Six Impactful Books I Read in 2017

Reading actual books is one of the habits found among the successful. Because reading and thinking go hand in hand. 

Reading is key to becoming the very best version of yourself. It fills your mind and shapes your character like nothing else can. 

Too many sit on the couch, and binge on Netflix, rather than turn off the glass box and get after it instead. 

“The man who does not read good books,” Mark Twain said, “has no advantage over the man who cannot read them.” 

I don’t want these words to characterize my life and I know you don’t either. For that reason, I’d love nothing more than to share the books that impacted me most this year with you here. 

What follows are those books that challenged my mind, and encouraged my heart most. Books that helped me grow, learn and develop more and more into the man I’d like to be. 

Extreme Ownership by Jocko Wilink and Leif Babin - It’s easy to say a book changed your life. You hear it all the time and may have even uttered it once or twice yourself. It is almost never the truth, but when that rare occasion comes it is worth taking note. I did that by sharing 21 Things I Learned From Reading Extreme Ownership earlier this year. 

Chasing Excellence by Ben Bergeron - “The mindset of a champion,” Bergeron says, “is not some innate character trait that you have or don’t have based on DNA, fate or sheer dumb luck.” This book is about building character and embracing the process that’ll get you to the top. It is an approach you can deploy in every area of your life. One that will transform you if you let it.     
 
Steal Like An Artist by Austin Kleon - “Art,” Pablo Picasso said, “is theft.” These words form the theses for Austin Kleon’s classic flip book on the creative’s journey. Everything the artist creates is a mash-up of everything they’ve experienced. In short, “there is nothing new under the sun.” This small book is about answering the questions every creative asks themselves. In finding a path forward you'll soon realize you have all the permission you need to do great things. 

Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and His Confrontation with the World by D.A. Carson - Our community group is walking through the Gospel of Matthew. We are taking our time and working through the text a verse at a time. The chief aim is to move beyond “quiet times” and have God’s Word change us. D.A. Carson’s work on Matthew 5-10 has been a tremendous help in digging deeper. 

The Story of Reality by Greg Koukl - Every worldview is an attempt to make sense of the world. Yet, not every worldview deals with the way the world actually is. In The Story of Reality, Greg Koukl sets forth how Christianity answers fundamental questions about life, death, evil and why we are here. He provides a concise and winsome encapsulation of the Christian worldview. One that I trust you'll find a helpful and compelling companion on your journey to find and know the truth. 

Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald Whitney - “Ours is an undisciplined age.” V. Raymond Edman said, “The old disciplines are breaking down…Above all, the discipline of divine grace is derided as legalism or is entirely unknown to a generation that is largely illiterate in the Scriptures. We need the rugged strength of Christian character that can come only from discipline.” Penned atop page one of Donald Whitney’s modern classic are the above words. They serve as far more than a primer to the Spiritual Disciplines, but a call to modern man. A call to something bigger, deeper, and greater. A call away from the entangling enticements of our day and back to the life and character that are only achieved through discipline. 

Honorable Mention  

The Way of the Writer by Charles Johnson

Church History in Plain Language by Bruce Shelley

Romans 1-7 For You and Romans 8-16 For You by Timothy Keller 

The Meaning of Marriage by Timothy Keller

Monthly Mash Up (August 2017)

Every day is a chance for you to grow, get better and improve. All it takes is a willing attitude and the willingness to work hard and stretch yourself. 

I surveyed some great resources in August in my attempts to do just that. I’d like to share a few of them with you here. Below is a quote I’m thinking on, four books I’ve read or am reading, and five articles or services I found helpful.

Each taught me some incredibly valuable lessons. Lessons that made me think, re-evaluate points of view, and better that I would be otherwise. Hopefully they do the same for you.

Quote I'm Chewing On

“People tend to focus disproportionately on results, while neglecting the day-to-day things that will get them there.”

— Ben Bergeron, Chasing Excellence

Big lofty goals are nice, but more is required to make them a reality. To do that takes daily work. Work that isn’t pretty and that’s not always fun. But work that must get done if you’re going to get there. 

What I'm Reading

1. Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa - This is an epic tale of Japan’s most famous warrior. Jocko will be reviewing it on episode 100, and I’m rushing to finish this near thousand page tale in the next few weeks.  

2. Chasing Excellence by Ben Bergeron - Perhaps one of the most encouraging and inspiring books I’ve read in awhile. Every page is littered with highlighted sentence after highlighted sentence that I read and reread day after day.

3. Romans 8-16 For You by Tim Keller - I read the first of Keller’s books on Romans earlier this summer and this one was just as good. Few resources on Romans have balanced deep theological truth with easy going style as well as Keller’s. If you want to have a deeper understanding of the theology of the New Testament, get this resource.

4. Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount And His Confrontation with the World by D.A Carson - Our community group is reading through the Gospel of Matthew the next several months. Which means I’m on the hunt for awesome resources to help me wring all the Biblical truth and wisdom from it. My mentor mentioned D.A. Carson’s work on the Sermon on the Mount and I can’t wait to dig in.

From the Internet

1. Marketing about power and with power via Seth Godin - It’s no secret that Seth’s is one of my favorite blogs. I read his stuff every day, and is a large part of why this blog has gone daily in recent months. In this post, Seth discusses the wide ranging difference between two marketing approaches. Which one do you use? Which one best fits your business?

2. Why I love my paper dictionary via Austin Kleon - I appreciate Austin’s approach to art and its creation. He offers us a glimpse of the blend between digital and analog. The two really can coexist. This post is a perfect example of how.

3. Both Lincoln and the Confederacy Were Awful via FEE - It seems we’re in the middle of rehashing the Civil War anew of late. While reasoned discussion is never a bad thing, that’s not we’ve been in the middle of these last several weeks. This article is a quick look at what few are willing say: both sides were in the wrong.  

4. MoviePass - Monthly movie subscription service that allows you to see unlimited movies for $10 per month. Hannah and I will definitely be checking this out!

5. Texas Price Gouger Are Heros via FEE - This might be one of the most important articles I’ve read in the last week. It offers an excellent explanation of exactly why price gouging isn’t such a bad thing after all.

The War Within

Mortification is, “a ruthless, full-hearted resistance to sinful practice.” This stodgy religious term is about more than throwing off the shackles of sin in our lives, it is about going on offense, and taking back ground. You may be surprised to learn that the language of the New Testament isn’t as rosy and gentle as you might have been led to believe. No, peppered throughout these inspired writings is the language of war. 

The Christian sees himself smack dap in the middle of a war. A war taking place within their own mind, heart, and body. A war between the light and the darkness. A war between what is good, right and God-honoring, and what is not. The Christian is a ground-bounder in this war. His feet march on the front lines where contact with the enemy is unavoidable and inevitable.  

With this in mind, the pages of the New Testament call for an unrelenting violence upon the baser instincts and desires of your flesh. Don’t confuse this with violence or aggression towards other people; that’s wrong. Violence of action upon the weakness and sin lurking within your heart is the call.  

You must take it out before it takes you out. There is no way around it. You must engage in battle with your flesh and make it your slave. “Be killing sin,” John Owen said, “or it will be killing you.” 

“The very word translated as ‘put to death’ (Greek word thanatoute),” Tim Keller says, “is violent and total. It means to reject totally everything we know to be wrong; to declare war on attitudes and behaviors that are wrong—give them no quarter, take no prisoners, pull out all the stops.” 

This is not the language of a group of soft, weak men and women. This is the language of a determined and strong group of people. People who make it their aim to squash sin and conquer their bodies. A group of people called out to take extreme ownership of every area of their lives, and to pursue radical discipline in pursuit of one goal—holiness. 

The Christian isn’t engaged in conflict with sin, and weakness in order to earn or merit acceptance before God. The Christian already has everything he needs to be right with God, because of the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. They fight sin for a completely different reason—gratitude to their savior who has set them free. 

In Christ, we are called to make war with our flesh. We are enlisted in a great battle that will last the rest of our days in this life, but we are assured the final victory. No matter how we are doing in our fight, Christ has secured our ultimate victory over Satan, sin, and death. We have nothing to fear. Nothing to hold us back except our own insecurities, and weakness. 

Get violent with those things. Take the aggressive and drastic measures required to kill the tiniest of your desires to sin. Don’t sit back and take it easy. Get in the game. Because you can’t lose.  

Where does your mind go?

“Wherever your mind goes most naturally and freely when there is nothing else to distract it—that is what you really live for. That is your religion. Your life is shaped by whatever preoccupies your mind. The overcoming of sin in our lives begins in our minds; and victory over sin is only ever the result of having minds set on the Spirit.”

— Tim Keller

I don’t know about you, but the words above hit me square in the face as my eyes rolled over each new word. I looked back over the last several days to consider exactly where my mind goes in moments of solitude. What I found made me my shudder. My mind doesn't drift to bad or inappropriate places, it just seldom drifts to thoughts of Christ.  

The path of discipline, health, working hard and getting better can preoccupy my mind. These things are important, worth contemplating and the primary focus of this blog. Today, I want to pause and think about exactly where my mind does and doesn’t go in moments of silence.  

What you focus your mind on shapes your life and character. Whatever preoccupies your thoughts has control over you. That’s called an idol in Christian circles. It’s such a big deal it’s the first commandment given to Moses and the one Jesus cites as the most important. 

That’s a big deal and why daily time in God’s Word is so vitally important. It transforms your mind and helps orient it around the person and work of Christ. 

I don’t know about you, but I want to be controlled by those thoughts. Thoughts of Christ, not lesser things. No matter how good or important they may seem.  

