For this post (and the next), I would like to share a few books with you that have deeply impacted me in recent months. These books have forced me to reevaluate aspects of my life and ministry.

If you're looking for something challenging to read, I highly suggest the following:

"The Master Plan of Evangelism" by Dr. Robert E. Coleman
- QUOTE: "...the Great Commission is not merely to go to the ends of the earth preaching the gospel (Mark 16:15), nor to baptize a lot of converts into the name of the triune God, not to teach them the precepts of Christ, but to 'make disciples' - to build people like themselves who were so constrained by the commission of Christ that they not only followed, but also led others to follow his way. Only as disciples were made could the other activities of the commission fulfill their purpose." (Coleman)
- IMPACT: Master Plan of Evangelism is an important book for our ministry. The author looks at Jesus' ministry, helping us to understand the strategies that Jesus prioritized and valued for maximum eternal impact.

"Communication Theory for Christian Witness" by Charles H. Kraft
- QUOTE: "So often the preacher as propagator of information has replaced the relational pastor. The lecture (we call it a sermon), an efficient means of presenting sizable amounts of information, has replaced the participation-centered worship that characterized the early Christian churches." (Kraft)
- IMPACT: This book is one of the most challenging to today's Western church that I've ever read. The author looks at the modern approach to communicating for life-change, helping us understand appropriate expectations based on Biblical models. He takes a hard look at the topic of preaching as well as other tactics of communication, revealing what is modeled in the Bible compared to what we have standardized for today.

Next week I'll share two more books that have recently impacted my life.