Christian books Archives - Page 2 of 2

I once heard that an active reader only reads 2000 books in their lifetime. I found that depressing at the time, since I already owned at least 2000 books. If the statistic was correct, that meant that I would never be able to read all the books I already owned…. let alone the books I might obtain in the future.

A few years ago I decided to sit down and figure out if it was true. It turns out that 2000 books was probably a bit of an overestimate…. especially considering the fact that most people probably don’t read more than a dozen books a year or so (the median is 8, the average is 17). If you read 17 books per year from age 20 to age 80, you will read just over 1000 books.

I read a lot, but wanted to make sure that I read more than 1000 books in my lifetime. I think I can read about 4000 books. The problem is that there are so many really good books out there! So I decided to start keeping track of how many books I have read. And I am doing it on this blog.

4000 Books

Here are the posts from previous years, and the lists of books I have read, with the total count so far:

Birth-2009 Estimate: 1500 (doesn’t count children’s books)
4000 Books 2010: 45
4000 Books 2011: 69
4000 Books 2012: 52
4000 Books 2013: 57
4000 Books 2014: ?? See Comments Below
Total so Far: 1723

I don’t count the books I write in that list, which really should count for about 10 books each (I wrote 3 in 2013), since not only did I read the book while writing it, but I also read it and re-read it in the process of typesetting, editing, and proofreading the book….

It’s a little crass, but did you ever see that episode of Seinfeld where Elaine hears a rumor that the birth control sponges are going to be discontinued, and so she buys every one she can find in the entire city? Then, to conserve her sponges, she has to decide if each boyfriend is “spongeworthy” or not?

Yeah, it is strange, but that is how I have come to view books. Though there are millions of books available to read, I can only read 4000, so I have started to try to decide if each book is “readworthy” … that is, does it deserve a spot on my list of 4000 books I will read in my lifetime?

How I Choose Books to Read

Anyway, here is a bit more about how I choose which books to read:

Will it challenge my thinking?
Does it look like it says something new, or present a traditional truth in an insightful way?
Is it written by someone who is credible?
Will it help me in one of my own writing projects?
Will it help answer a biblical or theological question I am struggling with?
Is it enjoyable to read? (Sometimes, you have to just read books for the fun of it.)

I Do Accept Review Books, but…

I do accept review books, but I am doing this less and less. I probably received and read about ten books in 2013 that I read and reviewed on this blog and on Amazon.com. A few years ago when I first started this list, I was happy to receive any free book that any author wanted to send me to review on this blog. I read dozens. But it got to be that these were the only books I was reading…

So this past year, I was much more selective in which books I accepted for review. I turned down a lot of offers. I feel bad about that, but it is what I have to do to read the books I really want to read.

Of course, I often accept review books from people who read my blog, because if you take the time to read my stuff, I definitely want to take the time to read yours. So if you have a book you want me to read and review on this blog, contact me through the About Page.

Books I “Must Read” in 2014

Here are some of the books that are “Next Up” in my Reading Queue:

Paul and the Faithfulness of God by NT Wright (2 vols…. though these 2 volumes should count as 10 books…. they are over 2200 pages combined)
Freedom, Suffering & Love by Elphinstone (for my When God Pled Guilty book)
Raising Hell by Ferwerda (for my When God Pled Guilty book)
Razing Hell by Baker (for my When God Pled Guilty book)
Understanding the Book of Job by Tompkins (for my When God Pled Guilty book)
Unholy Allegiances by deSilva (for my When God Pled Guilty book)
Reading Revelation Responsibly (for my When God Pled Guilty book)
Time and History by Rissi (for my When God Pled Guilty book)
The Game of Thrones Series (5 volumes… I know, I know, complete depravity…)
How to Fail at Almost Everything… by Scott Adams (simply because I love Dilbert)
C.S. Lewis: A Life – McGrath (I don’t have this book yet, but soon…)

My Favorite Books of All Time

Oh, and are you curious what books I have read that I highly recommend for others to read? I made a list of them at this page: Books Every Christian Should Read.

How about you? How do you decide which books to read, and which books are on your “Must Read NOW” stack for this coming year?

The Best Christian Books Every Christian Should Read

By Jeremy Myers

113 Comments

I am an avid reader. While I read all sorts of books, people sometimes ask me what my recommendations are for the best christian books I have ever read. Click here to go to the list.

That list of my best Christian books are below. This list of the top Christian books that everyone should read is probably not like any other list of Christian books you have ever read.

I remember when I was in Bible college, I asked about 10 professors for their list of top 10 Christian books. I was shocked when they gave their lists to me to find that all the lists were nearly identical. I think that between the 10 of them, I ended up with only about 15 books that they recommended. Even more shocking was that I had already read every single one of the Christian books on their lists … and hadn’t thought that most of them were all that good.

