Best of 2009: Books

Its that time of year. Everybody is coming out with "best of" lists. This year is extra crazy because its the end of the decade. Now, all you "its-not-a-new-decade-until-2011" people just spare me. I get it. But its about to be 2010, and for the rest of us its a new decade. Since I can't remember enough stuff to make a "best of list" for the decade, and
I can barely remember what happened this year, and because I'm in seminary all I do is read (not really, but mostly), the best thing for me to make a list of is the books I've read. Here goes:

10 Best Books (Keep in mind I read very little for personal enjoyment, so most of these are books from classes. However, many of my classroom books ended up bringing a lot of personal enjoyment)

10. Why We Love the Church by Kevin DeYoung & Ted Kluck (not quite finished with this one)

9. God's Greater Glory by Bruce Ware

8. I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist by Norm Giesler & Frank Turek

7. Operation Solo by John Barron

6. Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands by Paul David Tripp

5. Pastoral Leadership for Manhood and Womanhood edited by John Piper & Wayne Grudem

4. Worship Matters by Bob Kauflin

3. Humility by C.J. Mahaney

2. Just Do Something by Kevin DeYoung

1. Institutes of the Christian Religion by John Calvin

I don't know exactly how many books I've read (or mostly read) this year, but these are probably my favorites. I'm sure I left one or two out. The Institutes were amazing. Its something I never really thought I'd read - especially all of it. I'm very glad I took the class. Even if you're not a "Calvinist" (and Calvin wasn't all-the-way Calvinist), his views on most everything, especially living the Christian life are worth reading - even devotionally. The next two books are don't even come close to equalling Calvin in length, but were very impactful. Just Do Something is a perspective-changer on the will of God. The subtitle says it all, "How to make a decision without dreams, visions, fleeces, impressions, open doors, random Bible verses, casting lots, liver shivers, writing in the sky, etc." Read it. The third book, Humility was very challenging. Its devotional and practical in living a humble life and leading with humility. I won't describe each book, but I'm sure you can check them out on Amazon or whatever your online book retailer is.

OH - all you book people out there who want a good website to find the cheapest books on the web go here.

I don't know what my books will be for next year. I just bought a few new ones. All of our professors went to ETS (Evangelical Theological Society). They always bring back tons of book for the bookstore at half price. So I bought a few. Here's a short list of books I want to read in 2010 (some included are the books I just bought):

Religion Saves by Mark Driscoll

Vintage Jesus by Mark Driscoll

Adopted for Life by Russell Moore

The Deliberate Church by Mark Dever and Paul Alexander

Five Views on the Law and Gospel edited by Stanley Gundry

Knowing Scripture by R.C. Sproul

The Devoted Life by Kelly Kapic and Randall Gleason

Basic Christianity by John Stott

Knowing Christianity by J.I. Packer

Charles H. Spurgeon's Autobiography

Sherlock Holmes (yes, I know the movie is coming out and this is related to that excitement, but hey, they're good right?)

One book that I know I have to read for class is New Testament Theology by Thomas Schreiner. I'm taking a class by the same name taught by Dr. Schreiner. I'm really pumped about that one.

Anyway, that's my list.