Here is a contrary confession: I hated books...

 

                                                                   

Here is a contrary confession: I hated books. By the time I graduated high school, I could probably count on one hand the number of books I read, and one that I enjoyed. I blame it on lack of knowing better, mental laziness and the television. It was only after my second year of college that I believe I truly learned to read. You’d never guess what book opened my eyes-ask me sometime-you’ll be shocked ;)

Not that I couldn't mouth the words on the page, but I mean learn from what I read and let it impact me. There's something miraculous about the act of reading that affects our mind in a way that no other process does. I discovered this late in life but found it to be revolutionary.

The only issue was, I found the world was full of books but very few were relevant or exciting for me to read. And so my quest began. I must admit marrying a woman whose passion for the first part of her life was reading books was a bit of a miracle and accelerated my passion for reading. Now I've come to the point in my life where there are several books that changed me and continue to do so every time I read them.

Part of the reason there's continued learning in the same book is that I've had the opportunity to study them with others. This has been a fantastic experience sitting with people who are eager to learn and willing to read and then share what is impacted them has been a double blessing.

Not only do I get the wisdom I glean but I get theirs as well. For the past couple years I have done this in the Sunday School environment. There's only been one problem: I have remained the lone teacher of the books I love.

My hope now is that I can deploy others who have been deeply touched by these books to teach others and perhaps even deploy from those classes more teachers. Then someday even have more books come into circulation as even more teachers share books that have impacted them. I'm afraid my vision is getting ahead of itself.

Let me be very clear we have a severe shortage of teachers for our adults and our children. As your pastor I take responsibility for not actively teaching with the intention to deploy other teachers but I hope to change that. I plan to over the next year to train and deploy three teachers with the ability to run a book study they are passionate about. If you are interested, talk to me or just read this post:How to teach a Sunday school class

You also need to know all of the books I would bring are solidly biblical with a clear call to following Jesus faithfully. Those are the primary filters along with being readable in the course of 3 months at a reasonable pace. All of my studies will be limited to roughly 12 people and my goal would be that everyone in the class learn something that changes their life and also that at least one would embrace what they learned to the level that they must teach it to others.

I believe the books we read can have that outcome. Let me know if you want to join me on the journey and I will let you know what book is next and hopefully what other books are being studied. 

Now here's the list of 12 book titles (and how they help) that I plan to teach or see are taught on a rotating basis until Jesus comes back:

One minute after you die-how to face death with confidence

Walk across the room-how to build relationships that will last for eternity

Living with thorns-how to have joy in suffering

The anger book-how to deal with the most powerful emotion

The five love languages-how to love and be loved effectively

Boundaries-how to have healthy relationships with everyone

The power of a whisper-how to hear God's voice clearly

Ordinary disciples-how the church actually grows around the world

Every Man's Battle-how to win the war of sexual sin

Celebration of discipline-how to have life altering habits of faith

The purpose driven Life-how to live a life of meaning

Vinegar boy-how to hear the story of Jesus in a different way

 

C.S. Lewis focus:

Chronicles of Narnia-all 7 books-how to live a heroic life

Screwtape Letters-how the devil wants to wreck your life

Mere Christianity-how the being a Christian just makes sense