After reading certain books, I have gained a lot of benefit by writing a brief summary of the book. I try to do this in less than a page so that I condense the big ideas or themes I discovered. This helps me in a couple of ways. I can go back to my summary and quickly re-familiarize myself with what the book was about. It also helps me to explain or describe the book coherently to others who might be interested in reading it.

A variation of writing a book summary is outlining the book. This could be as simple as highlighting the chapter titles with a one or two sentence summary of that section. Sometimes a particular book lends itself to this sort of summary.

Probably the easiest way to get the most out of your reading is to write out the significant statements you check-marked or starred while you read (see previous post Getting the Most From Your Christian Books-How to Mark Your Text). Put them all into a Word document. This will re-enforce what you’ve read and will put it into a convenient format which you can search later on if needed.

Once you’ve got your summary, outline, or significant statements, what can you do next?
1. Share them with a friend. Tell them about the book you’re reading and that you want to tell them some of the highlights. Talking about these things will help you heaps as you try to communicate in your own words what the book is about and why you found it helpful.

2. Form some kind of study group. Get a group together who can read the same book (hopefully not the same copy of the same book) and meet on a weekly or fortnightly basis to talk about what was interesting.

3. If you’ve read a good book, buy a copy for someone else.

4. Blog about it. Tell the whole world. Pass on your recommendations and insights to others.

5. If you make a list of really good quotations, you can easily insert them at the end of your e-mails or letters. I use these lists of quotations to insert into the church’s bulletin every Sunday.

6. Maybe your church would let you start a book stall to sell quality books you have read or establish a library of good books that church people can take home and return when finished. This is a great way to make these resources available to others.

Whatever you do, don’t keep them to yourselves. Pass them on so others can benefit too.

That pretty much sums up why I’ve been writing these articles on the topic of reading. We have a great treasure. But YOU have to reclaim it for YOUR generation.

One of the aspects of this treasure that I have enjoyed the most (by far!) is that of buying used books that are currently out of print.

I am assuming that you have started and are regularly updating a “must have” or “must read” book list (see previous article Reading Wish List). No doubt some of these titles will no longer be in print. In other words, you can’t just walk into Angus & Robertson and pick it off the shelf because no one is currently publishing it. So you’re going to have to find it somewhere else.

One of my favourite places in the entire world is a used book store with a large religious section in it. If you have a quality used book store in your area I would encourage you to familiarize yourself with it as soon as possible. Get to know the owner. Tell him what you’re interested in. It is amazing some of the great finds you can purchase and often at a fraction of its original cost. I can tell you plenty of stories about times I was in a used book store and found books that were on my list for less than five dollars a book! I feel like a pirate hunting for buried treasure! I love to “dig” and see what’s hidden in each “chest.”

Buying used books is an adventure in and of itself. As I mentioned, you can often find good value and usually good used books will retain their value a lot longer if not increase in value as they become rarer and harder to find.

If you don’t have any quality used bookstores near you (don’t worry, I don’t either anymore) there are some great resources on the internet. I hesitate to tell you about these because I don’t want you buying any of the books I’m looking for. But I guess that’s just the chance I’ll have to take.

www.ebay.com.au – search under books, religious, Christianity. A lot of these books are rubbish but there are some great deals that you shouldn’t pass up.

www.biblio.com. – you can refine your search for books located in Australia.

www.christianbooksaustralia.com – I am always amazed at the selection this site has. It almost always has what I’m looking for.

You probably won’t find too many deals at some of these specialized websites, but they do have a great selection to choose from.

Acquiring a personal library of quality used books is an excellent resource not only for yourself, but it is a great gift that one day you can pass along to your family, friends, or church. May God help each generation to reclaim this wonderful Christian inheritance.

PROS
1. Reading fiction can help get you started in the discipline of reading. When I was a kid, I hated reading because I thought it was “cool” to hate reading. I was into video games, sports, riding my bike, and mucking around in the woods behind my house. And then one day I read one of the Hardy Boys mysteries. I was hooked. I never knew that reading could be, well, so “cool.”

2. Reading fiction helps make the entire reading process a lot more enjoyable and interesting. The development of characters and story plot keep you turning the pages to see what happens next.

3. Reading fiction based on strong Christian principles can help introduce, explain, or illustrate biblical truths in a subtle and creative way. C.S. Lewis’s, The Silver Chair, has a great section illustrating the believer’s fight to believe in spiritual realities even though they’re presently unseen (pp. 181-191 in my copy).

