Read a Book in 2011
Jesus said the greatest commandment we could possibly endeavor to obey is to "love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" (Matt 22:36, emphasis mine).
Loving God with our minds surely means engaging our minds in the things of God. Thinking about God involves us in the highest of activities. And surely we cannot think of God at all properly apart from His revealed Word.
Reading God's Word (the Bible) is the paramount way to love Him with our minds; for where the Bible speaks, God speaks. There simply is no subsititue for daily reading and meditating and praying and thinking on God's Holy Word. When we take up this task, the Lord meets with us, engages our heart strings, and powerfully impacts our souls. It seems we human creatures must first get something into our heads before it has any hope of sinking deeply into our hearts and souls. So dear readers, in 2011, I urge you to resolve to spend more time in the Bible than ever before. You are reading through the Bible this year, aren't you?
Assuming your Bible reading is vibrant, then may I also recommend a few books for you in 2011? Reading gospel-centered books is yet another way to love the Lord with our minds. In 2010, I read about 42 books, give or take. From those 42, I want to commend these to you in 2011:
Marriage/Parenting/Family
Family-Driven Faith - Voddie Baucham
Biblical Manhood
The Masculine Mandate - Richard D. Phillips
Doctrine / Theology
What is the Gospel? Greg Gilbert; The Cross-Centered Life - C. J. Mahaney
Personal Evangelism
The Gospel and Personal Evangelism - Mark Dever; Evangelism and the Sovereingty of God - J. I. Packer
Personal Devotion
Jesus Keep Me Near the Cross - Ed. Nancy Guthrie; Radical - David Platt; The Red Feather - Tom Ellif
Apologetics
I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist - Normal Geisler & `rank` Turek; Why Pro-Life? Randy Alcorn; Grave Influence - Brannon Howse
For Preachers
The Priority of Preaching - Christopher Ash; Spirit-Led Preaching - Greg Heisler
May the New Year find you loving King Jesus with all your mind.
by Keith McWhorter