How to Create a Reading Plan

Today’s post comes from the pen of Joey Cochran. Joey is transitioning to be a pastor at Cross Community Chicago. He blogs regularly at www.jtcochran.com. Follow @joeycochran on twitter.

Every year I set goals for myself. Rarely do I evaluate those goals. Yesterday was the exception. Now that the year is half over I decided to evaluate some of my resolutions for the New Year. One of those resolutions involved reading. At the beginning of the year I set a number of goals concerning how much I wanted to read and what I wanted to read. Setting reading goals such as these are helpful in accomplishing the objective of being a more productive reader.

For most of us, finding time to read is the first challenge. The second challenge is prioritizing that time. The third challenge is making that time productive. I have found that the best way to do this is to set goals.

Here are some helpful parameters for your reading goals.

1. Determine how much time you realistically have to read. There is no point in setting a lofty goal that you will not accomplish. If you actually don’t currently read much, you might want to set this parameter lower for your first year. Maybe make the goal that you will read 15-30 minutes daily. In the case of reading, it is best to have a daily routine. Reading weekly or just when you suddenly have leisure time just does not cut it. You can accomplish more by scheduling reading into your life.

2. Determine when you are going to read. After you determine how much time you can spend reading, pick a time of day to read. I have a couple of times during the day that work for me. I try to make reading a priority after I accomplish daily administrative work. Then I try to read a little during lunch or just after lunch. Then I read in the evenings when I could be watching TV. Last, I typically read between 30-60 minutes before I fall asleep.

3. Determine what you are going to read. Everyone has different reading priorities. You will have to determine your own. I can demonstrate an example of what your priorities for reading might be by offering myself as a case study. I love reading, so I do a lot of it. This may not be you, so don’t feel like you have to read this much. Likewise, others of you might be reading much more than me and in different genres. For instance, I am not currently reading a fiction book and it’s not part of my reading plan. This is actually a weakness in my current plan, but I have not found time to supplement my reading time with this valuable genre. The most important part is starting by reading a book that you will enjoy. Pick something that you will be excited about reading. Make sure you start with a page turner. This will help you in being productive!

Here’s how I prioritize my reading:

• As a follower of Christ my first priority is to read God’s inspired Word, the Bible. God revealed Himself to humanity through this immeasurably valuable book. Reading the Bible should be my first priority.

• Then I read for spiritual development. Usually, this is a book designed to encourage my heart and root it deeply in the gospel. This book is typically written by a pastor or church leader that has an active ministry today. I am currently reading Milton Vincent’s a Gospel Primer for Christians.

• Third, I read a book for personal development. This book is meant to help you grow as a person. Perhaps that topic is leadership, interpersonal relations, or developing professional skills. Usually I pick this book based on what weaknesses or blemishes I see in myself. For instance, I just finished reading Dale Carnegie’s classic How to Win Friends and Influence People. No, I have friends. I just want to be a better one. I am now currently reading Platform by Michael Hyatt.

• Fourth, I try to read a writing from the historic Christian faith. In other words, I read a book by a dead dude. The church is built on great minds that have had much to say about Christ and about the church. These voices should not be lost. We should capitalize on all that these men have to offer. Currently I am reading John Flavel’s Christ Altogether Lovely.

• Finally, since I am a blogger, I read a book for review. I try to review a book every Monday on my blog. Currently I am reading Aliens in the Promise Land edited by Dr. Anthony Bradley.

4. Determine to read. Now you have to focus on being productive. You have to buckle down and do the deed. For some of us this is harder than others. You might want to think about the environment. Do you read better in the quiet? Do you need white noise? Are people a distraction? I love to read in a café but then sometimes I get caught up in my surroundings. Deciding to read in a location that offers optimal focus is essential. Once you find the right environment keep yourself from distraction. Put your laptop away. Silence your phone. Keep your mind off other things. Sometimes we read words but think other thoughts. Maybe you might start thinking about a meeting later today. Or maybe you might think about other things on your to-do list. Make those thoughts wait for later. Now is the time to read!

Reading is a valuable discipline. We live in a world that is being re-awakened towards literacy. When TV came around, literature leisure took a nose dive. However, with the new technology of e-readers, reading as a discipline is experiencing resurgence. I hope you take advantage of this resurgence and enjoy the discipline of reading.

