After you've read it

So was I speaking and weeping in the most bitter contrition of my heart, when, lo! I heard from a neighbouring house a voice, as of boy or girl, I know not, chanting, and oft repeating. ‘Take up and read; Take up and read.’ [’Tolle, lege! Tolle, lege!’] Instantly, my countenance altered, I began to think most intently whether children were wont in any kind of play to sing such words: nor could I remember ever to have heard the like. So checking the torrent of my tears, I arose; interpreting it to be no other than a command from God to open the book, and read the first chapter I should find… - St. Augustine (Aurelius Augustine, The Confessions of St. Augustine, translated by Edward Pusey. Vol. VII, Part 1. The Harvard Classics. New York: P.F. Collier & Son, 1909–14; Bartleby.com, 2001. www.bartleby.com/7/1/, Book Eight, Chapter 12, Paragraphs 27-28.)

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“What is this obsession people have with books? They put them in their houses like they're trophies. What do you need it for after you read it?” - Jerry Seinfeld in “The Ex-Girlfriend” (Season 2)

No Martin would think to be without a copy

As anybody who knows me can testify, I'm a bit obsessive about books. Ever since I could read, I have been collecting them (although admittedly most of the books I cut my teeth on, as it were, remain in my mother's possession.) My personal collection has grown and been culled many times over since high school although some volumes have remained insoluble like granite over the decades of my life: The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion and all things Tolkien; The Chronicles of Narnia and The Space Trilogy both by Lewis. Since becoming a pastor my collection actually has grown to four different locations – the office and the nook under the staircase at home and my office and, at the present moment, a makeshift storage room in the basement at our worship facility. They are divided into my personal favorites (office at home), my “second favorites” as well as children's books I read at Roselawn Elementary (the nook under the staircase), all things I need pastorally from sermon prep to spiritual renewal (my office) and “also good to have” books that presently are in the storage room because I have no more shelves to house them on (I also have about 30 volumes presently stacked on the floor of my office that are also homeless).

Near the Bible on our bookshelf

I'm not what you would call obsessively neat but every few months the accumulation of the various detritus of my craft reaches the breaking point and then I become focused on culling the herd, as it were. “I need to downsize my library” I tell myself as I stare at tomes I have not touched since placing them on their current shelf years ago when a carpenter who attended our fellowship at that time built them. But as I go to reach for them I find myself suddenly reluctant to part company with them. While admittedly some I have never read – and based on my current interests am not likely ever to read them – still the thought that I might need their counsel at some undisclosed later time freezes me in the act. And suddenly the process becomes a bit overwhelming and I decide to hold off for another day.

Yesterday, I thought of my son, Ed, who aspires to be a pastor himself one day. As a freshman in college, that time is several years in the future ahead of him but speaking as someone who has logged 21 years of pastoral ministry to date as I thought of him I asked myself, “What books would I recommend to Ed starting out in his ministry? What are some of the “must have” resources it would be wise to have only an arm length's away from him? Here's a partial list. It doesn't claim to be definitive. Let's face it, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and that includes the books one reads. (Actually, this may be personal therapy getting me ripe for a cathartic swipe of my shelves):

“Dear Ed:

Now you are a pastor. It's not that I'm surprised that you ended up there. I think we've known for quite some time that God has gifted you with ability to do what you have set out to do. But still, that foreknowledge doesn't halve the pride your mom and I have in you saying yes to the Lord's call on your life.

If you haven't already, you're gonna get a lot of stuff in the mail of resources that every pastor “has” to have. Based on my experience, they are not as many as you will come across or will be asked to purchase over the course of your career. Solomon was right: “Of making many books there is no end,” (Ecclesiastes 12:12, NIV) and all these years later he's still right. As someone who probably has spent thousands of dollars on collecting books (although since websites like Alibris.com and Amazon.com came to be, I get them a whole lot cheaper now), I'd like to give you my two cents worth of what you really need. If you're like me, you probably will have to find some of this out on your own but in an attempt to save you some cash here's my short list of books that have helped me grow in my craft:

1. The Bible

   

   Except I have my name embossed on it

   Well, duh, right? You need a good Bible (lately I've enjoyed my NASB/The Message Parallel Bible – go figure) to read devotionally, preach, teach, the whole nine yards. With a tool like BibleGateway.com, you really don't need a copy of each kind of translation. Just scroll down to the version you're interested in and in most cases, voilǎ, your favorite verse in the translation of your preference appears.
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. Good Bible software for your computer
   
   For my 10^th anniversary of serving as pastor at Refuge, your grandparents got me the NIV Study Bible software. Not only can you use the concordance in various versions, it has a running commentary with helpful notes. I use this nearly EVERY DAY.

When it comes to reference materials, really, you just need to have Google and access to high speed internet (if you find yourself at Grandma and Grandpa Martin's home, you better hope you have wi/fi because they're still on dial-up; how do they do it?) But a few books on my shelf that I like having there are:

3. The IVP Atlas of Bible History

   

   I like Ray Vander Laan

   It has lots of cool pictures and maps but nothing you couldn't find on-line. In fact, for good insight into many of the events of Scripture I have found Ray Vander Laan's website, Follow the Rabbi (www.followtherabbi.com) very helpful.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. The Book of God, Jesus: A Novel and Paul: A Novel all by Walter Wangerin, Jr
   The man is a story-teller perhaps better for the soul than Keillor. I like Garrison but some of his cynicism leaks out into his stories at times. But as a pastor Wangerin ministers to me personally. He takes you into a moment in Scripture and fills it out so that you can hear sounds and smell the aroma of the place you find yourself in. You met him when you were a boy and frankly, he was impressed with you.
   A couple other of his works that I love are The Book of the Dun Cow, Ragman and Other Cries of Faith, and Miz Lil & the Chronicles of Grace, a somewhat autobiographical account of his first pastorate.
   
