May Reading

1. A Confession - Leo Tolstoy
2. The 20 Essential Qualities of an Authentic Christian - Warren W. Wiersbe
3. The Table Talk of Martin Luther
4. Heaven's War - Micah Harris
5. The Golden Key - George MacDonald
6. Father Brown and the Ten Commandments - G. K. Chesterton
7. War in Heaven - Charles Williams
8. From the Library of C. S. Lewis - James Stuart Bell
9. Surprised by Joy - C. S. Lewis
10. A Family Guide to Prince Caspian - Christin Ditchfield
11. Robert Falconer - George MacDonald
12. The Air Freight Mystery - W. E. Butterworth

We Don't Have to Go to Hell

Wonder of wonders!
Jesus loves us
Despite our blunders

That Christ should choose us
And use us, after all
We deserve the blunderbuss

The mystery!  So profound!
The captain-pastor spoke well
Once lost, yes, but found
We don't have to go to hell

July Reading

1. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry - Rachel Joyce
2. A Moveable Feast - Ernest Hemmingway
3. 4.50 From Paddington - Agatha Christie
4. The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
5. Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats - T. S. Eliot
6. 84, Charing Cross Road - Helene Hanff
7. Playing for Pizza - John Grisham
8. The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry - Gabrielle Zevin
9. Biblical Preaching - Haddon W. Robinson
10. The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend - Katarina Bivald
11. The New City Catechism

April Reading

1. 1 Peter: Message of Encouragement - John H. McClanahan
2. The NIV Application Commentary: 1 Peter - Scot McKnight
3. Freakonomics - Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
4. The Most Reluctant Convert - David C. Downing
5. C. S. Lewis: Images of His World - Douglas Gilbert & Clyde S. Kilby
6. Letters of C. S. Lewis - W. H. Lewis & Walter Hooper (editors)
7. Reading Spenser: An Introduction to The Faerie Queene - Roger Sale
8. Mere Christianity - C. S. Lewis
9. Jane Austen - Peter Leithart
10. Preparing for Easter: Fifty Devotional Readings - C. S. Lewis
11. Lilith - George MacDonald
12. Spirits in Bondage - C. S. Lewis
13. Spenser's Images of Life - C. S. Lewis with Alastair Fowler

February Reading

1. C. S. Lewis: An Apologist For Education - Louis Markos
2. Dancing on the Head of a Pen - Robert Benson
3. Striding Folly - Dorothy L. Sayers
4. C. S. Lewis At The Breakfast Table - James T. Como
5. The Silver Chair - C. S. Lewis
6. The Song of Songs - Marcia Falk
7. The Laws of Marie de France - Robert Hanning & Joan Ferrante
8. Four Quartets - T. S. Eliot
9. The Pilgrim's Guide: C. S. Lewis and the Art of Witness - David Mills
10. The Ghost and the Dead Man's Library - Alice Kimberly (Cleo Coyle)
11. Letters to Heaven: Reaching Beyond the Great Divide - Calvin Miller
12. William Shakespeare's The Empire Striketh Back - Ian Doescher
13. Cupside Down - Terry Cliett

Top Twenty Books by C. S. Lewis Read This Year

A good portion of the 132 books I've read this year have been by C. S. Lewis, so I decided to do a list dedicated just to those.  Of course, who can really rank Lewis' books?  But everyone has his or her favorites.  Here is how I decided to do this one: I will rank each book according to how much I enjoyed reading it.  Certainly, I would recommend all of them.

1. Mere Christianity
2. The Great Divorce
3. Surprised by Joy
4. Out of the Silent Planet
5. Of Other Worlds: Essays & Stories
6. Miracles
7. Letters to an American Lady
8. An Experiment in Criticism
9. The Abolition of Man
10. Perelandra
11. Reflections on the Psalms
12. A Preface to Paradise Lost
13. That Hideous Strength
14. The Screwtape Letters
15. Till We Have Faces
16. Narrative Poems
17. The Problem of Pain
18. Christian Reflections
19. Letters to Children
20. A Grief Observed

Top Seven Books for Pastors

I read over 130 books this year.  Of those, a good portion were about Christian ministry in particular, or Christian living in general.  Here's a list of seven of those that I would definitely recommend.  Of course, this list is not limited to pastors.  All Christians would benefit from reading these books.  Blessings!