10 Books I Want the Next Generation to Read

A Christian man that is battling cancer is compiling a list of ten books that he wants the next generation to be sure to read. He has sought my top 10.

Rather than just giving a top 10 books I think it might be more beneficial to say what 10 “types” of books I’d want to leave to the next generation. It is my hope that these books would ground the next generation and give them a passion for digging further. Because of that aim most of these are more introductory type of books to inspire further reading.

I’ll give an example or two of each of these. These are in no particular order.

1. How to read the Scriptures: 40 Questions About Interpreting the Bible by Robert L. Plummer
2. What is the gospel?: Gospel for Real Life by Jerry Bridges or God is the Gospel by John Piper
3. How to apply the gospel: How People Change by Paul Tripp and Timothy Lane
4. How to live the Christian life: Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Don Whitney
5. Who is God?: Knowing God by J.I. Packer
6. Something to break me: The Holiness of God by R.C. Sproul
7. Something to introduce you to a deep well like the Puritans: The Bruised Reed by Richard Sibbes.
8. Someone to model: The Works of John Newton (I would suggest also stockpiling biographies of Newton and his letters. Wise Counsel by Grant Gordon is also a great resource).
9. How to fight for joy: Pleasures Evermore by Sam Storms or Desiring God by John Piper
10. How to share the gospel: Tell the Truth by Will Metzger or The Gospel and Personal Evangelism by Mark Dever

I feel like the author of Hebrews must have felt when writing his eleventh chapter. I don’t have time to tell you of Dever’s 9 Marks, or Lloyd-Jones, or all the great books to help with preaching and ministry, or suffering, or the immensely helpful Puritans, or McCheyne’s diary. I didn’t even scratch the surface of church history. But my hope is that the aforementioned books would create a solid foundation and cause the next generation to seek further helps.

More than anything, though, it is my prayer that the next generation will have a hunger for knowing and living God’s Word.

Would a Fire Destroy Your Library?

Forgive me for the really dumb title.  I sat here for about ten minutes trying to come up with something better and decided that any more thought on this is simply wasting time.  I know the answer to that question.  Fire + Paper = Library of Ashes.  That’s not quite the question that I am asking.

Let’s imagine this.  Your entire personal library is destroyed.  Maybe its 15 books maybes its 1500.  Thankfully your fire insurance is kickin’ and you get enough change to replenish your library with an Amazon shopping spree.  You lost your old library but now you have your library refilled with brand new copies of the books you lost.  Here’s my question: Did you still lose your library? 

I know that I would have.  If my personal library were somehow destroyed by fire it couldn’t be replaced.  Sure I could repurchase the books with insurance money.  But the books that I got in the mail wouldn’t have my underlines, my notes, my comments, etc.  I would feel like I had to read the books all over again. 

What I am really wondering in this article is whether or not you actually own the books that you have on your shelf.  I agree with John Piper when he says:

My guess is that reading, which was meant to be become a stimulus and guide to independent thinking, usually becomes a substitute for it.  The evidence for this is how many books we read and how little we write down.  (Quoted from Lit, by Tony Reinke)

Listen, it’s awesome to have a big library.  It’s even better to have actually read the books in your library.  But it’s even better to actually own those books and to think your way through them.  Owning 10 books in that way is much better than “owning” them as a wall decoration.

Read your books and own your books.  After all you aren’t shaped by the books you purchase but only the books that you actually read. 

5 Types of Articles Actually Worthy of Time

No blogging and no feed reading last week meant I had 3,000 articles demanding my attention this morning.  You learn a valuable lesson when faced with such a daunting task; namely, unless you want to waste days reading articles you tell most of these screaming articles to hush up without even really reading their content. 

This sifting process helped me discover that there really are only 5 types of articles that I actually deem worthy of my time.  These are articles that:

1. Might be Helpful (Ministry, Writing, Cheap books, Parenting, etc.)
2. Might be Humorous (Everybody loves a good laugh)
3. Might be Happening (Current Events, Music, New Inventions)
4. Might be Historical (What can I say I’m a history nerd?)
5. Don’t Fit the Mold (If a title has me wondering, “what in the world is this about", I’m likely to star it and read it later). 

