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By now you have probably scanned half a dozen “best of” lists. Writers, critics, and commentators typically release these lists to summarize what books, films, or stories made the biggest impact. We’d like to share with you just five books that impacted us this year. We share these books because we think they’re important and were personally helped by them in some way.

Happy reading!

Sean:

A Small Book about a Big Problem by Ed Welch

If you are like me, you probably don’t think you have anger problems. But you’re wrong. This book may look like a small fist, but it will knock the breath out of you.

If you are like me, you probably don’t think you have time to read another book. But you’re wrong. It is a 50-day devotional. The chapters are no more than 1 normal book page. You could read a chapter while brushing your teeth or while waiting for the microwave to warm your left over dinner. The only downside to this book is that it is a bit pricey. But no more expensive than the nice dinner that gave you left overs. Nothing to get angry about anyway.

I guarantee you that this book will help you walk more wisely. I have found it to be crippling and healing. It will bring peace to you and those around you. Above all, it will help you become more like our great God who is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

The New Living Translation “The One Year Bible”

For 2017 I decided to read through the NLT using the One Year Bible plan. I have never actually read through the entire Bible systematically in one year. Still haven’t! I made it 75% of the way in 2017 but stopped the Old Testament reading due to my Ph.D. work. Jenny read through the same plan in the ESV. We loved reading it together. We loved how it stretched us and kept us on track. Reading two different translations was enjoyable and allowed us to compare and contrast at times.

After becoming a Christian, I received a NKJV Study Bible and devoured it. After that, I consumed the original NIV. Today, the two translations I use the most are the ESV and the NASB. The NLT Translation has its pros and cons. I found it helpful during Old Testament narratives and the Proverbs. There were numerous times that I saw the Scripture better because of it. It does have its shortcomings in the Epistles and other places, but not enough to stop reading it. I’m going to stick with the ESV for personal devotions in the future, but I will keep the NLT handy for when I need a fresh translation to jumpstart my mind or heart.

Spencer:

The Warmth of Other Suns – Isabelle Wilkerson

My wife and I care how the gospel impacts racial reconciliation. We aren’t experts. We have a lot to learn. That led us last year to try to expose ourselves to literature, articles, and conversations that would aid us in getting small tastes of the complexities of the issues. The Warmth of Other Suns significantly impacted the way I now see racial issues in our country and the church.

Neither a political proposition nor a reaction to recent events, the power of this book resides in its narrative power. It traces the story of three African American “immigrants” who journey from the the southern lands of their parents or grandparents to start a new life in parts of the country promising greater freedom.

I’m convinced the best path toward racial reconciliation is for majority culture Christians to listen long to the voice of minorities around them. This book is a good doorway into those conversations. You won’t be the same.

Deep Work – Cal Newport

It’s been 18 months now since I became a bi-vocational pastor. I have learned that one of the main challenges of this type of ministry is not necessarily finding time for everything on my calendar, but being fully present for everything on my calendar. Deep Work by Cal Newport offers a vision for work and life the emphasizes depth in the areas most important to you to create real value in your area of influence.

I don’t know if Cal Newport is a Christian. But the thought that kept striking me was: if a non-Christian has this much zeal to use his time strategically to make a lasting impact in the world, how much more zeal should mark Christians?

I’m still working to implement some of his strategies (he recommends you quit social media!), but I think about this book almost every day after reading it. If you are in a job or ministry in which you are required to do most of your work through thinking and creating, you should read this book.

Delighting in the Trinity – Michael Reeves

There are very few books that I would give to non-Christians, new Christians, growing Christians, and mature Christians. This book is one of them. What makes Reeves’ book captivating (it’s rare to have a theology book that you consider a page turner!) is that the truths he writes about are truths that he obviously believes are beautiful and good. That’s why I would give this book to a non-Christian – I want them to be introduced to Jesus by someone who actually enjoys Jesus.

I needed this book this year. It reminded me of the beauty of the Triune God, and why his love for himself is good news for me and everyone else. If that statement intrigues you (God loves himself? That sounds strange…), and you wonder how that could be good news – and perhaps even news that changes your life – then pick up this book.