7.  Lessons from the Ladder - Neil Joiner
6.  Jesus Swagger: Break Free from Poser Christianity - Jarrid Wilson
5.  The Power of Positive Praying - John Bisagno
4.  Pastors in the Classics - Leland Ryken, Philip Ryken, and Todd Wilson
3.  The Book on Leadership - John MacArthur
2.  Who Moved My Pulpit? - Thom S. Rainer
1.  Praying the Bible - Donald S. Whitney

November Reading

• The Preaching Event - John R. Claypool
• C. S. Lewis on Faith - Lesley Walmsley
• The Abolition of Man - C. S. Lewis
• Tremendous Trifles - G. K. Chesterton
• Thoroughly Married - Dennis Guernsey
• Christian Reflections - C. S. Lewis
• Past Watchful Dragons - Walter Hooper
• Sir Gawain and the Green Knight - Jessie L. Weston
• The Great Divorce - C. S. Lewis
• Sonnets from the Portuguese - Elizabeth Barrett Browning
• Reflections on the Psalms - C. S. Lewis
• Shakespeare on Leadership - Frederick Talbott
• Who Moved My Pulpit? - Thom S. Rainer

October Reading

• The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Philippians - John MacArthur
• Exploring Ephesians & Philippians: An Expository Commentary - John Phillips
• The Power and the Glory - Graham Greene
• Christ-Centered Exposition: Exalting Jesus in Philippians - Tony Merida & Francis Chan
• Be Joyful: Even When Things Go Wrong, You Can Have Joy - Warren W. Wiersbe
• The Monkey and the Fish: Liquid Leadership for a Third-Culture Church - Dave Gibbons
• Aslan's Call: Finding Our Way to Narnia - Mark Eddy Smith
• The Art of Preaching Old Testament Narrative - Steven D. Mathewson
• Of Other Worlds: Essays and Stories - C. S. Lewis
• The Quotable Chesterton - Kevin Belmonte
• The Visionary Christian - C. S. Lewis
• Perelandra - C. S. Lewis
• Mere Christianity - C. S. Lewis
• The Warden - Anthony Trollope
• Lessons from the Ladder - Neil Joiner
• The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - C. S. Lewis
• Things That Cannot Be Shaken - K. Scott Oliphant & Rod Mays

Isabella's Baptism

August Reading

1. The Case for Christianity - C. S. Lewis
2. The Waste Land and Other Poems - T. S. Eliot
3. Miracles: A Preliminary Study - C. S. Lewis
4. Dracula - Bram Stoker
5. Sound Doctrine - Bobby Jamieson
6. C. S. Lewis on Joy - Lesley Walmsley
7. Out of the Silent Planet - C. S. Lewis
8. Favorite Father Brown Stories - G. K. Chesterton
9. Mystery of the Midnight Message - Florence Parry Heide & Roxanne Heide
10. Rhodes - D. &. I. Mathioulakis
11. The Screwtape Letters - C. S. Lewis
12. On the Shoulders of Hobbits - Louis Markos
13. The Joyful Christian - C. S. Lewis
14. The Power of Positive Praying - John Bisagno
15. The Wisdom of Father Brown - G. K. Chesterton
16. Three Score & Ten - Vance Havner
17. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