So let me tell you how the top Christian books below made it onto my list. I use three main criteria for the best Christian books I have ever read.

1. A Top Christian book sets my mind on fire and my heart racing.

Have you ever read a book that set your mind and heart on fire? That radically changed the way you viewed life, read Scripture, or interacted with God and others?

All of the books below did this for me. These are the best Christian books which every serious student of Scripture and theology should read.

I previously called this list of books my “Burning Books List,” not because these books must burned, but because they branded themselves into my mind. These books set my mind on fire and my heart ablaze. The ideas they contain smolder in my bones, shed light on the Scriptures, and help bring life to the world.

2. A Top Christian Book is one I scribble in … A LOT

When I read, I underline key points and scribble notes in the margins.

With the Christian books listed below, it sometimes seems that every sentence gets underlined and every margin gets filled.

Some of these Christian books answered a Bible question I always had, solved a theological dilemma I was facing, or helped with an issue in a way I had not found elsewhere.

3. A Top Christian book brings about life change

While I have a very inquisitive mind, I don’t just read books to gain information. The best Christian books will change the way you think about God, about Scripture, about yourself, about your marriage, about life on this earth, or about other similar topics, and will inspire you to not just think differently, but to live and act differently.

The best Christian books will not just renew your mind; they will also renew your life.

The Christian books on the list below did this for me in one way or another. They changed the way I think, ignited my passion for a purpose, and gave me an “Aha!” moment that sent my life and my theology in a new direction. Often, they inspire me to write books of my own.

The books below are some of the Christian books that have helped form and change my theology. These are the top Christian books I recommend the most.

The Best Christian Books I Have Ever Read (and you should too!)

Note: more books will be added to the list as I think of them (or read them). If you have one you think should be on the list, let me know in the comment section below.

Click a Category to Jump to that Section:

Note: Click the book covers below to buy the books on Amazon. The Amazon links are affiliate links, which means that if you buy a book, I will receive a small referral commission. Thank you for supporting my work!

Best Christian Books for Bible Study

Best Books on Bible Backgrounds

One of the best ways of learning what the Bible means is by studying the historical and cultural background of the various Biblical books. While I have read dozens of such books, here are some of the best Christian books in the area of Bible backgrounds.

Best Bible Commentaries

I own thousands of commentaries, and while it is difficult to recommend a commentary for pure “reading” enjoyment, every once in a while I run across a commentary that has far-reaching ramifications not just for the book which the commentary explains, but for numerous other passages in Scripture as well. The Bible commentaries listed below did that for me.

Old Testament Commentaries

New Testament Commentaries

Best Books on Christian Theology

The following list of theology books are divided up into the various categories of systematic theology. My theology is always in flux, due in large part to the wide variety of books I read on theology. The books listed below have changed my theology the most and caused me to see God, life, and certain key theological issues in a new light.

Best Books on General Theology

These books are not dealing with any particular area of theology, but present a new paradigm or a new way of looking at theology that really helped my theological development.

Best Books on the Bible

These books provide new insight into how to read and study the Bible, and what sort of book the Bible really is. As the Bible is a primary source for Bible knowledge and theology, these books are vitally important for my theological thinking.

Best Books about God

No theological system is better than its view of God. In my opinion, most theologies go wrong right from the start because they have a wrong view of God. The books listed below helped me learn about God in a new way, and come to see God in a new light.
***

(#AmazonAdLink)

Best Books about Jesus

Jesus is the center of our theology and the cornerstone of our life as Christians. Jesus reveals God to us, and shows us how to live as a true human being. The books listed below helped me learn more about who Jesus truly is, what He came to do, and how He reveals God to us.

Best Books about the Holy Spirit

There is so much confusion out there about the Holy Spirit, that we must make sure we know Him properly, and allow Him to function as He wants in our life. Sadly, I have not yet read any great books about the Holy Spirit. If you have any to recommend, let me know in the comment section below.

Best Books about Humanity

We tend to think that since we are human, we know everything there is to know about us. But this is not true. A large part of theology lies in understanding ourselves correctly.

Best Books about Sin

You typically don’t enjoy reading about sin, but these books on sin will help you understand what sin is and why Jesus came to deliver us from sin. Don’t assume you know what sin is!

(#AmazonAdLink)

Best Books about Salvation

This life is short, but what comes after this life lasts forever. As such, it is critical to properly understand issues related to eternal life, assurance of salvation, the role of faith and good works, and all related issues. The following books will challenge your thinking in these areas and provide much-needed clarity on the Gospel, evangelism, and eternal life.

Best Books about the Church

My views on church have radically changed in the last decade. The following books led to some of the greatest shifts in my thinking about church. If you have questions or concerns about what church is, how to function as the church, or what the Bible says about church, I recommend you read the following books. Also, I have written several books of my own on this topic (and am writing more), and while these didn’t make my “Best Christian books” list (how arrogant would that be?), you can go to Amazon to see these books.