I’m not original. Neither are you. Whether we like it or not, who we are is largely shaped by who we admire. We reverberate the voices we value most, a collage of influences that have shaped us over time.

This isn’t new. The Bible recognizes the power of others: wear the wisdom of parents like a necklace, says Solomon (Proverbs 1:8-9), and the surest way to victory is to surround yourself with counselors (Proverbs 15:22).

These truths bloomed for me in college and coalesced with the arrival of a person who shapes the way I live in almost every facet of my life today.

The “new guy in Student Life” attended a welcome back dinner for my college. I was 19, a sophomore, and in a small leadership position.  I don’t remember much about that first interaction, or about his first year at my school for that matter, except for two things of unequal importance: (1) things began to change at my school, and (2) he had a very redundant name – “Who names their kid Gunner Gundersen?!”

My knowledge of the new guy matured as our lives overlapped at the school.  He preached more, led more, and attended more events. Each time I sat under his influence, even at a distance, it shaped me. This regular impact from a distance led me to amble into his office one day and ask, “Can we spend regular time together?” That was almost seven years ago.

I can’t tell you how he invested in me. There was no organized program. We engaged in a intentional and providential immersion into each others lives. Eating, counseling, working, camping, teaching, worshipping, traveling, writing, walking, correcting.

The only pattern I’ve identified in Gunner’s investment was that it matured as I matured, and grew as I grew. It changed with me. There were three movements in his investment:

The Leader and Teacher

Gunner spent most of his time leading and teaching me at the beginning. He was either cleaning up my messes, or correcting my work. Then he would teach me how he took out my trash, let me ask questions, give me another shot, and made more corrections.  

During an opportunity to preach to a group of fellow students, Gunner looked at my preaching notes before my sermon and sent me detailed (painfully detailed!) feedback on my sermon manuscript. Then after the sermon he sent me a long email with encouragements and areas of growth.  

There are probably 100 other stories I could tell you about my mistakes, his corrections, and my consequent growth. His investment during this season was marked by quantity time, energy, and conversations.

The Mentor and Counselor

Don’t get the wrong picture. Gunner was not a pontificating sage while I silently took notes. To know Gunner is to be listened to – which gave this second movement of investment so much power.  

I remember very little of the millions of words Gunner spoke into my life. But one thing I remember very clearly: he always asked me questions.  As our relationship matured, I found the dynamic changing. Most of his investment started with one solitary question: “How do you think that went?”  

That question was a portal into worlds of wisdom. I took that girl (who is now my wife) to coffee – ”how did that go?” I went home for a weekend to see family – ”how did that go?” I was studying a topic for class – ”how is that going?” It wasn’t overly formal, and the conversations were often ad hoc things, happening in small crevices in our daily lives. Yet Gunner himself was always intentional, always listening, postured toward pursuit.

The Brother and Friend

One night I found Gunner sitting alone on campus. I joined him, and soon Gunner began describing how he was tired and discouraged. It wasn’t a “teachable moment” of strategized vulnerability. It wasn’t a testimony. It was confession. He shared a burden with me – from one friend to another. This was the last, and current, state of Gunner’s investment in me.

Conversations weren’t marked by him instructing me. He simply partnered with me in whatever thing we were doing. We talked about our families, our marriages, theology, parenting, and goals for the future. We shared burdens and received help. We shared ideas and sharpened each other. We laughed a lot and enjoyed our time.

Less Impressed, More Influenced

Over a year ago my Dad died suddenly. Gunner was the first person I called. And that call initiated a wave of care that could only be given by a brother. He mowed my grass, called and listened, and even drove 130 miles to sit with me for 20 minutes. He preached at my church while I was gone. It was an incredible moment of care.

About a year later Gunner – my teacher, mentor, and friend – moved to Texas to pastor a church. A few months before he left, we had lunch and reflected on our friendship. Gunner said to me, “You know, I would say that after all these years you are probably far less impressed by me than you once were, but also far more influenced.”  

