All posts in Books

  • June 3, 2009

    Are Christians afraid of conversation?

    Since the publication of What to Do on the Worst Day of Your Life in March, I have given a few dozen interviews, mainly on talk radio, and I have noticed something that bothers me. These interviews have been pretty evenly divided between mainstream format radio and Christian format radio. Generally, the questions I’m given on mainstream radio are thoughtful, and at times challenging, leading to a lively and substantive conversation. Conversely, the questions I’m typically given on Christian radio are shallow and trite and I have to work at preventing the conversation from becoming glib. That may sound a bit harsh, but I’ll stand by it. Read more

    No Comments / Books, Christianity, Culture /

  • February 23, 2009

    Recover All

    This is an excerpt from chapter eight of my new book, What To Do on the Worst Day of Your Life. And yes, it is a new book. If you’ve read the self published paperback from twelve years ago, that really isn’t the same book as the one just published. And why is this new one so differrent? Well, I’m not the same person I was twelve years ago. It’s good to grow, don’t you think? The book should be available in stores by March 3 and is available now at Amazon.com.

    At its heart the story of David at Ziklag is a story of restoration, and at its heart, the story of the gospel is a story of restoration. Have you ever asked yourself, “What is salvation for?” Not what is salvation, but what is salvation for? Salvation is for the restoration of all things to God’s original goodness. Salvation is the story of how God recovers from His loss.

    God created a good world, but this good world was lost to sin, Satan, corruption, and death. The story the Bible tells is how God is in the process of recovering all that has been lost in the catastrophe of sin. This is the big picture of the Bible’s story. God Himself knows what it is to suffer loss, and God also knows how to recover all.

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    1 Comment / Books /

  • January 21, 2009

    Jesus and the Victory of God


    We flew back from Israel today. During the long journey home I was reading Jesus and the Victory of God by N.T. Wright. I can’t tell you how deeply this book has thrilled my soul. It’s like a diamond mine. Every page is a gem. I am now left with no doubt that Tom Wright is the most important Christian writer and theologian of our generation. And it’s quite possible that Jesus and the Victory of God is the most important book I’ve read. It will influence me significantly.
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    3 Comments / Books /

  • May 12, 2008

    Books

    I’m regularly asked about the books I read.

    Some people think I preach vocationally. There is truth to that, but there’s more truth in saying I read vocationally. There’s a sense in which I read books for others. I graze in the field of books and give the milk of sermons. John Wesley said, “Read or get out of the ministry.” I agree. Yes, reading is a big part of what I do. I don’t loan books for the same reason a mechanic doesn’t loan tools. Books are the tools of my trade.

    Recently several serious minded Christians have requested that I give them a recommended reading list. I don’t feel like I can come up with a one-size-fits-all reading list; things vary too much from person to person. What I can do is comprise a list of the ten books which have most influenced me in the past two years — the literary equivalent to my recent blog on Music.

    So here it is: The Ten Books That Have Most Influenced Me In The Past Two Years
    (No reviews…just a list with a few comments.)
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    2 Comments / Books /

  • August 27, 2007

    The Problem With Perfection

    Yesterday afternoon I sat on my deck and finished John Steinbeck’s East of Eden. A marvelous, sprawling epic. For me it ranks right up there with my all time favorite novel, Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov. Great novels like East of Eden, The Brothers Karamazov, War and Peace, A Tale of two Cities, Moby Dick, etc., are valuable for this simple reason: What masterpieces of literature have in common is their insight into human beings. An author can reveal the inner sanctum of a person; the author can tell us what a person is thinking and let us in on their deepest secrets — something which is nearly impossible to do in real life. If the author chooses to do so they can give us a “God’s eye view” of the world they have created with their writing. And the literary giants aren’t just great writers, they are also great perceivers. Steinbeck, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Dickens, Melville and the rest have helped me to understand the human soul far more than you might imagine.

    And sometimes they stumble upon the utterly profound.
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    7 Comments / Books, Christianity /

  • August 21, 2007

    Subhuman

    I’m reading John Steinbeck’s East of Eden. I’ve been wading through a lot of heavy theology and philosophy over the past year, so I decided to take a break and read a novel just for the pleasure of it. On Peri’s recommendation I chose East of Eden. But as it turns out East of Eden is a modern reworking of Genesis with plenty of theological and philosophical thinking. The antagonist in the story has to be one of the most evil characters in literary history — the monstrous and whorish Cathy Ames (Kate Trask).

    Steinbeck introduces Cathy (Kate) with these words:

    I believe there are monsters born in the world to human parents.
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    No Comments / Books, Christianity, Theology /

  • August 13, 2007

    Blog On Blog

    This is a blog on blogs.

    Brief and to the point.

    This is my 184th blog in a year and a half. Most of them averaging around a thousand words. That’s a lot of writing.
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    2 Comments / Books, Christianity /

  • July 19, 2007

    Who Dies In Harry Potter?

    Some borrowed thoughts on Harry Potter.
    Some borrowed quotes from the Great Dane.
    Some questions of my own for you to ponder.

    First, Harry Potter:

    Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — the final installment of the famed series by J.K. Rowling goes on sale at 12:01 a.m. Saturday and the world will finally know the fate of the boy wizard. I read a column in Time Magazinethis week that I thought was brilliant, insightful and important. I would like to share it with you.
    Read more

    No Comments / Books, Culture, Theology /

  • July 2, 2007

    Lose Your Passion for Dumbness

    I will start this with no definite idea of where it will go. An adventure in the blogesphere. I’m not sure where I’m going, but I invite you to come with me.

    I remember reading in Bob Dylan’s Chronicles how when he first arrived in New York City in 1961 he was staying with a man who had a large library and how he found himself spending most of his spare time devouring volumes on history, philosophy, poetry and literature. Dylan then made some quip to the effect that, “You’ve got to lose your passion for dumbness.”
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    No Comments / Books, Church /
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