The Power of Reading

I am going to in future posts be reviewing and recommending books that have had a powerful impact on my life, and there are several. Before I begin those posts, I want to talk about the power of simply reading. Some may think that in an age where multimedia, High-Def TV, and interactive websites abound, that reading may well be on its way to becoming obsolete. I seriously doubt if this will ever happen. I don't anything more powerful or enjoying than sitting down in a quiet room and simply reading. How many times have you heard someone say, "Yes I saw the movie, but the book was much better." When you a read a book, especially a novel, your imagination goes to work. I've often thought that 10 people could read the same book and the scenery and characters are all different in each person's mind. I try to always be reading a book. I usually will have the book with me in my car and read it in a restaurant, a waiting room, or wherever I find myself with extra time on my hands.

I highly recommend that you have a variety of books that you read. Everyone will be different, but let me give you examples of the kinds of books that I read. First of all, the Bible must be at the center of all your reading. It is not a book, but THE book. My two favorite parts of the Bible to read are the Epistles in the New Testament and the stories in the Old Testament. But you must read all of the areas of Scriptures at some time. It is important to have balance in your Bible reading. Apart from the Bible, I read books on Apostolic Doctrine, Church history, and Church Leadership. I also read motivational books such as Stephen Covey's "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People." I would highly recommend this book, it is life changing. I am currently reading Stephen Covey's book "The Eighth Habit." All of his books are excellent. One of the books on my list to read for this year is Dr. Dobson's book "Bringing up Boys." I will eventually have a post of all my recommended books. Biographies and autobiographies can also be excellent reads. I purchased this week a biography of Andy Grove, who wrote the book "Only the Paranoid Survive", a must read for every leader. I don't read a lot of novels, but have thoroughly enjoyed Louis L'Mour and John Grisham novels.

The thing that I believe makes reading so powerful is that you are tapping into someone elses mind, harnessing and gleaning their wisdom and life experiences. They have thought about what they are going to write, they have revised and edited it many times, and you are awarded the final product of what they consider to be their best. I have tried to listen to books on tape, but have found that my retention rate is much higher when I actually read the book. I believe to be well read is one of the highest achievements of life. It is amazing that if you will simply read the books, how many times in conversation with someone else that you can pull from your mind something that can be added to the conversation. If you are a preacher, this is doubly true. I don't know how many times in my preaching that something will come to me that isn't in my notes that I will use in a message, something that I had in my mind from a book I had read. Starting now, purpose in your mind that you are going to give yourself to much reading. If you have children, encourage and help them to read. It is truly one of life's greatest pleasures.