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Tools for Young Philosophers
I am so excited to dive into this brief book from one of my top five teachers in any discipline. Ever. (Also making the list would be Andrew Leipold and Richard Kaplan (both of whom make me miss law school), Paul Olsen (for whom I would definitely return to the 1980’s just to take his Black Literature class and attend his Pilgrimage of Poets), and Dr. Charmian Poe—the feared (in a good way) and beloved AP English teacher of my high school days. She profoundly changed my life. As did Mrs. Miller and Mrs. Hughes (English and Speech Team). And Mr. Fiske, Dr. Lambrecht, and the world’s best and most…
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Advice for a Young Pastor / Seminarian (and a Delta luggage video too!)
There’s just no way I could categorize this mish-mash! But all are HT: Challies and all are, I believe, worth your time. In different ways of course. What Would You Say to My Husband (a Young Seminarian) A fun video, especially if you fly a lot. (But if you do, then, like me, I assume you count it as a grave failure if you ever have to check a bag. 🙂 ) Thirty Minutes A Day Without Technology Bible Reading Plans (I just printed out one for Sophia. She’s psyched.) Waking Up Fragile (usually after a lot of criticism) Communication Trends that will Impact Your Ministry
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Absolutely THE BEST Contemporary Book on the Doctrine of Sin & Temptation! Russell D. Moore’s “Tempted and Tried”
I. Am. SHOCKED. At how extraordinarily EXCELLENT this book is. Tempted and Tried: The Temptation of Christ (by Russell D. Moore) Granted, I’m not through the entire book yet (but I have jmpted to the end to read that first—does anyone else read the end of books first?), but so far, it is the best contemporary book I have ever read on temptation. With brilliant, decisive turns of phrases and strong exegeting of Scripture, Pastor Moore has already helped me to prepare for this weekend’s celebration of the Incarnation more than anything else this year. That Jesus would come into THIS WORLD? To battle the “wild out there” (Satan) and…
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What sustains us under pressure?
What a fun start to our day! I got to look up a Bible commentary for Fred on my LibraryThing.com, and then I got to flip through a bunch of hanging file folders filled with “important” (really, just OLD) documents from Fred’s past. (With Fred), I flipped through sermon notes, camp journals, and even a two-page hand-written testimony he gave once. (He knows not when, but a girl did write him a note on top of the page. 🙂 ) He found what he was looking for and is working now on his devotional for Peacemakers. I found a Sinclair Ferguson book that I should really go back and read…
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Enough Grace for Family Gatherings …
@ScottyWardSmith is one of my favorite Twitter feeds. One of his quotes today is a sweet encouragement re: why sales of my first book (Peacemaking Women) always go up around the holidays and why free downloads of my “Woman of Peace Amidst Holiday Strife” file increase too: “There will be enough of God’s grace for every family gathering you attend this holiday season. That’s hope, not hype.” Amen!
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Year in Review: Google Zietgeist 2011 (“We Made It!”)
Worth the watch:
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Stuck — Just a Tiny Bit (OK, a huge bit!) in the Trap of Unforgiveness
I’m having a strange December. The majority of my life is actually really great. I feel centered in Christ, happy, loving, even down-right Merry. I’m laughing a lot and relaxing with friends and family (and Golden Retrievers). I’m also aware of what a grace this is—so many of my friends are going through frustrations and suffering and just not feeling “in the mood” to celebrate Advent and the Incarnation with their standard Christmas traditions. I’ve sure been there! But not this year. No, I’m actually feeling pretty good. I’m even about to install a giant blow-up PENGUIN onto our yard (avec “Happy Birthday” balloon) to prepare for the great MISSION…
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Egotism Seemed to Vanish …
Right now heading over to Amazon to buy the referenced book (A Train in Winter: An Extraordinary Story of Women, Friendship, and Resistance in Occupied France). All thanks to Margaret Manning and RZIM’s daily e-devotional (which I love!): Resistance PS I’m going to wrap it and put it under the tree. Given the state of my brain/memory these days, ten to one, I’ll forget about it and be pleasantly surprised when I open it.
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Cannot Wait for This Book to be Released: “Loving Well (Even If You Haven’t Been)” by William P. Smith
I just finished a remarkable book. I wish I could link to pre-orders on Amazon for you (I would be pre-ordering one myself!), but I guess they don’t have it there yet. This is a great book. This might be the best contemporary book on relationships I have ever read. (My long-time blog readers will know that’s really saying something because they’ve listened to me gush repeatedly over books like How People Change and The Peacemaking Pastor—which has to be the worst titled book ever. It it SO incredibly wonderful! And should be titled something like, “Authentic Gospel Relationships in the Body of Christ” with the subtitle, “Every Christian Needs…
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Two Very Specific HEADS-UP (might not apply to you …)
I realize that these two pieces of advice will only apply to a small number of people who read my blog—and that the number of people who overlap into being helped by both is so tiny as to be almost nil. But they’ve both been on my heart and so, here goes: 1. If you know anyone flying out of Billings during the holiday season, be sure to let them know that, beginning Thursday, December 15, we will have THREE large planes departing Billings in the 6AM to 6:30AM time slot. So if you only allow the standard (15 minute!) time to get through our wonderful, friendly, tiny TSA screening…
