If you've followed this blog for any length of time, that you know that I like to read.  But most of the time I'm commenting or reviewing new books that I've read.  

Now what gets lost in the 'tyranny of the new' is the classics that need to be re-read.  

There's books that I read every year and some that I read every other year.  

So I thought I'd put together a list of a couple books that are on my regular re-read list: 

- Lectures to My Students by Charles H. Spurgeon (my favorite book of all time)

- On Being a Servant of God by Warren W. Wiersbe (In my top 5 of all time)

- Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Sanders (one of the most important leadership books ever written)

- Leading at a Higher Level by Ken Blanchard 

- Good to Great by Jim Collins 

- The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John C. Maxwell

There's others that are in the re-read list, but these are probably the most important ones.  

Spurgeon said, "In reading books, let your motto be 'much, not many.'" He believed in re-reading the classics over and over again. 

What's on your re-read list?

I review a book every week in the www.church-strategies.com newsletter, but I thought I'd highlight one book on the blog that was the best book I read in that month.  So here's my January pick: Talk Less, Say More by Connie Dieken. 

 I thought Talk Less, Say More was a really good book. It covered so many areas of life in which we communicate. Many books only cover communication from the platform (which is important), but let's be honest, we communicate through email, staff meetings, and individual meetings more than we do on the stage. 

The other thing I really liked about this book is that it got right to the point. I guess with a name like Talk Less, Say More you'd expect that. But these days, brevity is in short supply. 

I try to read a few books on communication every year. So I was happy to kick off the new year with a good one! I recommend it. 

For the month of December I've been giving away copies of my book Zero to Sixty: 60 principles and practices for leading a growing church as a Christmas present to church leaders.  

However, the last day to get your free copy is tomorrow (Dec. 24th). 

So if you want a free copy, simply click here. 

(Remember, all you pay is the shipping and the book is free)

Merry Christmas!

That's the question someone asked me last week when I decided to give away my book Zero to Sixty. I said, "I started doing it as a nice thing to do around Christmas. I've kept doing it because I found that it felt great to give them away." 

One of my life goals is to give away as much as I can. In fact, one of my life goals is to live on 49% of my income. That way, I'm giving more than I'm keeping. I am firm believer that tithing is the bare minimum for giving. It's the training wheels of generosity. 

My friend said, "I understand that, but giving away your book is hurting your Amazon sales." I said, "Yeah, you're probably right. But it just feels good to give them away."  

My point in telling you this is NOT to pat myself on the back. Hopefully it's to spur you on to give in some way that blesses a leader or Pastor in another church. It's easy for us as Pastors to give our own churches. It's a little harder to invest in another ministry. 

That's why I'm giving away copies of Zero to Sixty. I simply want to do something that blesses church leaders. 

If you want to pick up a Free copy (All you pay is the shipping) of 2 of Zero to Sixty, click here. 

 In case you missed it, I'm giving away copies of my latest book, Zero to Sixty: 60 principles and practices for leading a growing church. I say the book is "sort of" free because all you have to pay is the $4.99 for shipping. That's it.  I'm doing this because I want to be a blessing to church leaders and this is a tangible way for me to do that.  

By the way, you can order as many copies as you want. Several churches have ordered multiple copies for their staff and/or leaders. There's no quantity limit. If you think this book can help your leaders, then I'm happy to partner with you in this way.  

(By the way, I'm doing this for the rest of the week. After that, the book goes back to it's normal price. So, you may want to act quickly)

P.S. If you want to put this on Twitter to let people know, that's fine. If you want to mention it on your blog, that's fine too. The more the merrier