Favorite books for 2010

Last year I posted my favorite ten book reads for 2009.  Several commented positively on the list so I decided I would do it again this year.  I am slightly over my average of reading one book a week this year, and it wasn't easy to narrow the list down to a top 10, but for one reason or another these are the books that made it to the top.  I will list 6-10 today and give my five top favorites tomorrow.

10.  Elmer L. Towns, Praying the Lord's Prayer For Spiritual Breakthrough (Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 1997).  This is actually a re-read of a book that has helped my prayer life and my spiritual life.  Since reading this book the first time I have followed Towns' example of praying the Lord's Prayer when I lay down at night and when I first wake up in the morning.  Praying it slowly and thinking about what I'm really saying has become a very meaningful part of my spiritual disciplines.  I recommend reading this book as part of your daily devotional time.

9.  David Berlinski, The Devil's Delusion: Atheism and it's Scientific Pretensions (New York: Basic Books, 2009).  Berlinski is a secular Jew who holds a PhD from Princeton University.  This book provides a wonderful defense of religious thought and it challenges the thinking of today's well-known atheists.  It can get a little heavy at times and is not a quick read, but it is an enjoyable one.  I love the humor Berlinski brings as he asks the questions that the atheists cannot answer.  One of my favorites in the book is "The thesis that there are no absolute truths - is it an absolute truth?  If it is, then some truths are absolute after all, and if some are, why not others?  If it is not, just why should we pay it any mind, since its claims on our attention will vary according to circumstance?" (129-130)

8.  John C. Maxwell, Everyone Communicates, Few Connect: What the Most Effective People Do Differently (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2010).  One cannot be successful in ministry, in family life, in business, or in any other endeavor without the ability to communicate well and connect with others.  Leaders of smaller churches especially need to remember that one of the most important characteristics needed for an effective ministry is the ability to relate well with others.  In my opinion, this is one of Maxwell's best books in recent years as he addresses this important skill.  Everyone can learn to better connect with people, and this book can help you learn those skills.

7.  Bill Hybels, Axiom: Powerful Leadership Proverbs (Grand Rapids, Zondervan, 2008).  This little book contains 76 leadership proverbs that Hybels has learned as the pastor at Willow Creek Community Church.  He breaks these principals down into four categories - vision and strategy, teamwork and communication, activity and assessment, and personal integrity.  I found it to be full of excellent advice for anyone in a position of leadership.

6.  Kevin G. Ford, Transforming Church: Bringing Out the Good to Get to Great (Carol Stream, IL: SaltRiver, 2007).  Church transformation seems to be a key word today.  Most church leaders know the church must transform itself if it hopes to effectively minister in the 21st century, but many confess they don't know how to bring about such transformation.  This book can help with that.  Based upon solid studies of the American church, Ford gives the reader five indicators that can be used to evaluate his or her church and the steps that can lead to transformation.  I used this book as a textbook for a college class I taught this year on "Growing a Healthy Church."

Tomorrow I will share my top five reads for 2010.  Before closing this post, let me share one book that made honorable mention.  I didn't feel it was appropriate to include it in the top 10 since it was one of my books, so I decided to give it honorable mention.  The Healthy Pastor is being very well-received by pastors of all size churches and across denominational lines.  The subtitle explains the book well: Easing the Stresses of Ministry.  We will never eliminate ministry stress, but I tried in this book to demonstrate some ways that those stresses can be significantly reduced.  As the stress levels becomes less, our effectiveness increases.  I certainly recommend you add this to your 2011 reading list.