reading

Books are the best of things, well used; abused, among the worst. What is the right use? What is the one end which all means go to effect? They are for nothing but to inspire. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

I like to read.  My aim is to “read” one book per day. Every once in a while, I’ll come across something that deserves a special spot on the shelf because it’s written well and proved itself more than useful.

Good books on Worship Theology:

• Anything by the late, great Robert E. Webber, including Divine Embrace, Ancient-Future Worship and Younger Evangelicals.  Incidentally, Webber is the founder of the Institute for Worship Studies.
• Unceasing Worship by Harold Best.
• Recalling the Hope of Glory by Allen P. Ross

Good books on Musicianship:

• Band Bible, which, by the way, has nothing to do with the classic orthodox canon of scripture.  It’s just a title.
• Evoking Sound by James Jordan.

Good books on Planning & Leading Worship:

• The Complete Worship Leader by Kevin Navarro.
• The Complete Worship Service by Kevin Navarro.
• The Worship Leader’s Handbook by Tom Kraeuter.
• Worship Team Handbook by Allison Siewert.
• The Ultimate Idea Book from Word Publishing.

Good books on Organizational Theory, Development and Change:

• The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook by Peter M. Senge.
• Simple Church by Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger.
• Change Your Church For Good: the Art of Sacred Cow Tipping by Brad Powell.
• Unlearning Church by Michael Slaughter.
• Advanced Strategic Planning by Aubrey Malphurs.

Good books on Leadership:

• Servant Leadership by Robert K. Greenleaf.
• About 90% of what John C. Maxwell writes.

Good books on Preaching:

• Preaching With Bold Assurance by Hershael York.
• The Foolishness of Preaching by Robert F. Capon.
• The 12 Essential Skills for Great Preaching by Wayne McDill.
• Preaching on Your Feet by Fred R. Lybrand.

Good books on Writing:

• On Writing by Stephen King
• Starting Your Career as a Freelance Writer by Moira Anderson Allen

Good books on Radio:

• The Radio Station by Michael C. Keith  – someone gave me an earlier edition of this book back when I was a kid; we now use it as the textbook for a college Radio class I teach.
• On Air by Jack Broady

Good books on Media and Culture:

• Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman.
• The Culturally Savvy Christian by Dick Staub.

Good books on the Church:

• Vintage Church by Mark Driscoll.
• The Purpose Driven Church by Rick Warren.
• The Shaping of Things to Come by Frost & Hirsch

Good books for the sake of Laughter:

• Anything by Dave Barry
• Mike Nelson’s Mind over Matters by MST3k’s Mike Nelson.

Good books that comment on popular culture:

• Books by Nick Hornby, including Songbook, The Polysyllabic Spree and Shakespeare Wrote for Money.
• Some books by Chuck Klosterman.

Good books on Philosophy:

• Philosophy for Dummies by Tom Morris.

Good books with more pictures than words:

• Get Fuzzy by Darby Conley.
• The Far Side by Gary Larson.