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Technorati. Don’t just read a book; respond to it.
Practice active reading. Mark up your books. I always read with a pencil in my hand. Even when I’m reading magazines, I’ve got a pencil in my hand. A book only becomes your book when you mark it up. The most important thing about a book is not what it teaches you. It’s what it stimulates in you. I’ll often read something, then write down its application to our church. A. W. Tozer said, “One of the tests of a really fine book is while you’re reading it, you put it down to start thinking.”
5. Know what not to read.
The best way to save time in reading is to be discriminating. James Bryce says “Life is too short to spend it reading inferior books.” More than 1,000 books are produced around the world each day. Several thousand new religious titles come out every year. The Christian Booksellers Convention is big business. As a result, many Christian books are not worth reading.
6. Make a monthly trip to the library.
Put on your calendar a monthly trip to the library. Why? Not for Christian books, which you’ll rarely find at the library. Instead, go to see what’s new in other areas. I look for books on management, advertising, human behavior, psychology, and other secular disciplines. But the most important reason I take this monthly trip is to get caught up on the latest magazines. That way I don’t have to subscribe to them. (Most of them aren’t worth a subscription.) You can cover about 40 magazines in two hours. Flip through them. Once in a while, you’ll find a good article, and you can photocopy it. Most of my illustrations come from Time, Newsweek, and other current publications. Why? That’s what people are reading.
7. Build your own library.
Every profession has its tools. You can’t be a doctor without a stethoscope or a carpenter without hammer and saw. The tools of ministry are books. We’re feeding, leading, and communicating.
Books also make a great heritage to pass on to your children. Whether your kids go into ministry or not, you’ll be able to give them a library that’s invaluable – because you’ve been collecting the books for years. That’s an instant heritage you can pass on.
Reading is an invaluable habit if you want to stay fresh in ministry. Remember, all leaders are readers!
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Rick Warren is the founding pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., one of America's largest and best-known churches. In addition, Rick is author of the New York Times bestseller The Purpose-Driven Life and The Purpose-Driven Church, which was named one of the 100 Christian books that changed the 20th Century. He is also founder of Pastors.com, a global Internet community for ministers. Copyright 2005 Pastors.com, Inc. Used with permission. All rights reserved.
