Key Books for a Man or Woman Entering Ministry

Six years ago, our all-volunteer church hired our first full-time staff member, a called and anointed and gifted man of God whose choice was confirmed in several striking and supernatural ways. Since he had no prior "professional" ministry experience, I was asked to devise a "ministry development" plan for him, part of which was a reading plan. I could have chosen any number of "church" or "leadership" or ministry books. Instead, I considered then (and still do) the key books for a man (or woman) entering ministry to be the following. I still do:

Knowing God (Packer)
The Master Plan of Evangelism (Coleman)
Knowing Scripture (Sproul)
With Christ in the School of Prayer (Murray)
The Pursuit of God (Tozer)
Heralds of God (Stewart)
Spiritual Maturity (Sanders)
The Christ Life for Your Life (Meyer)
A Diary of Private Prayer (Baillie)
Sit Walk Stand (Nee)

These are not, of course, the end-all of ministry reading. They are a beginning, though. I happen to think that any man or woman who seeks to serve God should first and foremost be well-acquainted with God, his word, his methods, prayer, and preaching. That is primary. In fact, most of these books are on my short list of the few books I try to re-read from time to time. They never become old, never go out of style.