4. Reading fiction stimulates your thinking, imagination, and creativity. It can help broaden not only your vocabulary but also your descriptive skills.

5. Reading fiction can help reinforce strong moral values as you see the evil characters reap the consequences their actions deserved and the noble characters ultimately triumph.

CONS
1. Reading fiction can also subtly introduce false doctrines. While the story line is still very interesting, the less-discerning Christian can unknowingly adopt aberrant theology. Star Wars teaches about an impersonal force that governs the universe. The Da Vinci Code teaches that Jesus was married and had children. The Shack perverts the gospel and attacks the importance of the church. These are all interesting stories that contain dangerous teaching.

2. One of the greatest causes of friction in reading fiction is over the issue of “objectionable elements.” Is it right or wrong for a Christian to read a book that is just make-believe? Does the book you’re reading have any swearing in it? Any sex? Any witches or other occult practices?

Well, you might not have thought about it before, but the Bible has all of these elements in it. Nathan told a make-believe story to David about a rich man who stole a poor man’s one and only sheep. Peter cursed and swore when he denied Christ the third time. The book of Proverbs gives an accurate description of a prostitute. And King Saul used the services of a witch in order to contact the late Samuel.

The point I want to make is simply this: the fact that a story contains these kinds of elements does not in and of itself make the story or the genre bad. It is what the story does with these elements that make the book wholesome or not. In other words, is the story explicit in its description of evil? Scripture is always cautious and discreet when it comes to these sensitive matters. Does the story glorify the evil or promote it as normal or right? Scripture never does this. I would argue (and this may cause some friction!) that Christians can still read books with these objectionable elements as long as these sins are dealt with in a biblical manner. In other words, they are frowned upon. Those who practice such things reap grave and terrible consequences. Does the book teach that these things are foolish and sinful? If the answer is yes, then there can be great benefit in reading books even if they contain some of these elements.

Personal Favourites
The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien – I’ve read these twice. I can’t wait to read them to my kids! The Gospel Blimp and other Modern Parables by Joseph Bayly is a great read with plenty of laughs about some of the silly things we do in church. C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia. George MacDonald has written several that I’ve enjoyed: The Princess and the Goblin, The Princess and Curdie, and The Golden Key.

What do you think about reading literature with objectionable elements?

Which works of fiction have you enjoyed reading?

But after I read through about a dozen great books or so (with no marking or highlighting whatsoever) I found that I was struggling to find the bits that really challenged and encouraged me. I was re-reading large sections trying to find that one quote I could sort of remember.

And then one day the penny dropped. Someone told me that books were simply tools. Now anyone can have a nice clean shovel, but you probably don’t get much use out of it if it stays squeaky clean. Shovels are for work and dirt – it’s okay if they get scratched up and lose their lustre. Hey – you might even loan out your shovel every once and a while, especially if you’re not using it. And if you want your shovel returned you’d better put your name on it somewhere.

Well books are kind of like shovels. They’re not meant to sit on shelves and look pretty all day long. They’re meant to be used. They’re meant to profit the owner and reader as much as possible. Once I got my head around this it changed the way I read. I now read with pencil in hand (or behind my ear) planning to mark the text.

At first I started with highlighters but it was hard to make it look nice (I know, I know, – I REALLY had issues!) and it usually bled onto the other side of the page – not cool. I tried underlining the valuable sentences but that really didn’t work well for me either.

Here is the method I’ve developed for myself over the years. Maybe it will be helpful for you too. When I read a really good sentence, I simply put a checkmark in the margin in pencil. I never use a pen if I can help it. That way I can erase it if necessary. A checkmark is good because I can keep on reading with little to no distraction or delay. I often try to find at least one checkmark per page. This helps me keep my brain engaged while I read. If I am reading a really good book there could be several pages with several checkmarks on it.

If I find a really awesome sentence or thought then I put a star in the margin instead of a checkmark. Checkmarks are good, stars are better. If I read a sentence that I know is wrong or that I strongly disagree with I will put an “X” in the margin. If I come across something I’m not too sure about I will put a question mark in the margin. Occasionally I will even write a brief word or two in the margin – maybe someone’s name or a place or a doctrine to help me find it again for easy reference.

