One thing I have noticed about the leaders in my Philippine church is that they love to read. They devour books like anything. Just the other day, I walked into the Victory admin office and Pastor Jun Aguilar was reading his Bible at 4:30PM. Another time at around 3:30PM, I ran into Pastor Joey Bonifacio at the Victory sauna Every Nation stairwell, and he was reading yet another of the many books on his table. There are books on every pastor’s table, and none of them are dusty. You know what that means.
As a Lit major, it’s pathetic I don’t read more, but I am so inspired by these men. Ergo, my steadfast insistence on finishing at least three books a month – in addition, of course, to my daily read that is God’s Word. Come on!
1. The Blogging Church by Brian Bailey and Terry Storch. Lent to me by Pastor Joey Bonifacio, this book is essential reading for church leaders looking to explore the possibility of using blogs to build or supplement their online community and resources.
As a search engine marketer, I can tell you that search engines place a significant emphasis on blogs for information scraping, but I can also tell you that its social network potential, if handled properly, can generate tremendous positive results in a shorter amount of time – and at less expense! – than traditional ‘brochure’-type church websites. This book hammers that point in.
2. Get with the Program!: Getting Real About Your Weight, Health, and Emotional Well-Being by Bob Greene. I bought this book ages ago but did nothing with it. The book advertises itself as a personal trainer that helps the reader get read about his weight, health, and emotional well-being. It’s a journal-type book, so it’s going to require a little more participation than what makes me comfortable, but you know what? I know it’ll be good for me, so I might as well give it a shot.
I’ll be leading worship this evening at our Greenhills church, so the third book I’ll be revisiting is…
3. Praise and Worship Devotional by Steve Siler. Songwriter Stiler has writen more than 400 songs that have since been recorded by artists including Point of Grace, Scott Krippayne, and Avalon. This particular devotional, given to me by Philippine motivational speaker Chinkee Tan and his wife Nove, contains more than 60 devotionals involving Dove Award-winning songs.
I am unfamiliar with many of the songs here, but I’m sure I can find some of these songs in Victory’s music library. Even if I don’t, I can still be brought a significant amount of inspiration by the lyrics alone.
What books are in your reading list?