March Reading

1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J. K. Rowling
2. Jesus Swagger: Break Free from Poser Christianity - Jarrid Wilson
3. Pastors in the Classics - Leland Ryken, Philip Ryken, & Todd Wilson
4. C. S. Lewis & Mere Christianity: The Crisis that Created a Classic - Paul McCusker
5. C. S. Lewis: Letters to Children - Lyle W. Dorsett & Marjorie Lamp Mead
6. Till We Have Faces - C. S. Lewis
7. The New American Commentary: Leviticus - Mark F. Rooker
8. Be Holy: Becoming "Set Apart" For God - Warren W. Wiersbe
9. Christ-Centered Exposition: Exalting Jesus in Leviticus - Allan Moseley
10. The Princess and Curdie - George MacDonald
11. Murder in the Cathedral - T. S. Eliot
12. Electra - Sophocles (translated by George Young)
13. Reading Between the Lines - Gene Edward Veith, Jr.
14. The Gospel According to Matthew - Leon Morris
15. Exploring the Gospel of Matthew - John Phillips
16. The New American Commentary: Matthew - Craig L. Blomberg
17. Layman's Bible Book Commentary: Matthew - Clair M. Crissey
18. Studies in Matthew: The King and the Kingdom - Roland Q. Leavell
19. Matthew (Vol. II) - J. Vernon McGee
20. Holman New Testament Commentary: Matthew - Stuart K. Weber
21. A Room with a View - E. M. Forster
22. The NIV Application Commentary: Matthew - Michael J. Wilkins
23. The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Matthew 24-28 - John MacArthur
24. Christ-Centered Exposition: Exalting Jesus in Matthew - David Platt
25. Mere Christianity - C. S. Lewis

Here's Hope

Hope.
And joy.
That's what Jeremiah 31 is all about.  The people of Israel had for a long time walked away from God.  God, through the prophets, repeatedly warned them of coming judgment if they didn't repent.  They didn't, and God did.
But then in the middle of what must have seemed a completely hopeless situation, God sent them another message of hope and restoration, in fact event better than that--a new covenant!  That new covenant was established by the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.
Jeremiah 31:6 says, "For there shall be a day when watchmen will call in the hill country of Ephraim: 'Arise, and let us go up to Zion, to the LORD our God.'"
Perhaps you have been straying from the faith.  Maybe you have walked out on God.  Maybe you have abandoned His people, the church.
Maybe your life seems completely messed up, broken, and without any shred of hope or joy.
The good news is that can change.  "Arise, and let us go up to Zion, to the LORD our God."
Today is a new day. Start fresh.  Return to the Lord.  If you've walked away from the church (for whatever reason), make it a point to go back this Sunday.
You may be thinking, "No way!  Good will never have me back after what I've done."  I'm so happy to tell you that you are wrong about that.  God is ready and waiting with outstretched arms to welcome you back.
If that's you today, then go ahead and agree with God that your life is empty without Him in it.  Ask for forgiveness and take the necessary steps back into a growing, vibrant relationship with Him, through His Son Jesus Christ.
"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but will have eternal life" (John 3:16).

Let Us Boast

James, the half-brother of Jesus, warns us about a kind of boasting that is evil (see James 4:13-16), but that doesn't mean that all boasting of any kind is evil.  There is at least one kind of boasting that is always good and right for us to do, and that is to boast about God (what He has done, what He is doing, what He will do).
"Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord" (1 Corinthians 1:31).
The Apostle Paul also said, "Far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Galatians 6:14).
The Prophet Jeremiah writes, "Thus says the LORD: 'Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth.  For in these things I delight, declares the LORD'" (Jeremiah 9:23-24).
So what are some things Christians can boast about today?

• Boast in the fact that Jesus saves.
• Boast in the fact that God can be known.
• Boast in the fact that God is the God of love, justice, and righteousness.

Don't boast about yourself; boast about Jesus Christ!

3 Recommended Devotionals

It's that time again.  Each new year welcomes a great opportunity to start fresh with quiet times and devotions.  Here's three devotional books that you might want to check out this year.

