This past year, I read 78 books. Exactly half were fiction and non-fiction. Some were outstanding. Some were not. Below are my favorites and all ones I would recommend. Disclaimer: I read a lot of hot-of-the-press secular fiction, and cannot remember which of them had language, etc. as many (all?) of them involved adult topics. … Continue reading My Best Books Read in 2022
They Have Been Beautiful
Yesterday was the four year anniversary of the weekend I moved up here. That Sunday in 2018 was one of the saddest, grayest days of my life. And I'm not sure I've ever felt the degree of aloneness I felt that afternoon as my dad and brothers drove back "home" and I walked to the … Continue reading They Have Been Beautiful
2021: A Year in Books
And here we are again—the end of another year, and the time to give an account of what I read over the last twelve months. 2021 was the most-read year of my adult life: 59 books—41 non-fiction and 18 fiction. I read so many good books this past year, that I am just going to … Continue reading 2021: A Year in Books
The Lord is in this Place
For the past ten weeks, I have been listening to a song by Elevation Worship—pretty much non-stop. The words in “Hear Again” have been the cry of my heart, as I watch one mess and one heartbreak after another engulf our world, our cities, my church. (It is from that song, that I have taken … Continue reading The Lord is in this Place
A Gentle Answer: 20 Quotes
In these months, I don't think any of us run the risk of being too gentle (note: gentle does not mean wimpy or spineless). Scott Sauls' book, A Gentle Answer: Our “Secret Weapon” in an Age of Us Against Them, calls us to look at Jesus and be gentle as he is gentle. This book … Continue reading A Gentle Answer: 20 Quotes
Communion is for Pandemics and Ever After
This is my body given for you…remember me. This is my blood poured out for you…remember me.—Luke 22:19–20 (paraphrase) Plastic crinkles and tears—harsh sounds in the stillness. None of us imagined that we’d one day be partaking of the Lord’s Supper from individually-packaged plastic cups. That we’d be pulling masks down to eat and drink. … Continue reading Communion is for Pandemics and Ever After
Handle with Care: 20 Quotes
The first book I started this year with was Lore Ferguson Wilbert’s Handle with Care: How Jesus Redeems the Power of Touch in Life and Ministry. And it is very likely to be one of the top three books I read in 2021. This is a book that I will make a wide recommendation for—if … Continue reading Handle with Care: 20 Quotes
Books Read in 2020
And here we are again. The end of another year, and time to give an account for all the books read in 2020. This year I read 39 books—20 fiction and 19 non-fiction—the first year I have read more fiction than non-fiction. Best book overall: Blessed, Broken, Given Non-fiction runners-up: Gentle and Lowly, Changes that … Continue reading Books Read in 2020
Pressed but Not Crushed
In September 2016, I took a mission trip to the Blackfeet Reservation in Browning, Montana. As this was a trip with the Christian Veterinary Mission, it was centered on animals. One of the things I most remember was the use of the chute for large animal procedures—painful procedures. Ranch assistants would drive the animal into … Continue reading Pressed but Not Crushed
On Fear and Decisions and Living
“Fear works both ways, keeping you from doing things you might want to do and convincing you that you have to do things you don’t want to do.” Emily P. Freeman (The Next Right Thing) For some people, quarantine has brought up dozens of fears—and that surprises them. But for many more of us, I … Continue reading On Fear and Decisions and Living
Down Here Looking Up 