So that’s what I do. It’s not rocket science but it is easy and it works well for me. If I finish reading a book, I will also go to the title page and write my initials along with the date that I finished reading the book. That way I have a record of how many times as well as the last time that I read a particular book.

With this method I can now pick up a book that I’ve read, quickly re-read the checkmarks and stars and re-familiarize myself with the contents of that book. This has made my tools much more useful for me. Whatever you do, develop a system of marking that will help you get the most out of your reading experience.

First of all you might learn something. I know it can be scary so I want to warn you about it now. Reading could lead to discovery. Now to be fair, you need to know that you might learn about some errors. That’s not so bad. But even more dangerous is the possibility that you might learn some more truth. Watch out! It’s out there! Don’t be naïve!

And if by chance you have been victimized into discovering truth, be careful, you might grow as a Christian. Even more tragic is the fact that you might change. Now I know that “change” can be a four-letter-word to some people and many Christians so be careful when you read that you guard against change. The best way that I’ve found to help prevent my actions from changing is to make sure that my thinking never changes. So when I read I make sure I argue against everything that is written and strongly disagree with the writer so that no new information penetrates my already mature understanding of life.

Another danger to avoid is that of cost in money and time. It is always safer to spend your money on things that make you dumber (i.e. video games, DVD’s, comic books). Books are for the most part entirely too expensive and not nearly as entertaining as other worthy investments. And those that do take the risk of reading – think of all the precious time that they waste! I mean, think of all the fun and leisure they can have enjoying the good life now!

I’d better hurry and end this article with just a few more dangers – I wouldn’t want this item to unintentionally carry any of the above contagions (reading Christian blogs can be almost as dangerous as reading Christian books you know!).

Beware of the leadership you might gain by reading good Christian books. People might look up to you because you can communicate clearly the learning you’ve achieved by reading. You might actually gain influence over your peers or the next generation, or – heaven forbid – the “older” generation. Leadership is a terrible disease that is often transferred to those who read.

Lastly, avoid at all costs the jeopardy of accountability. If you are foolish enough to read and even learn something, then you automatically become accountable. Great responsibility comes to those who read Christian books. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

Stewart Custer wrote: “Once in a while one hears a sincere but self-assured preacher say, ‘I don’t need all those commentaries and books about the Bible. All I need is my Bible and God the Holy Spirit!’ …If it be true that we do not need anything but the Bible, then we do not need the preacher’s interpretation either. We may take our Bible and go home and read it. But the arrogant preacher did not intend that. What he really intended was that people listen to his explanation of the Bible and to no other. This is arrogant piosity.”

Some Christians artificially create tension between reading and spirituality. B.B. Warfield replied in this way: “Nothing could be more fatal, however, than to set these two things over against one another. …Sometimes we hear it said that ten minutes on your knees will give you a truer, deeper, more operative knowledge of God than ten hours over your books. ‘What!’ is the appropriate response, ‘than ten hours over your books, on your knees?’ Why should you turn from God when you turn to your books, or feel that you must turn from your books in order to turn to God? …In your case there can be no ‘either-or’ here – either a student or a man of God. You must be both.”

Custer continues: “Tools are not an end in themselves; they are the means to an end. The use of tools is vitally important. It is possible for a farmer to break up ground with his bare hand to plant seed; it is possible to pull weeds with the fingers, but it is much easier and efficient to do it with a hoe and a rake. A far greater harvest can be gained by using a modern tractor and commercial sowers and harvesters. The application to Bible study is obvious. When the Bible student draws upon commentaries and reference works, he is drawing upon results of thousands of years of Bible study. He can see so much because he is standing upon the shoulders of generation after generation of dedicated students of the Bible who have shared the benefits of their study of God’s Word with others.”

With these introductory thoughts in mind, here are five reasons why I read Christian books. I read Christian books to…

1. Cultivate a heart that is humble and teachable. Scripture is right – knowledge puffs up (1 Cor. 8:1). Reading can be used to gain more facts and as a result to think too highly of self. But reading can also be a humble hunger to learn.

2. Receive counsel and grow in wisdom. Just read through Proverbs and note how many times “knowledge” is mentioned. More times than not, knowledge is described as something commendable that must be sought after and stored up. Reading good books is another way of receiving wise counsel.

3. Obey God’s greatest command. Matthew 22:37 – “You shall love the LORD your God…with all your mind.” The more you know God, the more you will love Him. Reading is never an end in itself. Reading is a means to loving God with all your mind. Wilful ignorance and mental laziness directly violates God’s greatest command.

