Required reading for ministry?
 

Those of you involved in ministry, whatever it may be, I have a few questions, the answers to which may be of benefit to those preparing for ministry:

1 Which FIVE (5) books of the Bible are ESSENTIAL to read, learn, study, and MASTER? Obviously, one should be familiar with the whole Bible, and certainly should read the entire Bible, but that having been done, which are the first five books of the Bible a minister should thoroughly study and master?

2 What FIVE (5) books do you consider ESSENTIAL to read, learn, study, master, besides the Bible itself? Please don't just copy a 'required reading list' from a ministerial license qualification system, UNLESS you believe those five books are essential regardless of what the licensing authorities said.

3 What FIVE (5) daily habits are absolute musts for any and every minister to inculcate? (Daily prayer and daily Bible reading not included, as that should be a daily habit for ALL Christians period anyway.)

Re: Required reading for ministry?
 

1.) The Four Gospels and Acts.

All that a person needs to be saved and live saved is contained in those five.

2.) Still thinking...

3.) Depends if a family is present or not. With a family, the top five are:

A.) Love the wife as Christ loved the church
B.) Spend quality spiritual time with the children (i.e. the nurture and admonition of the Lord)
C.) Make certain Christ is being presented in the home to all present at all times
D.) Maintain loving headship over the wife and family
E.) Keep the home open to fellowship, for both saint and sinner, and do so as often as is possible

If a wife/family isn't present, then something more like this:

A.) Read. As much as is possible and is Godly, especially non-fiction
B.) Meet regularly with trusted friends to keep the iron sharp
C.) Be a common face in the community
D.) Work hard with joy so as to be a light to your lost coworkers
E.) Find a place of service, especially among the lost

Granted a lot of those are true even if a family is present, but I don't think they take priority over the five listed for when a family is present.

Re: Required reading for ministry?
 

What a waste it was writing all those epistles.

Re: Required reading for ministry?
 

[QUOTE=Esaias;1390108]

1 Which FIVE (5) books of the Bible are ESSENTIAL to read, learn, study, and MASTER? Obviously, one should be familiar with the whole Bible, and certainly should read the entire Bible, but that having been done, which are the first five books of the Bible a minister should thoroughly study and master?

Proverbs - how to deal with people
John - examples of Jesus' ministry and details about the Godhead
Acts - examples of the apostle's ministry and details about salvation
1, 2 Timothy - written to pastors (yeah, I cheated)
Titus - written to pastors

Re: Required reading for ministry?
 

[QUOTE=Esaias;1390108]

2 What FIVE (5) books do you consider ESSENTIAL to read, learn, study, master, besides the Bible itself? Please don't just copy a 'required reading list' from a ministerial license qualification system, UNLESS you believe those five books are essential regardless of what the licensing authorities said.

I like the David Bernard list:

The Oneness of God
The New Birth
Pursuing Holiness
Spiritual Gifts
The Apostolic Church

And I really want to add at least one more:
Understanding God's Word

Re: Required reading for ministry?
 

1 - Be an active listener (pay attention)
2 - Be an active reader (read, take notes, highlight, apply, etc)
3 - Lead by example (be aware of the example you're setting and set the best example possible, be diligent in the work you do)
4 - Write. Writing helps me to develop sermons, put things in the best words for the audience, and can be used as training materials.
5 - Study leaders and leadership materials (including leadership, management, ministry, etc.) and be relate-able to everyone else from this role in ministry

Re: Required reading for ministry?
 

[QUOTE=randyabrown;1390121]Ah yes the Oneness Pope! :heeheehee

Re: Required reading for ministry?
 

Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The Spiritual Man by Watchman Nee. Humility by Andrew Murray. The Meaning of Prayer by Harry Emerson Fosdick. A Child is Born by Lennart Nilsson. The Science of God by Gerald Schroeder. Five daily habits...what Votive said.

Re: Required reading for ministry?
 

Five books that made had a remarkable impact on me (not sure if I would call them essential to all, however) are:

The Sons of Oil, by David Huston
Conquest Through Prayer, by Denzil Holman
Created To Be His Help Meet, by Debi and Michael Pearl
Pagan Christianity?, by Frank Viola and George Barnes
The Screwtape Letters, by C.S. Lewis

Re: Required reading for ministry?
 

Good list! Another that impacted me was Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen Covey

Re: Required reading for ministry?
 

Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster.

Re: Required reading for ministry?
 

After giving it more thought, I've come up with a list:

1.) Church History, by Eusebius
2.) The Complete Works of Jospehus, By Flavius Josephus (especially The Wars of the Jews)
3.) Any scholarly treatise on the Dead Sea Scrolls (with translation)
4.) Any scholarly treatment of the Septuagint (with translation)
5.) Any scholarly Bible atlas

Runner Ups:

Institutes of Christian Religion, by Jean Calvin
City of God, by Augustine
Summa Theologica, by Thomas Aquinas
Halley's Handbook to the Bible, by Henry H. Halley
The Talmud
The Qu'ran
Any scholarly Bible dictionary and/or lexicon

Re: Required reading for ministry?
 

Aquinas is good exercise for the brain, lol. However, my son and I both discovered that in some places he refutes himself.

But he definitely exercises the intellect.

Re: Required reading for ministry?
 

Yeah, I'm not recommending the readings so as to feed the spirit of the minister, as much as I recommend them because they are the tomes that have shaped the history of all Western civilization after the Bible, and if a minister wants to know anything about what almost all Western Christianity believes, those books are the place to turn (good, bad, or indifferent).

Re: Required reading for ministry?
 

Absolutely. I haven't read Augustine's City of God yet, but his On Christian Doctrine I think is highly beneficial as well.

Ah, the Classics... too bad nobody writes that caliber anymore these days. We could sure use an apostolic Aquinas or Augustine or Chrysostom or...

Re: Required reading for ministry?
 

If you get a chance read "The Gospel's Power and Message" - written by Paul Washer.

Re: Required reading for ministry?
 

My intern was with Denzil Holman, a long time ago in Arizona. He is a great guy !!

Re: Required reading for ministry?
 

I dont think it should or can be limited to just 5 sorry. All the Pastoral Epistles should be studied.

Acts

All the gospels

Re: Required reading for ministry?
 

I know brother Holman. He was our assistant Pastor for a while. He is married to my former Pastor's former wife (He died)

Re: Required reading for ministry?
 

My question is limited to five of each. So think "top five" lol.

Re: Required reading for ministry?
 

Fox's book of martyrs, gives perspective of how good we have it. Hang Em !

Re: Required reading for ministry?
 

Paul Washer is a Trinitarian, I doubt his book is any good.

Re: Required reading for ministry?
 

And he preaches the gospel better than you and your circle of friends.

Re: Required reading for ministry?
 

I doubt it.

Re: Required reading for ministry?
 

well yikes--i thought that was a great book.

Re: Required reading for ministry?
 

i suggest Original Blessing, although it is a challenging read; and i note that google now auto-completes "original blessing..." to "original blessing vs original sin," which i don't recall happening until recently--there seems to be quite the debate, in the body, on this subject now; and i would term it a seminal one, possibly even a witness of the Church finally coming into the age of Grace.