Reading List 2014
I’m not sure if readers love them, but I read enough blogs to know that bloggers love to create them: End-of-the-Year Lists. This is my contribution—the list of books I read in 2014 and a few comments about them.
LEVITICUS by Jay Sklar (FAN AND FLAME Book Reviews)
For sermon preparation and other teaching responsibilities, I typically spend a few hours a week reading Bible commentaries. But rarely do I read them cover to cover. However, I’m glad I did this for LEVITICUS by Dr. Jay Sklar. He is a reliable tour guide through, what is for many, a foreign land.
The Woman I Love, Denver Christmas Conference, and a Letter from the Apostle Paul
You know how smells can bring back memories, well, for me, so does the Bible. Specific passages recall specific memories, and every time I read 2 Corinthians 1:12, I always think about this one time when…
Moldy Bread, Sandy Water, Graphic Sin, and the Meal that Satisfies
In seminary, I remember having classes on the Lord’s Supper. And in those classes, I remember learning that many wonderful things take place when Christians participate in the Lord’s Supper. But as in salvation, during the Lord’s Supper, before grace becomes rich and satisfying, sin must be seen as graphic and unpleasant.
UNBROKEN by Laura Hillenbrand (FAN AND FLAME Book Reviews)
A book review of UNBROKEN -- the unbelievable story of Louis Zamperini.
Unbroken, The Book and The Movie
UNBROKEN is the story of Louis Zamperini. When his WWII plane went down over the Pacific, he drifted on the open ocean in a tiny yellow raft for forty-seven days while sharks tried to eat him. Finally, he reached land. And then it got worse.
She Begged Me to Stop Stretching Her Thin and Stuffing Her Full
A poem to remind us of what's important in life.
THE TYRANNY OF THE URGENT by Charles E. Hummel (FAN AND FLAME Book Reviews)
Right now, stop what you are doing and read this blog post. Seriously. I am urgent. I am a helpful review that can't wait. You can do whatever you are doing now, later.
Uh oh! Michael R. just stole your KOM!
That’s the subject line of an email I got just over two months ago. It still makes me mad.
THE PASTOR’S KID by Barnabas Piper (FAN AND FLAME Book Reviews)
Barnabas writes of some pastors that need “a bucket of ice water in their sleeping face." Perhaps I have been more asleep than I knew.
John Piper’s Foreword to THE PASTOR’S KID by Barnabas Piper
THE PASTOR'S KID by Barnabas Piper touched a nerve. Here's a preview to my full review.
10 Years Ago Today, I Preached My First Sermon
It has happened to me only a few times, but when God uses a particular passage of his Word to sculpt your future and score grooves in your soul for his grace to flow, that passage never seems quite the same.
Yeah, That Thing I Said, I Didn’t Mean It Like That
Of the blogs that I read consistently, Kevin DeYoung’s is one of my favorites. I thought you’d enjoy this recent satirical rift on the Sermon on the Mount.
You Might Expect Things Like This or Maybe This
Okay, okay. What's this thing all about anyway.
A Lament for Jennifer
I remember the day I heard the news. I was in seminary. I went to sit on a park bench along a walking path. Students were passing by, but I was staring at the grass. I was thinking and praying. I was sad, and I was confused.
The Last Reps of the Last Set of Bench-Press, and a Reason I Blog
There are lots of reasons to blog. Here is one of them.
What’s Your Focus in Transitions: Re-inventing or Re-identifying?
Whether you want them our not, you will have them--lots of them. But how will you use them?
THE MAN WHO PLANTED TREES by Jean Giono (FAN AND FLAME Book Reviews)
A review of the classic short story about planting trees and the cumulative effect of long obedience in the same direction.
The Lifeblood of Christianity
Just how important is the death of Jesus to our faith? Well, how important is blood to your body?
Jumping the Shark and the Trajectory of Sin
Reflections on returns that diminish and those that don't.