{"id":175,"date":"2008-01-22T19:59:05","date_gmt":"2008-01-23T02:59:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/blog\/2008\/01\/22\/my-addiction\/"},"modified":"2014-02-22T11:58:18","modified_gmt":"2014-02-22T19:58:18","slug":"my-addiction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/my-addiction\/","title":{"rendered":"My Book Addiction"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have a problem.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

I have a book addiction.<\/h2>\n

\"Book<\/p>\n

But it gets worse. My wife has the same addiction. So do my three daughters.<\/strong><\/p>\n

We are doomed.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The Books I Read<\/h2>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

To see some of my favorite books, check out my list of Top Books Every Christian Should Read<\/a>, and my lists of books that I am reading<\/a>.<\/p>\n

So what’s on your reading list, and what does it tell you about who you are?<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have a problem. I have a book addiction. I already own more books than I can ever read in my lifetime. Yet I keep buying more books. 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