What I Read in 2023

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I’ve been a reader for as long as I can remember.  I read John Maxwell’s book 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership for the first time when I was 16.  It’s become a habit to read multiple pages a day, which turns into multiple books a year. 

I’m not one of those crazy people who try to read 100 books in a year.  Maybe if I read more fiction I could, but non-fiction takes longer to read.  That said, I read 26 books this year, which is a lot for me.  I was part of the Sam Chand Leadership Institute which required me to read 12 of his books.

I used categories again this year for easy viewing.  Each book has an affiliate link to Amazon for the books that aren’t part of the Leadership Institute, so you can easily make your list for this year. Thanks for your support!

Kidmin

In the first part of last year, I had a kid’s pastor working for me, so we worked through some kidmin books that I consider to be children’s ministry essentials.  If you haven’t read these yet, I strongly advise you to add them to your list.

1.  Family Ministry Essentials - an Orange Strategy by Guide by Reggie Joiner and Kristin Ivy

2. It's Just a Phase--So Don't Miss It: Why Every Life Stage of a Kid Matters and at Least 13 Things Your Church Should Do About It by Reggie Joiner and Kristin Ivy

Sermon Prep

I’m preaching a lot more now than I was in Kidmin, so I wanted to expand my thinking to help those I’m leading.  I read these books for my own enjoyment, but also for research on an upcoming sermon series.

1.  The Circle Maker: Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears by Mark Batterson

2. The New Rules For Love, Sex, And Dating by Andy Stanley

3. Revelation for the Rest of Us: A Prophetic Call to Follow Jesus as a Dissident Disciple by Scot McKnight

4. Created to Dream: The 6 Phases God Uses to Grow Your Faith by Rick Warren

Personal and Spiritual Growth

I was hoping to be a senior pastor in 2023, but things didn’t work out.  I was really hurt and started to question everything.  Thankfully, I had a lot of people reach out in support and some great mentors who helped me get through those dark days.  One of their recommendations was to read God Meant it for Good by R.T. Kendall.  It’s an older book, but the timeless wisdom helped me on my journey to healing and recovery.

I’m looking to release my first book this year, so I joined Jon Acuff’s launch team for his newest book All it Takes is a Goal.  I learned a lot and the book is excellent.  You should read it.  I’ll use what I learned there for my own launch team when the time comes.

1. God Meant It for Good: A Fresh Look at the Life of Joseph by R.T. Kendall

2. Raised to Stay: Persevering in Ministry When You Have a Million Reasons to Walk Away by Natalie Runion

3. All It Takes Is a Goal: The 3-Step Plan to Ditch Regret and Tap Into Your Massive Potential by Jon Acuff

4. How to Break Growth Barriers: Revise Your Role, Release Your People, and Capture Overlooked Opportunities for Your Church by Carl F. George and Warren Bird

5. Be the Unicorn: 12 Data-Driven Habits that Separate the Best Leaders from the Rest by William Vanderbloemen

Fun fact, I’m mentioned in the Do Your Homework chapter of Be the Unicorn.  I interviewed with Vanderbloemen a few years back for a kidmin position.  I was pleasantly surprised to read my own story. If you’re heading into a transition soon, I’ve written several posts that can help you.

Fiction

I learned a few years ago, that adding a little fiction to my reading list makes life so much better.  Sometimes I need to give my brain a break and go on a mini-vacation.  In my interim time, I’ve been subbing in the local high school.  While filling in for an English teacher I picked up Shakespeare’s play Othello.  Have you ever read it?  It’s crazy.  I loved it so much that when I came back, I asked to borrow a copy just so I could finish it.  I can’t tell you the last time I gasped out loud while reading a book.  Shakespeare really is the greatest of all time. 

1. Alphabet Squadron by Alexander Freed

2. Othello by William Shakespeare

3. The Martian by Andy Weir

Sam Chand Leadership Institute

As I said before, I had the opportunity through the Georgia District Assemblies of God to join the Sam Chand Leadership Institute.  I went through a cohort with 60 other senior pastors in Georgia as we learned about leadership, the church, and how to make ourselves and our churches healthier.  I learned a lot and will use the lessons here for the rest of my life.  Most of these books are proprietary to the institute, but he has longer books you can get on Amazon, like Leadership Pain and Culture Catalyst.

1.  Change Your Culture Change Everything

2. Future Faith: Shaping Today’s Ministry For Tomorrow’s Opportunities

3. Your Next Big Move: Making Decisions In Times Of Transition

4. Ladder Holders: Selecting, Developing And Inspiring Your Team

5. Journey To Destiny: 7 Steps And 8 Challenges Every Leader Faces

6. Growing Pains: Leading While You’d Rather Be Leaving

7. Exit Right: Leadership Succession That Works

8. Leaders Slips: Tacking 15 Hazards In Organizational Growth

9. First Focus: Finding Clarity In A Chaotic World

10. Built To Grow: Creating Systems And Structures To Turn Vision To Reality

11. Stress In Success: Dealing With What Keeps Leaders Up At Night

12. Leadership Essentials: Indispensable Tools For Effective Influence

If you’d like to see what I’ve read in previous years, you can see those here. 

What did you read last year?  Is there something I need to add to my list this year?

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