Gaining a heart of wisdom
Rich in metaphor, dizzying in apparent contradiction, Scripture describes the Kingdom of God with upside-down truth: life out of death, power in humility, healing from brokenness, suffering as the path to glory. In Stronger, his gripping memoir, Clayton King captures the underlying, big-picture paradox, and while he's at it, he seizes the opportunity to relieve… Continue reading The Great Paradox
In order to get where you want to go, you need to know where you are. It's true in the mall, it's true on a family road trip, and it is earth-shatteringly true in theology. Nathan D. Holsteen and Michael J. Svigel, both professors at Dallas Theological Seminary, have opened the map of Scripture, drawn… Continue reading You Are Here
Between folding loads of laundry for the boys' suitcases and helping them pack for a week of camp; After weeding the bean plants and preparing a summer-day picnic; While luxuriating in my lawn chair at the beach; I have been carried this week on the narrative tide of Patricia Bradley's Gone Without a Trace. In… Continue reading Gone Without a Trace: A Book Review
Proximity to the land, awareness of seasonal patterns of frost and heat, rain and shine: these are among the chief benefits of a garden, and in my ongoing cultivation of the beautiful mess where my veggies grow, I am continually renewed and inspired by the metaphors that spring forth from every aspect of life in… Continue reading Return to the Garden
I've spent the past six months either reading in or teaching from the psalms, but Vic Black has introduced an approach to the psalms that is not only new but also energizing, providing a richer, deeper taste of God's presence in His Words. Vic's book, Speak, Lord begs the question: "Why haven't I thought of… Continue reading First Person, Singular
I really don't believe in coincidence, so when a major oversight on my part caused a disappointing and inconvenient plight for my family, it was not for nothing that Give Yourself a Break by Kim Fredrickson was already on my night stand waiting to be read. I needed to hear its message of "self-compassion" -- the… Continue reading Messing Up and Moving On
It's a delightful alchemy that takes geography and the events of historical context, and then blends in the like-mindedness and the variations of two distinct personalities. Common enough, this is the science of friendship that is traced and recorded by Randy Petersen in The Printer and the Preacher because, every once in a while, the melding of a friendship has historical impact,… Continue reading Ben and George: The Friendship that Invented America
. . . dangerous, reckless, irrational, absurd, shocking, rare, and surprising. These are not the labels normally associated with the word "grace," but Tullian Tchividjian would say that this is because our idea of grace is too tame. In One Way Love, he begins a conversation about the love of God that pulverizes the church's… Continue reading Drastic, Gratuitous, Liberating, Scandalous
What do you call a dentist who cleans an alligator's teeth? That's a great question to ponder on a car trip or a plane ride or a lazy, rainy Saturday, and it's just one of the many jokes and riddles found in Rob Elliot's and Jonny Hawkin's latest collaboration for kids: Laugh Out Loud Pocket… Continue reading Creativity and Fun in Your Pocket
To the already stunning list of monikers on the Dietrich Bonhoeffer resume -- pastor, martyr, spy, author, faithful brother -- Paul R. House has added another: theological educator. In Bonhoeffer's Seminary Vision, the author has fulfilled the promise of his subtitle by making A Case for Costly Grace in higher theological education, but there is… Continue reading A Higher Education
Living Our Days 