“In twenty years, the only thing that will be different about you is the books you’ve read and the people you’ve met …” – Dave Ramsey
This thought has been rolling around on the inside of me lately as I look at the books on the shelves of the store, at the books that top the best sellers, at the books that people state are “SO good – you just HAVE to read” them … It’s been rolling around on the inside of me as I ponder why so many people look at me like I’m some kind of “radical,” like I’m making them uncomfortable with my faith, like I’m somehow off the deep end in the way I read the Scriptures and the discontent I have with the way we do life as Christians in America. Am I really that radical? I haven’t raised anybody from the dead, haven’t overturned the tables and driven out the lukewarm with a zeal that cannot be contained (though I’ve certainly thought about it). I haven’t seen miracles performed as I pray the Word over people … To be honest, my life is the last thing that should be considered radical, in the Biblical sense anyway … So what’s so different? It’s the books I’ve read, I guess … They challenge me. They stretch me. They cause me to want to grow. They aren’t warm and fuzzy books. I don’t want them to be. I want to grow. I want to live the life that Christ has called me to … Like Andrew Wommack writes in his book, The Believer’s Authority, “I’m not trying to be mean – I just want to challenge your thinking with God’s Word.” That’s what I want. I want books that almost hurt me as I’m reading because they so challenge me to get out of my comfort zone, to live differently; I want to read books that strip me of my excuses for living a little life and push me into the life of tremendous influence that God is calling me to …
And I’ve found myself wondering – what if I made a list of challenging books, and committed to reading at least one every month next year? What if I found books that don’t allow me to get offended, that don’t allow me to think haphazard, faith-undermining thoughts, that challenge me to change the way I talk? What if I found books that challenge me to take the authority over the enemy I have and commit to changing the world around me for Christ? And what’s more … what if I challenged everyone I knew to do the same? What if we, as a body of believers, committed to reading the same challenging books, and to apply at least one thing from each of the books we read? How different would we look at this time next year?
So my question to you, as I wrestle to construct a list of 12 radical books, is – are you willing? Will you join me? Will you radically read and grow and pursue God with me next year? Starting in January – just a few more weeks from now? I’m not talking about reading comfy, cozy fiction that makes us feel good. I’m not talking about passive literature that we kind of enjoy, but that leaves us unchanged. I’m talking about changing our lives of faith radically from the inside out with the Word of God and with the words of people who are unafraid to slap us out of our complacency, about books that give us the practical tools to change in the Lord. So – are you ready? Ready to “study to show yourself approved” as 2 Timothy 2:15 challenges us to do?
Here is the updated list of books - thirteen in all:
January – Captivating by John and Stasi Eldredge (for women)
or Wild at Heart by John Eldredge (for men)
February – The Bait of Satan by John Bevere
March – The 4:8 Principle by Tommy Newberry
April – The Tongue: A Creative Force by Charles Capps
May – The Believer’s Authority by Andrew Wommack
June – The Power to Change the World by Rick Joyner
July – Last Chance by Greg Stier and The Treasure Principle by Randy Alcorn (they’re both short and easy to read )
August - Crazy Love by Francis Chan
September – Do Hard Things by Alex and Brett Harris
October – The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical by Shane Claiborne
November – Sun Stand Still by Stephen Furtick
December – Extraordinary by John Bevere
Other Books/Sermon CDs (to pick and choose from throughout the year to continue growing radically):
1. I Dare You by Joyce Meyers
2. The Unexpected Adventure by Lee Strobel and Mark Mittelberg
3. Radical by David Platt
4. When you see the Invisible, You can Do the Impossible by Oral Roberts
5. Dream Thieves by Rick Renner
6. Red Letters: Living a Faith that Bleeds by Tom Davis
7. Fearless by Max Lucado
8. The Slumber of Christianity by Ted Dekker
9. Sermon CD – Speaking in Tongues by Andrew Wommack
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