Good Books to Read ...

I have tried to read some of Aaron's books each semester since he has been at Southern. I figure that I probably need to know some of the things that he's learning too!

One of the best ones I have read is The Missionary Call by Dr. David Sills. It is a very easy read - straight forward, easy to understand, very informative. I would especially recommend this book to anyone considering missions.

I also read Foreign to Familiar Sarah A. Lanier. Again, this is a very easy read - only 128 pages and very practical. I would recommend this book to anyone. It deals with differences in cultures, and I think it's important for anybody to learn to better relate to others in different cultures than ours.

The next one on the list is Ministering Cross-Culturally: An Incarnational Model for Personal Relationships by Sherwood G. Lingenfelter and Marvin K. Mayers. This book was a lot about the author's personal experience, how it relates to missions, and the differences between cultures. It was a very insightful book as well.

The Barnabas Factors: Eight Essential Practices of Church Planting Team Members by J.D. Payne uses what the Bible says and teaches about and through Barnabas to give 8 effective practices for church planting team members.

For the classes that I have taken, I have read Instructing a Child's Heart by Tedd and Margy Tripp. This parenting book gives Biblical advice on parenting, but I didn't always find the material practical or easy to put into use. This is the same author of Shepherding a Child's Heart.

I also read Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Dr. Donald Whitney. Easy to read and insightful. Practical too.

So those are just a few of the things I've read in the last year. I did read a few other good ones - stuff from Nicholas Sparks and Karen Kingsbury. I can't read only educational stuff!

Next on my list is Reaching Hispanics in North America: Helping You Understand and Engage One of God's Greatest Mission Fields. It is compiled by various authors through the resources of the North American Mission Board. I'll let you know how it is!

So even though you may not be a seminary student, pick up a book and learn something new today!