Below is my personal bookshelf for 2016. I have listed the books below broken down in the categories laid out in the following circles in “Living Forward” by Michael Hyatt:

• THE CIRCLE OF BEING. The innermost ring is a collection of activities focused solely on you in relation to yourself. It includes your spiritual, intellectual, and physical accounts.
• THE CIRCLE OF RELATING. The second ring is a collection of activities centered on you in relation to others: your marital, parental, and social accounts (e.g., friendships, church or synagogue, book club, and so on).
• THE CIRCLE OF DOING. The third ring is a collection of activities dealing with you in relation to your output: your vocation (job), avocation (hobbies), and financial accounts.

THE CIRCLE OF BEING 

SPIRITUAL 

• 1) Alone With God – John MacArthur
• 2) The Resolve of Jonathan Edwards – Steven J. Lawson
• 3) Sit Walk Stand – Watchman Nee
• 4) The Way of the Wise – Kevin Leaman
• 5) Everyday Deserves a Chance – Max Lucado

PERSONAL (INTELLECTUAL) 

• 6) Do Over – Jon Acuff 
  
• 7) Living Forward – Michael Hyatt
  
• 8) The Heart of a Leader – Ken Blanchard
  
• 9) Making Vision Stick – Andy Stanley
  
• 10) The Shark and the Goldfish – Jon Gordon
  
• 11) Leaders Who Last – Dave Kraft 

PHYSICAL (HEALTH)

• 12) Addicted to Busy – Brady Boyd
  
• 13) The Positive Dog – Jon Gordon

THE CIRCLE OF RELATING

MARITAL

• 14) Love and Respect – Emerson Eggerichs
• 15) Dangerous Surrender – Kay Warren

PARENTAL

• 16) How To Ruin Your Child in 7 Easy Steps – Patrick Quinn
  
• 17) iRules – Janell Burley Hofmann

SOCIAL 

• 18) Unique – Phil Cooke  
  
• 19) Mastering the New Media Landscape: Embrace the Micromedia Mindset – Barbara Henricks

THE CIRCLE OF DOING

MINISTRY (job)

• 20) Making Your Children’s Ministry The Best Hour of Every Kids Week – Sue Miller
  
• 21) Autopsy of a Dead Church – Thom Rainer

FINANCIAL

• 22) The Generosity Factor – Ken Blanchard

TOP 2 BOOKS OF 2016

1) Living Forward – Michael Hyatt

I was really challenged by this book! I was hooked from the beginning with the declaration — Acknowledge the Drift. The entire book rest on this statement. This really hit home because I tend to drift. He follows up this statement with a question: “How Did We End Up Here? Drifting usually happens for one or more of the following four reasons:

• 1. It happens when we are UNAWARE. 
• 2. It happens when we are DISTRACTED.
• 3. It happens when we are OVERWHELMED. 
• 4. It happens when we are DECEIVED. 

THE CONSEQUENCES OF DRIFTING

• 1. Confusion.
• 2. Expense.
• 3. Lost opportunity.
• 4. Pain.
• 5. Regrets.

This book is organized according to three goals to help you accomplish:

• 1) Become AWARE of your CURRENT LOCATION. 
• 2) DECIDE where you want to GO. 
• 3) START working toward your DESTINATION. 

The rest of the book is organized in the circles:

• THE CIRCLE OF BEING. The innermost ring is a collection of activities focused solely on you in relation to yourself. It includes your spiritual, intellectual, and physical accounts.
• THE CIRCLE OF RELATING. The second ring is a collection of activities centered on you in relation to others: your marital, parental, and social accounts (e.g., friendships, church or synagogue, book club, and so on).
• THE CIRCLE OF DOING. The third ring is a collection of activities dealing with you in relation to your output: your vocation (job), avocation (hobbies), and financial accounts.

Finally, this book gives you the tools to set goals for each of the above circles. This book was truly transformational for me.

2) MAKING YOUR CHILDREN’S MINISTRY THE BEST HOUR OF EVERY KIDS WEEK – David Staal & Sue Miller

Wow! What an amazing ministry book! Yes, the core focus is about building exciting children’s ministries, but the principles are applicable to all ministry. While I learned a lot from this book, I had two main takeaways. FIRST, was the chapter on, “Five Indicators of Spiritual Maturity.” I really like the intentional way Sue discusses their focus on building disciples:

“Willow Creek describes full devotion using five key indicators of the spiritual maturity process. Each of these descriptors starts with the letter G: Grace, Growth, Groups, Gifts, and Good Stewardship. To successfully align with the church and to avoid the frustration of chasing an ambiguous mission, Promiseland had to put details and descriptors to the mission of turning children into fully devoted followers—in other words, 5-G kids.”

SECONDLY, I really gravitated to the chapter on, “THE BIG SIX: Values to Guide Your Ministry.” You can see much more of my thoughts on this chapter from a workshop I directed entitled, “Core Ministry Values To Reach Today’s Kids.” You can use your imagination to flesh out the outline, read the book, or check out my workshop notes, but here are the six points used in the chapter: 

• VALUE 1: CHILD-TARGETED
• VALUE 2: SAFETY
• VALUE 3: TEACHING IS RELEVANT AND APPLICATION-ORIENTED
• VALUE 4: WE WILL TEACH THE BIBLE CREATIVELY
• VALUE 5: WE WILL INTENTIONALLY SHEPHERD OUR CHILDREN
• VALUE 6: WE WILL BE FUN!

Here are some of my favorite quote and passages from the book:

• A child’s world might be upside down when they arrive on Sunday, so he or she might desperately need someone to act like “Jesus with skin on” to them.
• In a nutshell, we found that Christians do not act like Jesus because they do not think like Jesus. They do not think like him because nobody cared enough about their spiritual contours when they were young to intentionally and comprehensively train their minds to fully know, embrace, and carry out God’s principles. In other words, few youngsters have had the privilege of having their worldview intentionally shaped to completely reflect foundational scriptural teachings.
• Yes! – Those three letters, Y–E–S, pack incredible power. Yes opens doors, while No slams them shut. Yes steps into the world of possibility; No watches potential walk away. Although No delivers finality, Yes evokes excitement—and sometimes apprehension—for what lies ahead.
• What we do really matters because kids can become true Christ-followers.
• When a children’s ministry believes that what it does really matters, there will be openness to try new approaches.
• Holding a crying baby matters. Sticking with a rambunctious small group of fourth-grade boys matters. Brainstorming creative ideas for a new kindergarten Christmas service matters.
• RESOURCE: Deepak Reju – On Guard: Preventing and Responding to Child Abuse at Church