are their responses. Keep in mind that these are books they simple read this year not necessarily new books that were published this year and that I do not approve of all of these books. After listing the responses I will give my top ten for this year below. Enjoy!


"Bait of Satan" - Bevere
"Battlefield of the Mind" - Bevere
"For Women Only" by Shaunti Feldhan
"Approval Addiction" Joyce Meyer
‎"Grafted In" by D. Thomas Lancaster
"How to Think like Einstein"
"Who stole my Church"
"The Hole in Our Gospel"
"Ignore Everybody" - Hugh MacLeod
"Orbiting the Giant Hairball" - MacKenzie
"The Shack"
"The Extraordinary Life" - Bevere
‎"You Have Not Many Fathers" by: Dr. Mark Hamby
Myths of Light
Pathways to Bliss
I AM That
The Way of Dream
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Inner Gold: Understanding Psychological Projection
Man and his Symbols
Meetings with Remarkable Men
The Alchemist
The Waste Land and The Four Quarters by T.S. Eliot.

MY TOP 10 READS OF 2010
(in no specific order)
"LINCHPIN" - SETH GODIN
"THE ANT AND THE ELEPHANT" - VINCE POSCENTE
"INSIDE STEVE'S BRAIN" - LEANDER KAHNEY
"THE MEDICI EFFECT" - FRANS JOHANSSON
"CHURCH UNIQUE" - WILL MANCINI
"REWORK" - JASON FRIED
"MOJO" - MARSHALL GOLDSMITH
"DEEP CHURCH" - JIM BELCHER
"BELIEF" - FRANCIS COLLINS
"ADRENALIN AND STRESS" - ARCHIBALD D. HART

A THANKSGIVING PRAYER...

Oh God, when I have food,
help me to remember the hungry;
When I have work,
help me to remember the jobless;
When I have a warm home,
help me to remember the homeless;
When I am without pain,
help me to remember those who suffer;
And remembering,
help me to destroy my complacency
and stir up my compassion.
Make me concerned enough
to help by word and deed,
those who cry out
for what we take for granted.

by Samuel F. Pugh

“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me… – Matt. 25:35

Waiting in Expectation

Waiting patiently for God always includes joyful expectation. Without expectation our waiting can get bogged down in the present. When we wait in expectation our whole beings are open to be surprised by joy.

All through the Gospels Jesus tells us to keep awake and stay alert. And Paul says, "Brothers and sisters ... the moment is here for you to stop sleeping and wake up, because by now our salvation is nearer than when we first began to believe. The night is nearly over, daylight is on the way; so let us throw off everything that belongs to the darkness and equip ourselves for the light" (Romans 13:11-12). It is this joyful expectation of God's coming that offers vitality to our lives. The expectation of the fulfillment of God's promises to us is what allows us to pay full attention to the road on which we are walking.

Being Given

Jesus is given to the world. He was chosen, blessed, and broken to be given. Jesus' life and death were a life and death for others. The Beloved Son of God, chosen from all eternity, was broken on the cross so that this one life could multiply and become food for people of all places and all times.

As God's beloved children we have to believe that our little lives, when lived as God's chosen and blessed children, are broken to be given to others. We too have to become bread for the world. When we live our brokenness under the blessing, our lives will continue to bear fruit from generation to generation. That is the story of the saints - they died, but they continue to be alive in the hearts of those who live after them - and it can be our story too.

Ordering Our Desires

Desire is often talked about as something we ought to overcome. Still, being is desiring: our bodies, our minds, our hearts, and our souls are full of desires. Some are unruly, turbulent, and very distracting; some make us think deep thoughts and see great visions; some teach us how to love; and some keep us searching for God. Our desire for God is the desire that should guide all other desires. Otherwise our bodies, minds, hearts, and souls become one another's enemies and our inner lives become chaotic, leading us to despair and self-destruction.

Spiritual disciplines are not ways to eradicate all our desires but ways to order them so that they can serve one another and together serve God.

10 SUGGESTED READS FOR 2010 FOR PASTORS/LEADERS/CREATIVES

Here are a few books that I find worthy of mention for recommendation. If your looking for a good read this year let me help you with a few that have been huge for me. This is not and exhaustive list by any means but something to wet your appetite. These are in no particular order.

1) Six Thinking Hats – Edward De Bono

2) A Whole New Mind (why right-brainers will rule the future) Daniel H. Pink

3) Mavericks at Work (why the most original minds in business win) William C. Taylor

4) The Houdini Solution (put creativity and innovation to work by thinking inside the box) Ernie Schenck

5) The Fifth Discipline (the art and practice of the learning organization) Peter M. Senge

6) The Tipping Point (how little things can make a big difference) – Malcolm Gladwell

7) Integrity (the courage to meet the demands of reality) Dr. Henry Cloud

8) The Ten Faces of Innovation (ideo’s strategies for beating the devil’s advocate & driving creativity throughout your organization) Tom Kelley

9) Church Unique (how missional leaders cast vision, capture culture, and create movement) Will Mancini

10) Made to Stick (why some ideas survive and others die) Chip Heath

10 SUGGESTED READS FOR 2010 FOR EVERYONE

Here are a few books that I find worthy of mention for recommendation. If your looking for a good read this year let me help you with a few that have been huge for me. This is not and exhaustive list by any means but something to wet your appetite. These are in no particular order.

1) Crazy Love (overwhelmed by a relentless God) – Francis Chan

2) The Jesus Way (conversations on the way that Jesus is the Way) – Eugene Peterson

3) 10 Dumb Things Smart Christians Believe – Larry Osborne

4) Pivot (how one turn in attitude can lead to success) – Dr. Alan R. Zimmerman

5) Servolution (starting a church revolution serve serving) – Dino Rizzo

6) Emotional Intelligence (why it can matter more than IQ) – Daniel Goleman

7) The Celebration of Discipline – Richard Foster

8) The Prodigal God (recovering the heart of the Christian faith) – Timothy Keller

9) The Ragamuffin Gospel – Brennan Manning

10) Primal (a quest for the lost soul of Christianity) – Mark Batterson