He’s right. Actually, I’m far more influenced because I am less impressed by him. Gunner is a real person with real weaknesses and sin, and he invited me in to watch him in his gifts and deficiencies; joys and sorrows; victories and defeats; maturities and quirks. 

I’m not writing this to give you a list of practical ways you can invest like Gunner. This isn’t that type of article. It’s a public monument to one of the most impactful relationships I have. This is a monument to a leader, teacher, and brother who loved through intentional pursuit.  

Gunner once told me: “Most people won’t remember what you invested, but that you invested” This article is a tribute to that principle. Very few have shaped me like Gunner. But the curriculum of his investment wasn’t books and lectures. It was a persistent pressing into my life over time that left an indelible imprint.

That imprint, though embossed through Gunner, doesn’t look like him. It looks like Christ. That’s because his investment was translucent, allowing me to be less impressed with him so I could see through him to that truer Teacher, Mentor, and Friend – Jesus Christ.

For the sake of Christ, let us be less impressive and more influential.  

Spencer Harmon is the Senior Pastor at Vine Street Baptist Church and the co-author of Letters to a Romantic: On Dating and Letters to a Romantic: On Engagement(P&R, 2017).

Rich Resources Outside Scripture

Some believe that embrace of the sufficiency of Scripture for counseling necessarily entails rejection of true information outside of the Bible. This is a fairly common objection to the kind of biblical sufficiency that I am discussing here…

…From the very beginning of the biblical counseling movement, leaders have made clear their belief in the legitimacy of sources of information outside of Scripture. Biblical counselors do not ignore or outright reject extra-biblical sources or counseling insights. In fact, I would argue that biblical counselors have demonstrated a high level of theological sophistication about the use of extra-biblical data, often greater than our brothers to the theological left. The biblical counseling position is that there is much true information that exists outside the Bible—that found in the sciences, for example. (53-54)

The call to be compassionate counselors requires that a thoroughgoing theology of biblical counseling must not only address the sufficient resources for counseling within Scripture but must also address the relevance of resources that exist outside of Scripture. This is an issue that has the highest practical and personal implications for counselors. We must consider this matter very carefully if we are to be compassionate. Considering the matter in this way requires that we understand the doctrine of common grace. (66-67)

I began this chapter on the resources for counseling outside Scripture by asking what is necessary to help Rick, Wendy, Gail, Trenyan, Jenny, Scott, Drew, Amber, Sean, and Sarah. To answer that question, we examined common grace and saw that, indeed, God does allow unbelievers to come to know true principles that are helpful in counseling. (100)

Biblical counselors shall encourage the use of physical examinations and testing by physicians for diagnosis of medical problems, the treatment of these problems, and the relief of symptoms, which might cause, contribute to, or complicate counseling issues. (324)

Biblical counselors shall encourage the use of physical examinations and testing by physicians for diagnosis of medical problems, the treatment of these problems, and the relief of symptoms, which might cause, contribute to, or complicate counseling issues. (324)

Biblical counselors shall encourage the use of physical examinations and testing by physicians for diagnosis of medical problems, the treatment of these problems, and the relief of symptoms, which might cause, contribute to, or complicate counseling issues. (324)

• Murray suggests Lambert should use the word “necessitates” instead of “requires.” We should not quibble over words that mean the same thing. Requires and necessitates are the same thing. These words are synonymous.

• Heath Lambert is the executive director of the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors – not the Association of Biblical Counselors. This is an easy mistake which he did not intend (he hyperlinked to the correct site) and I do not fault Murray for this oversight one bit.

I offer these questions and clarifications in the spirit of iron sharpening iron (Prov. 27:17), and in the hope that my biblical counseling colleagues will see the need for much greater clarity, carefulness, and consistency, if we are to have a hope of building the credibility of our discipline and expanding the availability and usefulness of biblical counseling throughout the world. I’m looking forward to learning from any responses to the questions, further questions to me, and hopefully clearer and more consistent definitions at the foundational level. If I have misunderstood or misrepresented anything, please let me know as this was not my intention.