Five book recommendations for 2017 …

It was writer Vera Nazarian who posited the idea that “Whenever you read a good book, somewhere in the world a door opens to allow in more light.”

If you love to read, you get that idea.

Books can also be great practical tools. Stephen Wright once quipped, “A lot of people ask me if I were shipwrecked and could only have one book, what would it be? I always say, ‘How to Build a Boat.'”

If you’re a reader of any degree, chances are you’ll be turning the pages of even more books in the New Year that is less than a month away.

What to read in 2017?

Let me make just a few suggestions for you. If you were to read just a handful of books in all of 2017, let me recommend five titles that could inform and challenge you in a thorough way. All five of these titles were selected from the nearly 100 different book reviews I’ve post here on my blog. Here’s five suggestions for the coming year:

1. “What the Bible Says About Covenant” by Mont W. Smith. This first recommendation is one of the most important, yet one of the most difficult.

It’s one of them most important recommendations because Christians are woefully ignorant of the concept of covenant, which is a critical concept for disciples of Jesus to understand. Our relationship with God is a covenant relationship, yet the average Christian in most churches couldn’t give you an accurate definition of what “covenant” means.

This is also the most difficult recommendation I’m making because I didn’t choose an easy book for you. Mont Smith wrote this book as a textbook for students studying at a Christian college. It’s more academic in style and content, but it’s the best book I’ve read thus far on the topic of covenant. Don’t let the higher level of difficulty frighten you away from this book; instead, let this be your big reading challenge for the year! Read my original post about this book here.

2. “I Am A Follower” by Leonard Sweet. Of all the books from my reviews I recommend the most, this is the second most recommended title. Sweet does a great job in this book of challenging the present-day “leadership” addiction in the church, and helps us gain a new and different take on the topic of leadership. This is a message leaders in the church today NEED to hear. Read my original review of this book here.

3. “Plastic Donuts” by Jeff Anderson. This is a mini hardback with a refreshing and insightful message about giving. Yes, about giving — don’t let the topic scare you off! It’s a small book that not only is easy to read, it has a great message about the kind of attitude God really wants us to have when it comes to giving. Every Christian needs to have a well-developed theology of giving, and a commitment to giving. This little book will help you sort all that out with a simple take on this important topic. Read my original review of this book here.

4. “Radical” by Dr. David Platt. Of all my reviewed books, I have recommended this book the most. That’s because Platt does an excellent job of challenging the socks off us to live a life of radical discipleship. All of us need this level of challenge, so don’t miss it in 2017. Read my original review of this book here.

5. “The Surprising Secrets of Highly Happy Marriages” by Shaunti Feldhahn. I think we’ve been missing some solid teaching about marriage, and too much of what is out there is often tired and boring. This book brings some valuable information and insights from Feldhahn, who is a Christian, Harvard-trained researcher. This book will give you some profitable information about what comprises not just “good” marriages, but highly happy ones. Read my original review of this book here.

These five books will give you some significant learning about Christianity, challenge your thinking about leadership, give you a fresh take on giving, challenge your commitment to authentic discipleship, and give you some pearls of wisdom for a happy marriage. Not a bad round of reading for a New Year!

Scotty