The Power of Books
2008-08-04

By D. E. Herrod, B.Ed.E, M.Div

Last night I was thinking about books that have influenced my life. Not just books I like but truly life changing books. Of course for me a given and Sunday School answer is the Bible. I beginning mulling over the idea of what books have really impacted my life. I decided to limit my list to three books other than the Bible:

Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges. I first encountered this book in college and it rocked my world so to speak. The very thought that we are called to be holy because, God is holy. I know that is in the Bible but somehow I had never grasped that concept. I had the idea that somehow only God was holy and we were just to be good people. I didn’t really understand that pursuing a holy lifestyle should affect one’s daily life.

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Voirst. I know you are probably thinking that is a kid’s book. Yes it is but it has a profound message. Alexander has one of those days where everything goes wrong and it seems the world is against him. He wants to runaway (move to Australia) to escape his problems. In the end he learns that some days are just icky and running away rarely solves anything. Oh, the title of one of my earlier posts comes from this book.

How to Give Away Your Faith by Paul E. Little. This book was required reading for an evangelism class and it helped me realize that evangelism is something I could and should do. You don’t have to be a preacher or some sort of super Christian to be able to share the gospel with others. Little wrote to the person in the pew not the minister . It provides practical advice on how to share one’s faith.

What are the most influential book(s) you have read? I mean the one’s that you keep coming back to over and over again.