4. Teach clearly and faithfully God’s Word. How am I supposed to know the length of a “span?” How does anyone know what a “synagogue” is? How do we know what “propitiation” means? By reading. I want to feed God’s people, not what I think, but what God says. Novelty in preaching and theology is not a virtue. Reading good books helps give me confidence that I understand God’s Word correctly.

5. Understand and better accomplish God’s will for my life. If I am better equipped to love God and if I am sure of what God says in His Word, then I am well prepared to follow in complete submission. The last thing I want is to be duped into wrong action because of a faulty understanding of what God says.

Why do you read Christian books?

One of the main catalysts for changing my thinking about the topic of goal-setting was the study of James 4:13-16.

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; 14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” 16 But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.

In this passage God is not opposed to anyone making plans or making profit. In fact, God expects us to do these things! (see Ephesians 2:10, Colossians 1:9-10) What God is against, however, is planning and profiting outside of His will. It is possible to plan and succeed in the wrong things. So the believer must always approach planning and profiting with a humble deference to what God wants and to what pleases Him. Think about it – God wants you to plan for 2009 and He wants you to profit in 2009!

So how can we apply this to reading?

If you are presently not much of a reader, consider making a simple and general reading goal for this year. Start with a plan to help you read through your Bible this year. The discipline you will develop by persevering through this reading scheme will bring you great profit. Then pick a number, any number (start small if you have to), and plan to read that number of books in 2009. If you don’t like to read or are a slow reader, make it your goal to read one book a month. That way you will read twelve Christian books in 2009. As you look back on 2008, if you already read that many books plan to read a few more – maybe 20 books. A couple of years ago I made it my goal to read 30 books and counting the Bible I read a total of 31 (some of them were very short – I have to confess). That’s not a huge amount but it was a good starting goal for me to shoot for.

This year I made it my goal to read at least 30 books but I’ve been much more purposeful in my reading. Instead of “cheating” by reading small paperbacks, I selected four large books (800+ pages each!) that I divided up over the whole year (approximately nine pages a day). I realized if I did not plan for these larger books I probably would never get around to them. In addition to these big books I chose ten specific books about Christ and the Gospel to help focus my reading in this area. It doesn’t look like I will meet all of these goals exactly as I had planned, but I know I am a lot closer to meeting them than if I had never tried!

For 2009, I plan to refine this method a bit further. I have selected three big books to read small portions of throughout the year, and instead of reading ten books about one major topic (i.e. Christ and the Gospel), I have chosen four topics to read specifically about (i.e. five books re: Holy Spirit; five re: Truth; four re: Church History; and three re: Men’s Ministries). There are a few other reading goals for next year that I won’t bore you with here.

The point is this: God wants you to get a reading plan for 2009. And by His grace you will profit greatly in your reading. Why would you want to miss out on this part of God’s wonderful will for your life?

Here are some suggestions to help you purchase the best books out there:

1. Ask people you trust and admire to give you a list of books they would most recommend. One of the best and easiest resources to help you acquire good books is to talk to someone you know (i.e. parent, pastor, mentor) and ask them what their five favourite books are. Be sure to write down their suggestions and keep them in a handy place (maybe your phone or PDA) so that you can have it when you’re at a bookstore (new or used) or on Ebay or whatever. See if there are any books that have been recommended by more than one person. If so, move that book to the top of your list.

2. Get to know the “Classics”. There are some books that have been around for a long time. And there’s a reason for this too – they’re great reading! The first classic that comes to mind is John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress. It is old (first written in 1678!) but people still buy it and enjoy its timeless truths. There are other books not quite as old that are excellent to read. You may have to hunt for them in used book stores or on Ebay but if you find them they will be worth their weight in gold.

3. Stay away from modern “best-sellers”. Generally speaking, if Koorong or Word advertise a new book as a best-seller, I stay away from it. Whatever is popular today is typically going to be weak in content and probably aberrant in theology. If there is some compelling reason to read it, I will get a copy from the local public library so I don’t waste my money purchasing a personal copy.