Monthly Mash Up (April 2017)

It is hard to believe that our little Hud is a month old. April seems to have flown by. As we continue to bask in the sheer joy of being parents for the first time, I’d like to share with you what I'm reading, pondering and enjoying.

The last Monday or Thursday of each month I peel back the layers and share the things that had the greatest impact on me in the previous month. I hope the resources I share with you are helpful and brighten your day. If you do enjoy it, pass it along to family and friends.

Verse I'm Chewing On

“Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! —Psalm 37:1

Todd Wagner mentioned Psalm 37 in a talk this past month. I found it such solid gold, that I’m trying to memorize the first several verses. I’ve only nailed this first verse so far, but find it the perfect reminder not to value the same things as the world. I shouldn’t look at their lives and be envious of any part of it.

What I'm Reading

1. The Happiest Baby on the Block by Harvey Karp, M.D. - We brought our son Hudson home from the hospital, and had to figure the sleep thing out. Fast forward a month, and he slept four hours between feedings last night. I call that a win!

2. The Story of Reality by Greg Koukl - Reality, or the way the world actually is, is the most compelling apologetic the Christian has at his disposal. It’s not a cooked up theory or tale. No, the Christian story fits and explains what we find in the real world. Greg Koukl makes this important argument in his new book The Story of Reality.

3. A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - You’ve seen the popular Sherlock starring Benedict Cumberbatch. Hannah and I have watched and rewatched the entire series many times. It’s great. I decided it was time to read the source material. I’m part way through and loving it.   

4. The Reason for God by Tim Keller - I’m ashamed to admit that I’ve never read this modern classic from the mind of Tim Keller. It is a fine book covering much the same ground as Koukl’s Story of Reality, only in greater details and depth.

5. Romans 1-7 For You by Tim Keller - I’ve wanted to read this helpful resource for some time now. It was on sale for $2.99 this month so I grabbed it. I’m not too far in, but find it a helpful companion through the first half of Romans.

What I’m Listening To

1. Daddy Doesn’t Pray Anymore by Chris Stapleton - I stumbled upon the greatness of Chris Stapleton this month while sifting through Spotify’s endless cache of tunes. This song touched my heart in a deep way. In it, Chris describes a father who has been a faithfully committed follower of The Lord and how his son remembers it. “I remember when times were bad,” Chris sings, “he’d thank Jesus for everything he had. A good wife and three children and food upon our plate.” My prayer is that our son will be able to remark the same about how I lead and love him.   

2. A Life That Lost Its Focus: Saul by Ravi Zacharias - I’ve listened to Ravi for several years now, and it never gets old. He communicates truth in a manner as entertaining as it is winsome. In this four-part series, Ravi takes a look at the life of Israel’s first king, Saul.

3. Lead Like Jesus: Leaders, Marriage and a Local Church - I’m so glad I clicked download on this bad boy! “People need to be reminded,” Samuel Johnson said, “more often than they need to be instructed.” He couldn’t have been more right. This episode was such a great reminder of the stakes in marriage, and a refresher course on why Hannah and I do what we do.

From the Internet

1. Calling Good People “Racist” Isn’t New: the Case of Ty Cobb - Growing up I obsessed over the legends and stories surrounding Ty Cobb. Who knew so many of the things I believed about this man, turn out to be wrong. If this is the case with Cobb, who else has history cast in a light resembling little of the truth?

2. A Quiz on the Atonement via Tim Challies - Tim published a helpful quiz on the Atonement in the weeks leading up Easter. If you’re unsure what Christians are celebrating on Easter Sunday—and every other day of their lives—it's worth your time to give it a shot. If all you want to do is measure how well you understand this important doctrine, like I did, that's ok too.

3. A handful of people via Austin Kleon - You can’t make everyone happy, and you shouldn’t even try. Identify the small number of people whose opinion matters to you, and make your stuff for them. That’s what I’m attempting to do with this blog; write and share things that a few people might find helpful. I hope a good number of others see and enjoy it, but at its core, a smattering of people are in mind with each new post. First of which is my wife, who’s good at telling me the truth.

4. The Income Tax Implies that Government Owns You - The 18th was national charity day, or as most of us call it—Tax Day. We send money pouring into the coffers of government this time each year. You may find this hard to believe, but it wasn’t always so. Once upon a time, American were free. They got to keep the fruits of their labor. Jeffrey Tucker presents a discussion we need to have about the fleecing of our pockets we allow every April.

5. Why I Love To Read via Randy Alcorn - Some people play golf, while others brew beer or coffee. Those are fine hobbies that bring immense joy, but they’re not the hobbies I’ve glommed onto. Instead, I read a lot. It’s my favorite pastime. Which is why I am excited and grateful for Randy Alcorn’s article this month. It served as the perfect reminder of the all important why behind picking up books.