A paper in Texas decided to ask several local preachers what books they use for references and anecdotes for their sermons.

Curious? Take a look:

Curtis Sellers, pastor, First Church of the Nazarene:

There have been three books that have really impacted me lately. They are:

1. “Good to Great in God’s Eyes: Ten Practices Great Christians Have in Common” by Chip Ingram (Baker Books).

2. “15 Characteristics of Effective Pastors: How to Strengthen Your Inner Core and Ministry Impact” by Kevin W. Mannoia and Larry Walkemeyer (Regal Books).

3. “Death of the Church: The Church has a Choice: To Die as a Result of its Resistance, to change, or to Die in Order to Live” by Mike Regele with Mark Schulz (Zondervan Publishing House).

Tom Lakey, pastor First Assembly of God:

1. The one I rely on the most is a concordance.

2. Most useful book is The Three In One Concise Bible Reference Companion, a concordance, topical index and dictionary in one. Probably the Bible commentary I use most is the “Beacon Bible Commentary.” It is mainly just an inspirational kind of commentary. I wouldn’t call it a heavyweight.

3. For color, background, historical context, that kind of thing, I use a little commentary called “Daily Study Bible Series” by William Barkley.

4. On occasion, I’ll use “The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge” by R.A. Torrey on every verse in the Bible. It gives a whole list of other related verses.

4. I have no background in biblical languages, so I use A.T. Robertson’s “Word Pictures in the New Testament” and W.E. Vines’ “Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words.”

5. Recently I’ve been using a lot of Ravi Zacharias’ books. I really enjoy him for inspiration.

Barry Stephens, pulpit minister, Monterey Church of Christ:

1. Thomas Long, “The Witness of Preaching.” I use the book as a textbook in preaching classes I teach, but it is a book that constantly calls me to remember that at the heart of preaching is being a witness to the good news, a living testimony of the presence of God.

2. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “The Cost of Discipleship,” a reminder of God’s incredible grace, and that grace is costly – it calls me to radical discipleship.

David Cruz, pastor, Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church:

1. “The Daily Study Bible Series” by William Barclay. My all-time favorite. Published in 1975 by Westminster Press, it is a commentary on every Gospel, book and letter of the New Testament. Barclay combines good theological and scriptural insights with practical stories and examples from everyday life. He presents an image of Jesus that is full of compassion and love. I like it because it is very user friendly.

2. “A World of Stories for Preachers and Teachers” by the Rev. William Baucsh. Literally offers about 300 stories and pithy examples that can be used for preparing a sermon, teaching a class or delivering a lecture. Some of the stories tug at your heart strings while others make you laugh. Parishioners seem to like homilies (sermons) filled with good stories and practical examples over those filled with pietistic platitudes.

3. “Jesus, the Marginal Jew” by John Meier. A three-volume study on the life of the historical Jesus. Long and somewhat complex, this is one of the greatest works on Jesus in the past century. While some of Meier’s conclusions about Jesus are revolutionary and challenge conventional wisdom, I can honestly say these volumes on Jesus have truly changed my life and ministry.

4. I also incorporate newspapers, magazines and non-theological books into my daily reading list. I like what the great Protestant theologian Karl Barth once said to his students, “Preach with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other!”

Check out the link for more. And start reading! Meantime, my own list, for starters:

1. New Testament commentaries by William Barclay.

2. “An Introduction to the New Testament” by Raymond E. Brown.

3. The Jerome Biblical Commentary

4. “The Spirituality of Imperfection” by Ernest Kurtz and Katherine Ketcham. Great anecdotes, lessons, stories from a wide range of religious traditions.

5. Anything by Thomas Merton. His journals are especially rich.

6. The New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal. And, very often, whatever music happens to be on my iPod. Believe it or not, that gives me inspiration, too. So do some of the stories we run on the CBS Evening News. (I’ve even cribbed ideas and stories from some of the things I run across on blogs!)

Clearly, the greatest resource for effective preaching is anything and everything around us. I suspect the best preachers keep their eyes and ears constantly open. I also keep a file of clippings — stories, essays, emails, articles that I suspect I can use for homilies in the future. It’s saved my bacon a lot!