3,167 – That’s the number of pages I’ve been assigned to read over the course of this school year! And that doesn’t include what I’ve been reading on my own. I find it quite funny that as a child I didn’t really enjoy reading. But thankfully, my Mom gave me mandatory reading time during one of my summer breaks. Out of that (and being introduced to some Grace Livingston Hill novels) my love for reading grew. I think it’s at an all time high this year, and I’m quite thankful to have the time to soak in such amazing information. Yes – this picture is a good representation of how I’m spending my time these days!
So, I thought I’d share with you a glimpse of what’s on my bookshelves in case you’re looking for a good read or are particularly curious about a specific topic I’m studying at school. I’ve listed books below that I’ve been reading for school, books I’m currently reading or soon will be reading for school, and books I’ve read for fun. I’ll give you some brief info about each book as well since the title of a book isn’t always enough to capture the contents.
Books I’ve Read for School
When Heaven Invades Earth by Bill Johnson – This book captures the heartbeat of Bethel Church and is written by the Senior Leader of both the church and school. In short, Bill presents a foundation of why it’s in our spiritual DNA to have an appetite for God to show up in the impossibilities that surround us and how we can stand in our God–given authority to release the power we’ve been given from on high into the circumstances of life.
The World Aflame by Rick Joyner - This was a fascinating read about the Welsh Revival in the early 1900s. It contains great examples to follow in future revivals and also great lessons to learn from for the future. It’s an important reminder of and a call to being prepared for revival and building our foundation on Jesus Christ alone.
30 Days to Understanding Your Bible by Max Anders – This is a great interactive book that gives you a wonderful overview of the Bible including key Bible characters, places, and events in chronological order. It only takes about 15 minutes of your time each day to read a chapter and participate in the fill-in-the-blank activities that are designed to help you retain the information you’re learning. The author has a great sense of humor which is always a bonus.
A Practical Guide to Evangelism – Supernaturally by Chris Overstreet – I really enjoyed reading this book. The author serves as the outreach pastor at Bethel and joins us once a week during school to empower, motivate, and teach us prior to our weekly outreach events. If you’re looking for an easy, fast, and practical read on supernatural evangelism – this book is for you!
Supernatural Ways of Royalty by Kris Vallotton – One of the key takeaways from this year at Bethel is stepping into my true identity as a child of the King of Kings – a royal heir to the eternal Kingdom of God – and living out of that. This book helps reveal your royal identity and inheritance as a child of the King. I recommend everyone reads this, ponders the contents, and embraces their God given royalty. The end of the book includes a Prince and Pauper test so you can see better how you view yourself. We took the test at the beginning of the year and will take it again at the end to see how much has changed. Kris also has the test available on his website: www.kvministries.com
Basic Training for the Supernatural Ways of Royalty Workbook by Kris Vallotton – It’s well worth the investment to purchase this companion workbook should you choose to read Supernatural Ways of Royalty. It allows you to take your processing a step further with thought provoking questions that will lead you into deeper revelations of the truth.
Basic Training for the Prophetic Ministry by Kris Vallotton – I must say it is a complete joy, honor and privilege to have the authors of these books teach us the contents in person! Kris and his wife Kathy are the senior associate leaders at Bethel. Kris teaches us once a week as long as he’s not out of town (he travels a lot speaking around the world). I loved this workbook because it helped demystify the prophetic ministry for me. Between this book and Kris’s teaching, I have a much better understanding of the prophetic ministry that is for the comfort and encouragement and exhortation of the body. If you’ve had burning questions about prophecy, this is a good place to start learning more.
Experiencing the Father’s Embrace by Jack Frost - Jack’s heart in this book was to partner with God in His plan for restoration of the family. He shares how God’s desire is to see the hearts of fathers and mothers to turn back to their children and for love and intimacy to flourish between husbands and wives. A key part to this coming to fruition is through each of us personally experiencing a more intimate relationship with Father God. So Jack does a good job of revealing the love of God for each of us and pinpoints areas that may be hindering us from experiencing the Father’s loving and comforting embrace. If you’re still struggling from any kind of father wound or family wound for that matter, this is a great book to help you process through that pain and receive healing and reconciliation.
Happy Intercessor by Beni Johnson – I think this book might be my favorite of all of the books we’ve been assigned to read. Perhaps that’s because I have a heart for Intercession and it’s also a very friendly read. I found the contents to bring about freedom for me with the discovery at a new heart level that joy and intercession go hand in hand. This book has been helpful in so many ways – but one particular thing that stands out to me is that when I finish praying for someone, I can release the burden of that concern to Jesus because He already carried it to the cross. So good! Beni Johnson is Bill Johnson’s wife. She is an amazing spiritual mother of this house (Bethel Church), and I always enjoy sitting under her teaching.