This has also taught me a few lessons about blogging. 

1. If My Title Stinks So Does My Article.  Okay, not really. But to the person scanning through Google Reader, if the title doesn’t hook or make me think that it’s one of those five things above, I won’t star it and I won’t read it, no matter how good it actually was. 
2. Controversy Only Gives Traffic for a Day.  Some controversy may be helpful.  If so, then I’ll read it.  But I found myself happily skipping over  about 200 articles on needless controversy that really doesn’t matter to me a week later.  The only way controversy really gives you steady traffic is if this becomes your identity.  And who wants that?  Not me. 
3. Pictures Really Do Help.  It catches my eye and makes me think the article is an easier read than if it’s a lengthy block quote.
4. So do lists and bullet points.  Again it makes me think I can peruse it quickly and think about it more later.
5. Your name matters.  I’m more likely to give an article from a reputable author a little more play than I am a guy I’ve hardly heard of.  I’m that guy that people have hardly ever heard of.  So I better get my foot in the door quick or I’m not going to get starred and read later. 
6. Use only what is necessary.  If I can say it in 1 word instead of 5 I should.

7 Ways to Create a Reading Culture In Your Church

Some chap somewhere has said that in 5 years you’ll be the same person you are today except for the books you read and the people that you meet.  Though, I think a tad simplistic I do believe that in 5 years you will be shaped by what you have read (or did not read). 

Call me a nerd all you want, but I am a firm believer that it is very beneficial for a pastor to cultivate a reading culture within the community that he influences.    Consider these words from Mark Dever:

Without knowing it I have actually put many of these things into practice in the church where I currently serve as an associate pastor.  With a much help from Mark Dever here are the Top 7 ways to create a reading culture in your church.

1. Read yourself.  How are you going to know what to recommend if you don’t read a bunch yourself?

2. Giveaway books any chance you can.  Every Sunday evening I give away free books.  We give away free books at marriage conferences.  I usually give away or suggest books in counseling sessions.  We give away free books at many other seminars.*

3. Take advantage of small groups.  If you do small groups at your church take advantage of them by suggesting high quality books to go together as a group. 

4. Write book reviews for your church.  I hope to begin utilizing my book reviews for the benefit of our church even more.  If I can figure out how to cut cost I want to put them in bulletins, perhaps as a book of the month.  As of now some from our church members read my book reviews here at Borrowed Light.

5. Quote from great books.  When you are preaching, teaching, counseling, or just talking feel free to do some name dropping and quoting.  This will help people when they are at a book store to know quality authors.  (Be sure to stress JOHN Piper instead of DON Piper though). 

6. Read with people.  Just like Dever’s Theology Breakfast, find a way to go through various books (even if you just read them) to a group of people.  

7. Never neglect the supremacy of THE Word.  Part of what you are doing is creating a culture that will take the Word of God more seriously and be better equipped to really dig into and reflect upon the Word.  If you make books central then you’ve missed something.  This also helps to filter what books you giveaway.  If they aren’t biblical but simply free then you might be creating a reading culture but not necessarily a good one. 

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*We have $0 to budget for a book allowance and for me giving away these books.  Nor do I have the income to buy a free book every week.  So, how do we do it?  I have two channels.  First, I receive a good number of free books from publishers to review.  I also receive free books from conferences and such that I attend.  Many times I give these away.  Second, a little over a year ago I made a phone call to a publishing company.  I won’t mention the name because I doubt they could do this for every church.  (But it rhymes with Drossway).  This unnamed publishing company graciously sent close to 100 free books for us to distribute on Sunday evenings.  Amazing!

4 Tips on Reading Gooder

It is always humorous to me to read through some of the reviews of a book on Amazon before posting my own.  There is inevitably that one guy or gal that has given the book a 1 star.  And it’s not because the book is a bomb it’s because the reader did not understand the book.  Granted, there may be times where the aforementioned describes myself.  It’s possible that I’ve just missed it myself.  (Either 5 starring a book that should be burned, or 1 starring a book that should be savored). 

So in order to help you (and myself) not 1-star books that deserve a little higher rank I am providing 5 tips on being a better reader.  Keep in mind these can also apply to being a better reader of blogs and shorter articles as well.