4. Start with smaller, inexpensive books and work your way up to the “big ones.” There have been several times I have purchased large (and expensive) books based on trusted recommendations, only to find out that they are too “heavy” for where I am presently at in my Christian understanding and walk. No doubt they are good books to read but I’m just not ready for them yet. I have found it much more helpful to get shorter, simpler works on the same subject to help me build up a base of knowledge first before I am ready to tackle the book that was initially recommended. If you start with the smaller volumes, you may find you’re not all that interested in that topic anyway and that will help to prevent you from spending money on unwanted books.

5. Buy books that recommend books. This is a variation of number one above. I basically do all of my book purchases based on three or four compiled lists. Two of the most thorough lists are Stewart Custer’s Tools for Preaching & Teaching the Bible. The author lists hundreds of books on any given Christian topic and provides short bibliographic material on most of his suggestions. The second list comes from chapter ten in John MacArthur’s Rediscovering Expository Preaching. This list is geared more towards preachers but will point any Christian interested in Bible study to the most helpful sources.

6. Check out book reviews on Amazon.com. Hundreds of books are being published everyday. No one can keep up with all of them. So if there is a new book available that I can’t find on any of my lists (because the list was compiled before the book was published!), I have found it helpful to look at the book on Amazon’s website. You will need discernment to evaluate each reviewer’s comments, but often you can view the book’s Table of Contents and even read an excerpt. Using this tool has helped me spend my money more wisely.

Start making your list and use it for your birthday and Christmas shopping.

So what is on your wish list? What are you hoping to receive this year? What is at the top of your “must have” list?

May I suggest that whatever else might be on your Christmas wish list, that you add to it some books? BOOKS?! Yes, books! And not just any books. But some good Christian books that will challenge you and help you grow in your spiritual walk.

Good books can be pretty expensive so why not ask for them as gifts? You could go about this a couple of ways. First, you could ask for specific books that you want to add to your personal library. That way you should get exactly what you want. The only thing to be careful about with this suggestion is that if you give the same list of wanted books to several friends or family members, they might accidentally buy you several copies of the same book. So maybe you can give different titles to different people.

Or you can ask for gift vouchers to spend at a Christian bookstore like Koorong or Word. If I get vouchers for these kinds of places I try to hold on to them until a significant sale is being offered. That way I get more bang for my dollar.

If you want to stretch your dollar even further, check out the Christian books for sale on Ebay. I have seen many great books for sale for next to nothing. The only reason I didn’t buy them is because I already own them and unfortunately I paid a lot more for them too!

So do you know which books you want for Christmas? Do you know which books are worth purchasing and which ones aren’t? It would be a shame to waste all of that Christmas money on books priced too high or on books of poor quality and content.

Whether or not Mum was a lucky guesser or had deep parental insight I’ll never know but she was right. I am a leader. And leaders need to be readers about leadership.

All through high school and university, most of what I heard about leadership was related to biblical servanthood. Perhaps you’ve heard this too. Jesus says in Mark 9:35, “If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.” And don’t forget Jesus’ example in John 13 of washing His disciples’ feet. This was drilled into my thinking. Leaders have to serve. Leaders have to be humble.

While this emphasis is certainly an important starting point (no one wants a megalomaniac for a leader), this is not all there is to leadership. You see, I can serve my wife and children but never lead them. I can serve my church but never lead them. Biblical servanthood and humility is a necessary prerequisite to leadership but in and of itself it is NOT leadership. There is much, much more.

Over the past few years I have read more widely on the topic of leadership. I want to draw your attention to the two most helpful resources I have read and commend them to your study.

The first is The Secret: What Great Leaders Know and Do by Ken Blanchard and Mark Miller. Both of the authors are professing believers. Their book is in the form of a story which makes it a great and easy read. The basic plot is about a lady in management who is failing as a leader. The company president mentors her and as she develops into a great leader there are dramatic changes that follow. I found this short book very interesting and insightful. Although this book is geared more towards business than it is to church, many of the applications are easily transferred to the church. I read my copy from the library.

The second is a newer book by Andy Stanley, Next Generation Leader: Five Essentials for Those Who Will Shape the Future. This book is a little longer than the first one (162 pages) but is packed full of leadership skills and insights. The five essentials are competence, courage, clarity, coaching, and character. I couldn’t put this book down and I’m going through it a second time with other men (leaders) in my church. This volume is written with more of a church context in mind but the author shows how these truths easily apply in other leadership situations as well.

Leaders are definitely readers. But one of the most needed topics for leaders to read about is on leadership. What have you learned about leadership that is worth passing on?