1. Glorifying God: A Yearlong Collection of Classic Devotional Writings by Thomas Watson - Compiled by Patti M. Hummel (365)
2. A Sherlock Holmes Devotional: Uncovering the Mysteries of God - Trisha White Priebe (60)
3. A Hobbit Devotional - Ed Strauss (60)

Top 20 Books Read for 2015

1. Evangelism: How the Whole Church Speaks of Jesus - J. Mack Stiles
2. The Pastor As Public Theologian: Reclaiming a Lost Vision - Kevin J. Vanhoozer & Owen Strachan
3. Mere Humanity: G. K. Chesterton, C. S. Lewis, and J. R. R. Tolkien on the Human Condition - Donald Williams
4. The Collected Letters of C. S. Lewis Volume II: Books, Broadcasts, and the War 1931-1949 - Walter Hooper, Editor
5. Tolkien: How an Obscure Oxford Professor Wrote the Hobbit and Became the Most Beloved Author of the Century - Devin Brown
6. Why Church Matters - Joshua Harris
7. The Spiritual World of the Hobbit - James Stuart Bell
8. The Princess and the Goblin - George MacDonald
9. On the Incarnation - Athanasius
10. Preach: Theology Meets Practice - Mark Dever & Greg Gilbert
11. Bedeviled: Lewis, Tolkien and the Shadow of Evil - Colin Duriez
12. How to Be Rich - Andy Stanley
13. The Knowledge of the Holy - A. W. Tozer
14. Literature: A Student's Guide - Louis Markos
15. Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
16. Gorgias - Plato
17. Four Faultless Felons - G. K. Chesterton
18. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
19. Credo: Believing in Something to Die For - Ray Pritchard
20. Strange Fire - John MacArthur

This list of 20 books was compiled after reading 68 books this year.  As always, if you're only going to read one book, make sure it is the Bible.

December Reading

1. One to One Bible Reading - David Helm
2. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - J. K. Rowling
3. Mere Humanity: G. K. Chesterton, C. S. Lewis, & J. R. R. Tolkien on the Human Condition - Donald T. Williams
4. The Great Divorce - C. S. Lewis
5. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J. K. Rowling

October Reading

1. Why Not Just Be Christians? - Vance Havner
2. The Spiritual World of the Hobbit - James Stuart Bell
3. Father Brown: The Essential Tales - G. K. Chesterton
4. Case Closed?: Nine Mysteries Unlocked by Modern Science - Susan Hughes
5. More Than A Queen: The Story of Josephine Bonaparte - Frances Mossiker
6. Selected Poems and Four Plays - William Butler Yeats
7. Literature: A Student's Guide - Louis Markos
8. The Princess and the Goblin - George MacDonald
9. The Secret of Pirate's Hill - Franklin W. Dixon
10. The House of Hades - Rick Riordan
11. SPLASH: Show People Love And Share Him - Ken & Paula Hemphill
12. The Pilgrim's Regress - C. S. Lewis

What Is Your Current Reading List?

Currently I am reading the following books:

1. Christian Apologetics - Norman Geisler
2. Calvin's Company of Pastors - Scott M. Manetsch
3. The Collected Letters of C. S. Lewis (Vo. II) - Walter Hooper (Editor)
4. 10 Answers for Atheists - Alex McFarland
5. Gorgias - Plato
6. The Brothers Karamazov - Fyodor Dostoevsky
7. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austin

I'm in Ezra, Psalms, Matthew, and John in my Bible reading.

Leaders are readers; readers are leaders!

"We may not eat, but we will read!" -Dr. Paige Patterson

What Are Your Prayer Needs?

Prayers for me or my family are always appreciated. It warms my heart immensely and strengthens my resolve as a pastor to know people are praying for me. Occasionally, someone will quietly whisper that they are praying for me at church. Wind in my sails! Even better, there are two men at church who regularly come by my office before the morning service each Sunday just to pray with me and for me. What a blessing!

Here's a few things you can pray for:
1. That I will constantly be revived in my own Christian walk. I can't effectively lead a church unless my walk with the Lord is healthy.
2. That I will make wise decisions for the church and for my family.
3. That I will preach the truth boldly in love.
4. That I will "preach the Word" and not something else that just "tickles ears."
5. That the Lord will continue to give me strength and health to continue to minister.

Thank you!