How to Read a Book

C. Ray Miller
Bishop, 1973-1993

September 1992

I really enjoy reading. I prefer recent books. I don't enjoy going back and reading older books, except for some of the classics. Recently, I picked up the collected works of E. M. Bounds on prayer.

I read Leith Anderson's Book, A Church for the 21st Century. It's a 1992 publication. I heard him speak just two days after the book came off the press.

I read Bill Hybels' Too Busy Not to Pray. Dave McKenna's Power to Follow, Grace to Lead. Chuck Swindoll's Simple Faith, a very interesting book in which he deals with the Sermon on the Mount.

My shelves aren't filled with books I've read in previous years, because I tend to give them away. Many, being work-related, were purchased with Board of Bishops' funds, so when I finish them, I give them to other bishops, pastors, superintendents in our denomination. Last weekend, one pastor told me, "I need to return the tape of the book you gave me." I told him, "Don't bother. I want you to have it."

One of the most recent books was Gary Collins' book, You Can Make a Difference, an exposition of a few verses in Hebrews 12. It deals with 14 principles for influencing lives. "Focus your life on Christ." "Avoid sinful entanglements." "Set your goals." Very practical.

When I go into a bookstore, I head for the section containing books on management and leadership. It's always interesting to see what sections are expanding. Right now, I've noticed that New Age books are becoming one of the major areas. You'll also find many more books on emotions, co-dependency, recovery. It's taking over Christian bookstores. One seminar leader told me that when he goes into a bookstore, he always notices what the largest section is. The largest now is co-dependency. That section doesn't interest me at all. I realize people desperately need help in these areas, but it's not an area in which I read.

I can't read without a pen in my hand. When I'm sitting in my favorite chair in the living room, I have to go to the desk for a pen. In a course on rapid reading, I was taught how to mark a book.

Any major paragraph, I put an asterisk beside. I put brackets around a definition. A summary statement, I put double parenthesis around. I outline; if the writer is talking about something that has three steps, I put numbers in the margin indicating where he begins talking about each step. I also underline major statements. When a writer says he'll elaborate on something later, when I get to that place I'll write a note pointing back to the previous place. If a questin is raised and the answer given later, I write, "See page 11."

I tell my GSCM students that I can usually go back to any book I've read and tell them, within a couple minutes, what that book is about and its major points.

The other thing about me is that I like books that are practical, or practice-oriented, rather than theoretical. That's one reason why I'm such a fan of Stephen Covey's books. He has 7 habits, and I like reading what they are. Collins had 14 principles. Anything like that appeals to me.

I like to do probably one book a week. I'm not as good at Steve and Pam Dennie, who keep records of all the books they read, so I can't say exactly which books or how many I've read.

Sometimes I like to go back and reread a book, instead of finding a new one. I've determined not to read another new book until I've spent substantial time on three Covey books and have internalized the 7 principles. Some people have a photographic memory and don't have to do that, but I do. For me to talk about the book and communicate it, I have to reread it, spend time studying it. I keep at it until I've made practices a part of my life.

I must confess that in the past, I feel I sometimes spend too much time on books having to do with my inner spiritual life, and not enough time reaching out to others. Three of Covey's pricniples deal with "Private Victory," and the next three deal with "Public Victory." He said private victory must precede public victory. But you can spend too much time in the private area. I became frustrated with that at times. Some of Andrew Murray's books, like Absolute Surrender, Fruit-bearing Christians.

There have been books like Leading and Managing Your Local Church that I review. That's a 1987 publication--about as old a book as I like to use.

I'm not one who likes to use illustrations from the past. I like to keep current.