(#AmazonAdLink)

Best Books about the End Times

Books about the End Times are a always a hot topic. If I ever read a book which provides some clarity to all the confusion about what is supposed to take place in the future, I will list those books here. So far, I have not found anything that is really worth recommending. If you know of a book or two, let me know in the comment section below.

Best Books about Angels & Demons

Somewhat like books about the End Times, books about Angels and Demons are quite popular. But I am typically not into popular books. I want books that push away the fog and bring some sanity to the hype and confusion about angels and demons. The books listed below helped do that for me.

Overrun by Demons/the Church’s New Preoccupation With the Demonic

Best Christian Books about Life

I do not just read books about Scripture and theology. In fact, since my goal on this site is to Bring Scripture and Theology to Life, I also read lots of books about how to live life, and how best to put my theology into practice. Scripture knowledge and theology should lead to changes in our life, or all that study is worthless and pointless. Here are a few areas of books that have been helpful for me.

Best Christian Books on Discipleship

(#AmazonAdLink)

Best Christian Books on Prayer

Best Christian Books on Marriage

Marriage is tough. In my experience, the marriage relationship of a husband and wife is the most difficult and demanding relationship two people will ever experience, but also the most rewarding and enjoyable. In a marriage, you will experience the highest highs life has to offer, and also the lowest lows. There is nothing more thrilling or depressing. And yet, most marriage books are relatively worthless. Every once in a while I read one that seems particularly helpful. These are listed below.

Best Christian Books on Parenting

Along with marriage, parenting is full of potential pitfalls. I am a father to three girls, and the books listed below have been most helpful to me as I learn to be a father and raise my girls to be the godly women God wants them to be.

Best Books on Christian Mission & Purpose

Having Bible and Theology knowledge is good, but it is even more important to put what we know into practice. Lots of Christians seem to think that this life is little more than a rest stop on our way to heaven. We are here to sit in Bible studies and Sunday services while we wait for the cosmic bus ride to heaven. Nothing could be further from the truth. The books below challenge Christians to get up off their couches and pews and get out into the world to follow Jesus into the dark and sinful places. If you are looking for books to challenge how you live your life as a follower of Jesus, these are the books I recommend.

Best Fiction Books

I read fiction too. Did you know that books of fiction can teach you theology? Believe it or not, certain aspects of my theology have been radically changed by what I read in some books of fiction. Here are the fictional books which changed or challenged my thinking the most.

The Atheist-Sensitive Church

By Jeremy Myers

4 Comments

I recently read Jim & Casper Go to Church by Jim Henderson and Matt Casper. Not only did I thoroughly enjoy the book, but I also appreciate the various blogs managed by Helen (see chapter 5 in the book) over at Off The Map. Go check them out.

The set up for the book is that Jim Henderson “rented the soul” of Matt Casper on EBay for $504. Jim took Matt to several churches around the country to see what Matt thought of Christianity and the way we “do church.” The book records what happened.

Encouraging Things about Jim & Casper Go to Church

The two main things I took away from this book is that there is incredible value in (1) visiting other churches, and (2) inviting (or hiring) people who don’t believe the way we do to come and brutally critique our churches. Doing these two things would probably change the way most of us do church, and for the better. (As a side note, check out what LeadershipNow says about why businesses should hire “Insultants.” The same thing applies to churches.)

What I found most encouraging about the book is that Matt Casper, the Atheist, had many of the same critiques of modern “churchianity” as I do. Since I want to embrace and engage people just like Matt Casper, it was encouraging to see that in some ways, I am on the right track. His concerns about what is going on in the churches he visited with Jim are similar to many of the concerns I have.

Challenging Things about Jim & Casper Go to Church

The most challenging aspect of the book is how Jim, the Christian, rarely tried to correct or fix Casper’s views. Casper, as an “outsider” really did misunderstand what some churches were doing and why. I sometimes found myself thinking, “Why doesn’t Jim explain that to Casper?”

But at the end of the book (pp. 149-150), Jim explains why he didn’t.

There are three basic reasons: First, when people visit a church, they generally don’t have someone there to answer their questions and refute their misconceptions. Second, most Christians in the pews wouldn’t know how to respond to Casper anyway. Third, most of us Christians are too defensive and argumentative toward people who criticize the church. Instead of trying to develop genuine relationships with people, we most often try to win arguments. That’s no way to reach out. Rather, we should let their critiques stand, and maybe change the way we do some things.

I could go on and on about this great little book (even though there were some things I disagree with). Let me just give you a few of the best quotes:

Jim: “A while back (1,700 years to be exact) the church drifted into the religion business. I call it beliefism — the worship of the right beliefs — and what you’re hearing today is a version of beliefism. Rather than Christians giving priority to what we do, we’ve been taught a view that tells us what’s really important to be known for is what we believe” (p. 7).

