Last updated on October 31st, 2020 at 09:09 am
Bob S. asked me to compile a list of my top ten scriptures and a list of my top ten Christian books. So, here they are.
You will notice that I could not keep the lists to only ten. It was just not possible. The list content is not in priority order.
I also added a list a list of secular books. I couldn’t help it.
Top Ten Eighteen Scriptures
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
[Belief alone results in Eternal Life.]
John 17:3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
[This is the definition of Eternal Life. It says nothing about heaven, which is an oh-by-the-way. It does not necessarily mean live forever.]
Romans 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
[Definition of the Kingdom of God (same thing as the Kingdom of Heaven). Note that it is here today.]
James 1:2-8 2Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
5If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways
Proverbs 21:1 The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will.
James 1:27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
[Here is our duty. Faith, however, is the only thing that pleases God. Doing this does not ensure Eternal Life or the Kingdom of God.]
Psalm 79:10; Psalm 115:2; and Joel 2:17 Where is their God?
Matthew 17:20 He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”
[Yes, prayer is powerful and works.]
John 15:5 Without me ye can do nothing.
[This includes believing, entering the Kingdom, entering Eternal Life. Nothing means Nothing]
1 John 5:14-15 14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.
[Yes, prayer is powerful and works.]
Mark 11:24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
[Yes, prayer is powerful and works.]
Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
Gen. 6:5; 8:21 The Spirit of God declares that every imagination of man’s heart from infancy is evil.
Ps. 14:3 There is none righteous, none that understands, none that seeks after God.
Rom. 3:10 But that all are useless, corrupt, void of the fear of God, full of fraud, bitterness, and all kinds of iniquity, and have fallen short of the glory of God.
Rom. 8:6; 2 Cor. 3:5 He proclaims that the carnal mind is enmity against God, and does not even leave us the power of thinking a good thought.
Micah 6:8 He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
Top Ten Extra-Biblical Christian Books
Practicing the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence
On Prayer by E.M. Bounds
Six Spiritual Classics (a set) by C.S. Lewis
[the link takes you to the current 8-volume set].
The Abolition of Man
The Great Divorce
Mere Christianity
Miracles
The Problem of Pain
The Screwtape Letters
My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers
or his website.
The Five Points of Calvinism by David N. Steele, Curtis C. Thomas, and S. Lance Quinn
Willing to Believe; The Controversy Over Free Will by R. C. Sproul
Freedom of the Will by Jonathon Edwards
Prayer by Timothy Keller
Christian Classics: Five Books by Charles Spurgeon
The link is actually to 6 Books. There are literally thousands of Amazon and Christian Classics Ethereal Library Spurgeon offerings.
Christian Classics: The Complete Books of Martin Luther
This is the first of a series on Amazon. There are thousands of Martin Luther books on Amazon and Christian Classics Ethereal Library
The Rare Jewel of Chrisitian Contentment by Jeremiah Burroughs
Top Ten Seventeen Secular Books
Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss. More than a great book on negotiation; “the art of letting the other guy have your way.” Absolutely mandatory reading on interpersonal relations. Chris also has many youtube videos.
The Pyramid Principle by Barbara Minto. How to think creatively, reason lucidly and express ideas with clarity. Written by a former McKinsey executive. Out-of-print and horribly expensive. Get the easier-to-understand second edition.
Analyzing Performance Problems by Piper and Magee. Very inexpensive. Very quick read. Outlines a process on how to deal with employees that do not perform as expected. Lots of insight on life.
How to Read a Book by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren. Written in 1940. A critical thinking classic on understanding and evaluating written material.
How to Talk so Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish. How to communicate with young children and teenagers. Actually, their techniques work very well with adults, too. A short book with cartoon illustrations.
Six Thinking Hats by Edward De Bono. Describes a formal process to resolve questions and make decisions in a group environment. Especially good when your group chases rabbits. A short book, easy to read.
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey. The classic. How to be personally and professionally effective. The process is brutal, but works.
Speak Like Churchill Stand Like Lincoln by James C. Humes. Obviously, this is about speaking in public. The first two chapters alone are worth the price of the book. How to pause for effect, etc.
On Speaking Well by Peggy Noonan. Speechwriter for Reagan and Bush.
Progression by Sebastian Marshall. Progression takes you through deep, counterintuitive, intensely actionable lessons from across history. Marshall discusses how upstream events control our lives, how toughness is doing what one ought to do, regardless if you feel like doing it or not, and how uncommon virtues can help you thrive.
Pragma by Sebastian Marshall. Great critical thinking. He discusses the concept that before a person does something bad, there are often predictable signs (flags) that they were going to do it. Then he writes about our personal limits and what we can do about them. Finally, he drills deeply into the nature of thought and communication, showing how the meaning of certain words have changed over time.
The Art of Focused Conversation by R. Brian Stanfield. I use these techniques every day; several times a day, in fact. The ORID process keeps conversations focused while including everyone. I use it during our roundtable discussions.
Crucial Conversations by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, Al Switzler Patterson, Kerry. How to conduct important conversations when emotions are high and there is a difference of opinion. The authors explain the STATE process. This process has never failed me. I re-read this every year.
Difficult Conversations by Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton, and Sheila Heen. This book complements Crucial Conversations. It provides insights into separating the intent from impact and mapping contributions instead of assigning blame.
Anything You Want by Derek Sivers. Sivers gives lots of good advice on business and life. The story about delegation is worth the whole book.
The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. How to defeat our internal resistance. A classic.
The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. The seminal book on creativity. Julia is the originator of Morning Minutes which is the easy way to get past Pressfield’s resistance.