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The year in books
There were a few books this year that left me in thought, or challenged me, or inspired me. I read a lot of non-fiction. I listen to a lot of fiction. These are a few that stood out.
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Take me to the alley
My wife and I were talking with some friends recently and music came up. Jazz was a prominent topic and our friends started throwing out names. I began looking them up and playing them on Spotify. One that came up in the context of religion and spiritually and jazz was Gregory Porter. This song was named and we listened to…
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Worth Your Time
I listen to a lot of podcasts and audiobooks. I came across a couple of older podcast series that had some history to them and I’ve enjoyed them.
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Reading Revelation
It was in college I was freed from the fundamentalist timeline of “The Late Great Planet Earth” and the “Thief in the Night” movies of the 70s and 80s. One little book that freed me was by a pastor who described reading through Revelation together as a congregation on a series of Sunday nights. All they did was read it.…
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What does “salvation” look like?
In this season of daily reading I am struck over and over by what IS mentioned when it comes to eternal life and what is NOT mentioned. Today it was the story of Zaccheus in Luke 19. Zacchaeus knew his life was changed when Jesus wanted to come to his house. As the party is going, Zacchaeus makes his proclamation…
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Good news and bad news: Jesus will come again
The daily office readings for today include two very different perspectives on God dealing with his people. His coming. His coming again. Our responses. So, I have good news and bad news: Jesus will come again.
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The both/and of belief
My reading the end of this year in the daily office reflects on Revelation and Isaiah beautifully. I am drawn to heart-searching conclusions every time. The gospel in Scripture is far more concerned with my ACTIONS than my beliefs. If the Kingdom of God is truly working in me, this is how I ACT. Generally, it’s not about “personal holiness”…
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The healing we refuse
My daily office reading has my New Testament reading in Revelation to finish out the year. I needed to land this NT Wright quote on Revelation 6 somewhere, so I place it here. It is a stark reminder to how we, as American Christians, have been asleep at the wheel for so long.
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Humor and Humility
Richard Foster has one small disagreement with earlier monastic teachings on humor. Benedict and Bernard were not fans of humor. Benedict said the tenth sign of humility is that one is not given to ready laughter.
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Addictions and brokenness
The numbers are overwhelming as I read them: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is unable to track overdose deaths in real-time. Its published data is one year behind, obscuring the picture of what is happening on the ground in 2022. The agency continues to count the death toll for 2021 — in a provisional tally seven months ago,…