Casper: “Is that what Jesus told you guys to do? Put on a Christian rock show that’s visually and sonically indistinguishable from a non-Christian rock show, change the words, and call it church? Is that pulled from the Bible?” (p. 18; cf. similar statements on pp. 39, 67).

Casper: “Outreach only lasts so long. The first step is always pretty good, polite outreach: ‘Would you like to come check out our church?’ Then it’s ratcheted up a notch: ‘Have you thought about where you’ll spend eternity?’ And then, they throw in the towel: ‘Have fun in hell, sinner!’ Maybe I’m exaggerating, but you get my drift” (p. 95).

Casper: “I understand that Christians believe Jesus was free of sin, but my impression is that he didn’t focus on that. He wasn’t like, ‘Look at me! No sin at all! Be just like me!’ Based on what I’ve read, his main thing was going out and helping the poor and those who were suffering, and instructing others to do the same” (p. 100).

Casper (note this from an Atheist!): “If the Bible is really the Word of God, it’s very, very important to not take it out of context. I mean, that’s the rule that applies to most every phrase ever said, so you’d think it’d apply tenfold to the Bible! …You can’t take a snippet of the Bible out of context and misuse it, or spin it, to support your particular pitch. That’s twisted” (p. 141).

The book abounds with such insights from an Atheist. I recommend reading it, and then going out and finding an Atheist or two to come visit your church and tell you what he or she thinks. Tell them to be brutal.

Then, when they are brutal, don’t try to defend yourself. Just listen. Whatever you do, don’t do this as some sort of marketing pitch to get Atheists to attend your church. That’s just dishonest. Be genuine. Be real. Just try to make friends. And if you can’t make friends with atheists, I suggest shutting down your church because you’re not doing anybody any good.

My Book Addiction

By Jeremy Myers

13 Comments

I have a problem.

It’s more than a problem; it’s an addiction. There I said it. The first step to recovery is admitting that you have a problem, right? Of course, I’m not sure I want to recover from this problem. That’s probably another problem.

I have a book addiction.

But it gets worse. My wife has the same addiction. So do my three daughters.

We are doomed.

When we moved from Montana to Texas several years ago, our moving van was half filled with books…over 100 boxes. While in seminary, I easily added another 30 boxes. I have probably added a 5 boxes every year since then.

In my study, I have ten bookshelves crammed with books, and on top of every shelf is a pile of books almost to the ceiling. Out in the garage, there are 20-30 boxes of books that I was not able to unpack because there wasn’t room in my study.

And I am not just a “book collector.” There is not a single book I own that I don’t want to read. The ones I don’t want to read, I give away, throw out, or sell on Amazon. I want to read every single book I own.

The Books I Read

Here’s why I am posting this. I counted today, and in my pile of books that I absolutely MUST read as soon as possible, there were 191 books. With a lot of pain and heart-wrenching agony, I was able to narrow it down to just 40. As I looked over these 40 books, I realized that they fell into three categories: Bible backgrounds, church planting/leadership, and missional living.

That tells me a lot about what I want to do with my life and where I am headed. I want to understand the Bible so that I can take what it says and lead a church to reach out into this world with the love of Jesus Christ. Even as I think about this, it gets me excited.

To see some of my favorite books, check out my list of Top Books Every Christian Should Read, and my lists of books that I am reading.

So what’s on your reading list, and what does it tell you about who you are?

4000 Books

How I Choose Books to Read

I Do Accept Review Books, but…

Books I “Must Read” in 2014

My Favorite Books of All Time

1. A Top Christian book sets my mind on fire and my heart racing.

2. A Top Christian Book is one I scribble in … A LOT

3. A Top Christian book brings about life change

The Best Christian Books I Have Ever Read (and you should too!)

Best Christian Books for Bible Study

Best Books on Bible Backgrounds

Best Bible Commentaries

Old Testament Commentaries

New Testament Commentaries

Best Books on Christian Theology

Best Books on General Theology

Best Books on the Bible

Best Books about God

Best Books about Jesus

Best Books about the Holy Spirit

Best Books about Humanity

Best Books about Sin

Best Books about Salvation

Best Books about the Church

Best Books about the End Times

Best Books about Angels & Demons

Best Christian Books about Life

Best Christian Books on Discipleship

Best Christian Books on Prayer

Best Christian Books on Marriage

Best Christian Books on Parenting

Best Books on Christian Mission & Purpose

Best Fiction Books

Encouraging Things about Jim & Casper Go to Church

Challenging Things about Jim & Casper Go to Church

I have a book addiction.

The Books I Read

Theological Study Archives

Bible Study Archives

Advertise or Donate

Search (and you Shall Find)

Get Books by Jeremy Myers

Schedule Jeremy for an interview

Click here to Contact Me!