Gaining a heart of wisdom
Character development is my favorite part of reading a book, whether it's a work of fiction, a biography, or an historical account. The individual's motivation, inner dialogue, sense of humor, use of language, and interaction with other characters is fascinating to observe. In Empire's End, Jerry Jenkins has taken on the challenge of melding a… Continue reading Rounding Out the Narrative
In Becoming Myself, Stasi Eldredge endeared herself to me in the first two pages with her sword-through-the-heart story about one-size-fits-all bathrobes at the spa she didn't want to go to in the first place. As a call to freedom and wholeness, the book is inspiring for cover-to-cover reading, but I see a greater role for it as part… Continue reading He Sings Over You with Love
Seventy years ago, on April 9, 1945, Dietrich Bonhoeffer was executed by the Nazis for his role in the German resistance movement against the Hitler regime. At age 39, he left behind a fiancée, his parents, and several siblings, but even more significant are his legacy of courage and his sound theological reasoning which live on. … Continue reading Bonhoeffer Remembered
The unhappy truth is that most of us doubt our significance. We measure our importance on the wrong scale, compare ourselves to make-believe beauties, and gaze longingly at the well-behaved children, spit-polished kitchen floors, and scintillating careers of all the "successful" women. We do the calculations -- a right muddled math -- and come away feeling less-than. Our… Continue reading Because You Are Worth It
Archaeologists have unearthed a tale to delight the heart of every conservative in America, and to answer the question posed by Warren Cole Smith and John Stonestreet in Restoring All Things. How can the church act in ways that are restorative and life-giving without being reactionary? The story is set in Ephesus, seat of Artemis… Continue reading Fire Bearers
When I pick up my boys after band, play practice, or 4H, I tend to ask pretty much the same questions on our ride home. Nothing profound, mind you, just, "Who did you see?" and "Anything exciting happen?" kind of questions. It's not that I really need to know that they practiced Smoke on the Water again… Continue reading Enjoying the Truth
I've never read a book quite like A Trip around the Sun. Picture two guys -- good friends on camera and off -- moving with easy, relaxed conversation from one topic to another before an audience in a cozy, intimate studio. That's the atmosphere created by Mark Batterson and Richard Foth, as they weave into their… Continue reading Another Day. Another Adventure.
Questions have a way of getting under our skin. They engage us and stimulate discussion where a statement would simply fall flat. Writer, speaker, and entrepreneur John Busaker has chosen eight questions that came directly from the mind and mouth of Jesus Christ as recorded in the Gospels, and in Dare to Answer, he challenges… Continue reading Eight Penetrating Questions
Seventy years after the end of World War II, The Hiding Place, Corrie ten Boom's record of courage and grace during the darkest days of European history, has been released in a Young Reader's Edition for youth ages 9-12. Authors Elizabeth and John Sherrill actually travelled with Corrie back in the 1960's and have beautifully captured her story and… Continue reading Seventy Years After the Holocaust: The Hiding Place
In her third book, Gloria Furman promises "to drill down to the things that matter," and her busy readers will find that she does, indeed, honor her word. The Pastor's Wife was written in the small spaces between mothering four children and serving alongside her church-planting husband on the Arabian peninsula, so it is more than simply a… Continue reading Digging Into Grace
Living Our Days 