Charles Spurgeon counseled his students to be discriminating about what they read, and to bathe in good books "until they saturate you." He said, "A student will find that his mental constitution is more affected by one book thoroughly mastered than by twenty books merely skimmed." But which books to choose? Each year in ministry, leaders find there are more books to read and less time to read them. That is why Leadership is presenting the ten books of 2008 deemed most valuable for church leaders. The titles were compiled from submissions by a diverse group of more than 100 pastors from across the country. Our contributing editors then voted to determine the winners in two categories: The Leader's Inner World, and The Leader's Outer World. We hope this canon contributes to your development as both a follower of Christ and a leader of his church. And yes, we know canon means "list" and not "artillery," but we still liked the image.

The Leader's Outer World

The Reason for God