Recently, I was reminded of the story that Karl Rove - Senior Advisor to George W. Bush when Bush was president - told of the book challenge he and the president engaged in from 2006-2008: Who could read the most books. Over those three years, Rove recorded 250 books read while Bush read 186.
Albert Mohler, President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary regularly reads about a half dozen books a week by his own statement. This would put him at close to 300 books read in an average year. Many of these books are quite large and intimidating for the average person to attempt to wade through.
Books are an important part of our lives. By reading discerningly, we grow as people and as believers in Jesus Christ. I've been bothered about my personal book reading laxity. In view of that, I recently challenged my Dad to a book reading challenge. Over a twelve month period: September, 2010 through August, 2011, we will read between 2-3 books per month. Modest, perhaps, but a good man has to know his limitations.
Each month has specific guidelines as to what type of books are read - the purpose of these guidelines is for variety and to encourage reading in other areas than I might otherwise engage in. Some months even specifically list particular books to read - chosen because of their spiritual significance and importance.
So far, I have my Dad and myself lined up to take a shot at it. Several others I have spoken to have also expressed interest in trying the challenge. So I'm leaving it open: Prior to the start of each month, I will list the requirements for the upcoming month. Anyone who is interested in joining in is encouraged to do so. If you start and find that time is not working with you on the endeavor, feel free to abridge the month's load as necessary for yourself.
For each book I read, I will try to post a short review of it as I finish it so that the rest of you will have some idea as to whether it's worth reading in the future. Any of you who take the challenge, feel free to send me reviews of the books you read and I will post them on here for you.
Part of my purpose in creating this was to stimulate conversation for Dad and me about the books each of us was reading. With the subject being similar, I felt we would be able to talk about what we learned from the books we were reading. That kind of conversation is what the church is about: Encouraging and building up other belivers.
One note in closing: If you do take up the challenge, please do not press yourself to finish each book so much that you neglect your personal devotions. While I want to encourage you to read more and would argue the importance of us all reading more, I want to point out that doing so at the expense of your devotions is no service to God.
The reading for the first month is on Christian Living/Sanctification
Soli Deo Gloria
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