Also bring my books. . . The Apostle Paul (2 Timothy 4:13 NLT)
When my parents were living, I had a goal to call them weekly. When I called, they would pass the phone between them to share what was going on in their worlds.
Mom brought me up to date on the family while dad described a new project in his workshop. Then the tenor of the calls began to change. Here’s how a couple of phone calls went with my dad.
“I discovered an author that you might enjoy,” he said during one phone call. “Who’s that?” I asked. “His name is C.S. Lewis. I really love this book called Mere Christianity. Have you ever heard of him?” he asked innocently.
My dad was wading through some of Lewis’ works, books that I found difficult to get my head around. A few weeks later, we had another conversation about another author.
“I’m reading someone that you need to read,” he said. “Who’s caught your attention this time?” I asked. “His name is Francis Schaeffer. Have you read any books by him?”
Have I read any books by him!! Schaeffer was probably one of the most influential authors in my life up to that point. My dad was ploughing through The Christian Manifesto and The God Who Is There.
At seventy-six years old, my father the retired meat-cutter, was discovering two of the most influential Christian authors of the twentieth century. Dad never stopped reading and learning. He set the example for me. I’d like to say that I’ve always been a reader, but I needed a “born again” experience to quick start this hobby. Here’s my story.
In high school I was an avid reader but when I came to faith in college, I gave up my reading habits. I discovered the Bible and a few selected Christian authors and thought that was enough. After all, how can you top the Bible? After several years of this limited reading, I joined Navigator staff and soon attended my first Navigator staff meeting.
It was the fall of 1975, and I was meeting the regional Navigator staff team for the first time. We huddled in a small A-frame house in the middle of a forest for a weekend of meetings. I was the “newbie” and I felt like it!
I went expecting theology discussions, faith stories, and ministry strategies. These topics did occupy our conversations but something more happened.
At break time, it was like a silent whistle went off. Almost on cue, everyone pulled a book they were reading out of their back packs. I heard conversations about theology, a recent biography, and life insights from Moby Dick (of all books!). These were not assigned readings but books people were enjoying at their own initiative. The book conversations flowed into our ministry strategy sessions. Book quotations peppered our conversations. What people were reading jazzed them to follow Jesus in fresh ways.
I sat silently in the corner, out of the mainstream conversation. “I think I need to read more,” I said to myself.
Why read more than just the Bible? The answer to this question may surprise you.
Probably the best-selling devotional book of all time — My Utmost for His Highest — was written by Oswald Chambers. Millions of people over the last century have been challenged by his incisive writings. He read the Bible but he read much more.
When a friend came to him with a case of spiritual burnout, Chambers asked him, “What do you read?” The friend replied, “Only the Bible and books directly associated with it.” “That’s the trouble,” Chambers replied, “You have allowed part of your brain to stagnate for want of use.”
Within minutes Chambers scribbled out a list of more than fifty books – philosophical, psychological, and theological, all books dealing with current trends. Oswald’s advice to his friend was to “soak, soak, soak, in philosophy and psychology . . . When people refer to a man as a ‘man of one book,’ meaning the Bible, he is generally found to be a man of multitudinous books, which simply isolates the one Book to its proper grandeur.”1
Since that staff meeting in 1975, I have been reading. I’ve taken Chambers’ advice and soaked in a variety of books. I consistently read fifty-sixty books a year. Chambers’ outcome has proven true — I believe my reading habits “isolates the one Book to its proper grandeur!”
Over the next two-three months, I will be sharing my top books with you from my fifty years of reading. You will discover an eclectic mix, and my choices may surprise you. The books are not listed in any order of priority. My postings will not be book reports or in-depth analyses of the selected authors. They are a random list of favorite books intentionally selected by two criteria. One, these are the books I have or would read again. Second, a theme, phrase, or word from the book made a lasting impression on my life.
My blue-collar and lifelong learner of a father taught me the value of reading good authors. My Navigator staff friends ignited a desire to read and allow the wisdom of the authors to seep into my life. I want to echo the Apostle Paul, “Bring me my books!”
- This story was drawn from the book Oswald Chambers: Abandoned to God by David McCasland. ↩︎
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