Moral Revolution: The Naked Truth About Sexual Purity by Kris Vallotton and Jason Vallotton – One of the amazing qualities of Kris Vallotton is his ability to directly address hard topics as a father who cares deeply enough to tell you the truth – even when it’s difficult to do so. In this book, Kris and Jason manage to give everyone the freedom to celebrate virginity as well as restore covenant love. It’s a much needed message in our sex driven culture. Whatever your relational status (married, single, divorced, etc.) – it’s worth your time in reading because chances are you can utilize the contents of the book to positively impact the lives around you if nothing else. In fact, one of my fellow students stood up during class this week and thanked Kris for writing it because this student actually lead someone to Christ simply by sharing the contents of this book over Christmas break!
Books I’m Currently Reading or will be Reading Soon for School
The Hayford Bible Handbook by Jack Hayford – This book is massive! We are using it as a resource and companion to our daily Bible reading so I won’t completely read it by the end of this year – but it will certainly serve as a great resource for years to come.
Grasping God’s Word by J. Scott Duvall and J. Daniel Hays – This book is actually our text book for our Bible class (in addition to the Bible of course). It’s a great resource for understanding how the Bible was compiled, how to make observations and ask questions while studying the Bible and how to utilize all that information to bring about interpretation and application for our lives.
Culture of Honor by Danny Silk – One of the main things that marks Bethel as a Kingdom culture is it’s culture of honor. For that very reason, it’s a place many people receive healing from past leadership wounds. And it’s also a place that attracts God’s Presence and His supernatural power because of the culture of honor that is stewarded there. So far, this book has helped me understand the fivefold ministry (pastor, teacher, evangelist, prophet, and apostle) and how they are meant to operate together. Danny Silk has a background in counseling and currently serves as a Family Life and Leadership Pastor. The principles he shares in this book regarding restoring relationships are phenomenal!
God’s Generals by Roberts Liardon – I just received this book and look forward to reading about the history of revivalist who have paved the way for revival today.
Church History Made Easy by Timothy Jones – I’ve not received this title yet – but according to Amazon, it’s a fantastic book that summarizes the most important events in Christian history from the time of Jesus to today in 12 easy chapters. J
Strengthen Yourself in the Lord by Bill Johnson – This book was actually the first book I read by Bill Johnson. I remember having amazing content on how to encourage yourself when things are looking down through thanksgiving. There’s also great wisdom for how to stay connected to your God given destiny. I’m looking forward to reading it again after having sat under Bill’s teaching for a year.
Books I Read for Fun Recently
Hinds’ Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard - What a great book that captures Romans 5:3-5 so beautifully - "but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." I could easily relate to this allegory and the lessons Hannah Hurnard presented so well throughout her book. It's a story that speaks hope and life into anyone battling with fear.
His Advent Still His Greatest Gift by Rebekah Freelan - This book was written by my dear friend, Bekah . I've had the joy of reading her daily blog postings so when Advent began this year I was so excited to read her delightful book. It captures the essence of Advent - focusing on and delighting in God's Presence - the greatest gift of all time! I love how she got into Biblical character's minds and imagined what they might be thinking as they encountered Jesus. It's a thought provoking devotional that can be read any time of the year and one that easily makes the Bible come alive!
Blessed Child and A Man Called Blessed by Ted Dekker and Bill Bright - This was the second time reading these two novels and the books were better than I remembered! They are well written, have an important message about the Kingdom of God and His power woven into a beautiful story that includes love, adventure, and God's goodness. I believe these novels are my favorite novels to date.
The Ultimate Treasure Hunt by Kevin Dedmon – This is a great tool for believers who are hungry to witness to others about the goodness and power of God through supernatural means and demonstration, through supernatural encounters. The book gives you an outline on how to create your own treasure map and then how to present the good message and the goodness of God to those your encounter – the treasure. It’s about sharing the Good News of the Kingdom to every kind of person – people who are just waiting to be discovered. Those who desperately need a real encounter with God in order to meet the overwhelming needs of their lives. Kevin Dedmon is one of the leaders on my Philippines missions trip so I’m sure this is one of the many ways we’ll be ministering.
Strengths Finder 2.0 by Tom Rath – I first learned about StrengthsFinder through my housemate, Sarah Wind. All second year Bethel students are required to read it and take the online test (an access code to take the test is included in the book) to determine what you’re top five strengths are. The idea is to capitalize and invest in your strengths – to focus on what’s right with yourself rather than what’s wrong. It’s more of a resource book that will be used many times over your lifetime providing insights on what to act on given your strengths and how to work with others given their unique strength make up. I just took the test and these are my top five: responsibility, learner, discipline, empathy, and relator. What a great thing to know since I’ll be heading into a job searching season probably within the next six months or so.
So there you have it – a glimpse of what I’ve been reading, am reading currently, and will be reading soon! How about you? Do you have any recommendations of books based on what you’ve been reading lately?