1. Know the Author’s Audience.  Some Bible readers are confused that Paul and James seem to contradict one another.  Paul says essentially “We are saved by grace alone through faith alone”.  James basically says, “We are saved by works and not a faith that is alone”.  That really seems to be a contradiction.  That is until you consider their audience.  Paul is writing to those that are mostly legalists and trying to get to God through their own efforts.  James is writing to those that would be termed antinomians.  They “believe in Jesus” they have their get out of hell free card and now they can do whatever they want.  Different audiences require a different emphasis.  To force Paul to answer questions asked to James does a great disservice to both.  The same is true with books in our day.  Don’t make the author answer questions that he is not concerned with answering.
2. Know the Author’s Purpose.  Every blog post, article, and book has a purpose (at least it should).  Your goal as a reader is to ask yourself, “Did the author accomplish his purpose”.  If he/she did then this is not a 1-star book.  You may disagree with it.  You may say that it is heresy.  But at least give an extra star for her accomplishing the tremendous feat of having a point and making it.  Do not force an author to say more than he or she intends to say.  If he’s writing about the Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire don’t ask questions like, “yeah but what about Hitler?”  That’s not his point—don’t dock him because he didn’t answer a question you brought to the book. 
3. Be Humble.  Every good book or article will challenge you.  If you are not humble enough to admit at the beginning that you do not know everything and that you also could be wrong, then you will get little out of challenging books.  Be humble.  Consider ideas, compare them to Scripture, and make adjustments to your own heart where necessary.
4. Remember A Book is not THE Book.  There is only one inerrant and infallible word of God.  The books in your library are not infallible and inerrant.  Do not expect them to be.  They will not answer every question that you have—they were not meant to.  They will not sustain your soul—they cannot.  A good book will point you to the Author of the Book.  Rejoice when that happens.  But do not try to make a book bear the weight of being on an equal par with Scripture—it cannot. 

There are many more tips that can help you be a better reader.  These are just four that I think would help us to be better readers of blog articles and books and hopefully better reviewers and commenters.  For a book length treatment of this topic there are few better than Mortimer Adler’s How to Read a Book and the more recent Lit! by Tony Reinke. 

How I Decide Which Books to Read: Or The Necessity of Reading What is True Alongside What is Tender

If you have followed this blog for any time you know that I am an avid reader.  I read (sometimes simply skim read) a decent amount of books every year.  Yet as one person has said, “my appetite for books does not match my ability to consume them”.  There are more books that I would like to read than any human being would ever have time for. 

Because of this I am becoming increasingly selective in what I will read.  I break up my books in a few different categories.  At any given time I am reading about 15-20 different books.  Usually a few from each of these five categories

1. Ministry Helps—Anything that is designed to assist me in becoming a better preacher, teacher, writer, etc. 
2. History—Biographies, Classic Books, Books like Mark Noll’s History of Evangelicalism
3. Theology—Anything that is more doctrinal or theological than practical.  Ecclesiology, Soteriology, etc.  
4. Life—Anything that helps me be a better Christian, man, husband, father, friend. 
5. Stuff I Have To—This includes books for seminary and books that I have agreed to review.  Thankfully my “stuff I have to” category often intersects with the other four.
6. Fiction—I usually try to read one fiction book at a time

These do not include Scripture reading or commentaries.  These are simply books that I am reading in addition to personal Scripture reading or preparing for sermons. 

I am convinced that it is absolutely vital that we read both what is true and what is tender.  If I look at a guys books shelf and all I see are theology books you can be pretty sure that he will be doctrinally savvy but will be pretty rough around the edges in his presentation of it.  He needs to start reading and being around the tender. 

The same goes for the guy whose bookshelf is littered with the practical, the tender, and the touching.  He’ll be really fun to chat with, he’ll have lots of friends, but chances are he isn’t going to be able to really dig deep and think theologically about issues.  He needs to make it a habit to also read the true alongside the tender.

If you aren’t a dedicated reader then I would just suggest to be sure you read 3 things at once.  First, Scripture.  Make sure you are reading God’s Word.  Second and Third, read something true and something tender.  (Of course the truth can be tender, and the tender can be true—I’m talking about emphasis).