   
   
   
   
   

5. 

   Except mine are far more worn

   The Singer, The Song and The Finale by Calvin Miller
   I love the tale of the Gospels, Acts and Revelation that Miller spins in this three volumes of prose and poetry. In fact, every Christmas Eve at our candlelight service I read Chapter 7 from The Singer which starts out
   “In the beginning was
   the song of love
   Alone in empty nothingness
   and space
   It sang itself through
   vaulted halls above
   Reached gently out to
   touch the Father's face.”
   The fact that the copies that I own are the original editions illustrated by Chicago artist, Joe DeValasco makes them even more special (all the later editions are illustrated by artists not of his talent in my opinion).
6. A Long Obedience in the Same Direction and Run with the Horses both by Eugene H. Peterson.
   Eugene is the man. The first time I read Long Obedience I was a freshman at Bible college. His insights on life taken from his meditations on the Psalms of Ascents spoke deeply to me. I think I've come back to that book many a time. And Horses solidified Jeremiah as one of my personal heroes in Scripture. Any guy who can stay on message for 23 years despite congregational deafness and resistance deserves a salute. 
    
   I'm grateful to Peterson's perspective (in fact, somewhere I have a postcard I received from him after I had sent him a letter of thanks for how he mentored me vicariously) but also for introducing me to many other authors I would most likely never have heard of chief among them being Wendell Berry. Wendell Berry is a farmer in Kentucky but also a philosopher and a social critic. He writes a lot about a world that has disappeared – rural America where relationships were key. I think it was Peterson's reading of Berry that help me to understand what a “parish” really is. 
    
7. 
   Love, Acceptance and Forgiveness by Jerry Cook
   This little book changed my view on pastoral ministry drastically. It's what ever person needs and deserves. I think of all the books I've quoted over the years, I wouldn't be surprised I've quoted from this one more than all the others. Reading his book (and hearing him in person when he came a couple of times to Duluth Gospel Tab) literally changed my life. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
    
8. Biographies and Histories.
   
   Granted, you and I are history buffs but all of church history is really the Story of God being worked out in individual lives. In recent years I have found that I have a growing interest in biographies of those who have walked ahead of me either as pastors or ministry leaders in various locations. I just got done with Elisabeth Elliot's fine biography on Amy Carmichael, A Chance to Die, and while it doesn't make me want to sell all I have and move to far off India she does force me to ask myself why not? 
   
   
   
   
    
9. Lots of books on healing, deliverance, the Holy Spirit and more

   

   He has some very good things to say

   I remember my pastor, Warren Heckman, saying something that in time I have come to personally believe as well. “Everyone has a system of 'doing' it – how to pray for healing, how to deliver someone from demonic spirits, how to be filled with the Holy Spirit and so forth. One guy believes you have to do it one way. Another in a different manner. No one, it seems has a corner on the market.” He's right. Because now that I've collected volumes on such things and read them, I am persuaded that while God still is in the healing business it is, ultimately, a mystery why some are “cured” and some are not. I prefer Wimber's approach who once quipped, “When we didn't pray for the sick to recover, no one got better. Once we started praying for the sick, some got better.” Exactly. Having a wide view of things keeps you open to how God may want to work in a particular situation. 
    
10. 
    Ditto when it comes to prayer. Lots of people write about prayer and will continue to write on the subject. Everyone has their favorites. Actually, of all the ones I've read on the matter The Beauty of Spiritual Language (Jack Hayford) and When the Spirit Comes with Power (John White) probably have spoken the most to me but more than likely because of the place I was when they spoke to me.

I have found that over twenty years of ministry my books that tend to be more philosophical and theological have moved up the bookshelf while the books that speak to everyday life have moved down. But that's because I'm a pastor. People don't care about the historical background of a certain text. They want to know how it walks. Quoting them a guy with a lot of letters after his name doesn't do them a whole lot of good I have found. Keep the main things the main things and maybe pass on The Complete Works of Francis Schaeffer. He wrote lots of great stuff but what I've read hasn't really helped me in my craft.

As I think about this list, that leaves a lot of books that I probably should move out of my office and donate to Goodwill. But who would buy them there? The going rate of used books is fairly dismal. But I can't stand the thought of throwing them out or – heaven forbid – burning them. So for the time being they will continue to take up space on my shelves and my floor. I guess Jerry Seinfeld was right about most books you'll read – you'll find you won't reference it or need it ever again. What's a bibliphile to do?

Now here's the funny thing: I've already placed dibs on some of the books in your grandparents' bookshelves when they decide to clean house. I'm particularly interested in some of the classics, especially The Journals of Lewis and Clark that I read in high school. Where will I put them? Who knows? Maybe when your sisters move out I can size up their room for an upstairs library but I'm pretty sure your mother is going to draw the line and not allow it. So, when all is said and done, I guess I haven't been much help. Other than, as e-books become more and more popular you'll have less boxes to pack when you move on to your next call.

Love always, Dad.”

The copy my folks' have is way cooler

Admittedly, there are a lot of books that I haven't mentioned that I'm not ready to part with. But one thing I'm not going to do is what some retiring pastor did to me. He showed up at Refuge one day and bequeathed to me boxes of books he no longer used. I know he meant well but I'm pretty sure coming to me saved him a trip to Goodwill in Rice Lake.