Many of my non-liturgical friends might be unaware that today is Ash Wednesday. If you read last year’s post about this time (“Fat Wednesday and Other Irreverent Ideas”), then you’d know we just began observing this day on the church calendar.
Every worship leader has stood before his or her congregation and wondered what it would be like if we all worshiped more throughout the week. What if our gathering on Sunday morning (or whatever day and time) comprised believers who loved and worshiped Jesus every day — not just for an hour once a week?
Where to begin with my review of Eric Metaxas’ “Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy?” How can 500 words or so really do justice to a 600-page analysis of the life of a Christian pastor who stood against Hitler and tried to guard his beloved Lutheran church from Nazi infiltration?
It took me a little longer than usual to get into John Grisham’s latest, “The Litigators,” but when I finally did, I sped through it like I do most of his novels.
I wrote last week about my renewed view of the role of a pastor and how I am prioritizing pastoring my own family. Pastors aren’t the only ones who should pastor their families. All fathers are called to the role of shepherd, to the responsibility of shepherding our children, as well as our wives. A wonderful resource to help with this is Voddie Baucham Jr.’s “Family Shepherds.”
Every pastor, or anyone wanting to become one, should read Eugene Peterson’s “The Pastor.” A fellow pastor friend of mine recommended it, saying Peterson’s writing reminded him of mine. I’m certainly one for flattery so I bought it immediately.
. As a part of my preparation for a sermon, the last in a series about images of the church as seen in Scripture (see my miniseries “Yes to the Dress” LINK), I read two short books last weekend. The first book was Philip Yancey’s Church: Why Bother? Reading Yancey’s first was a little unfair to Joshua Harris, the author of the second book, Why Church Matters.
Troy Meeder is a cowboy in the Pacific Northwest, where he runs a ranch for at-risk teenagers, a wonderful ministry. I’m not sure why he doesn’t share any stories from his many years working the ranch and, in particular, working the hearts of rough kids. Instead, he focuses on those men he calls “average Joes,” men who have in some way influenced his maturity. “Average Joe” is an attempt—at least from what I can gather—to encourage regular guys to make the most of life in their station
I’ve been reading a lot lately. Since the beginning of summer, really. Here are some books I’ve read, am reading, and will read.
The stylist, whatever his name is, depicted for me some of the Capital characters in The Hunger Games. In my previous post, I wrote about how I’d gotten sucked into the young adult fiction trilogy. I read an interview with the author, who was asked if she could envision a post-apocalytpic America, where the capital city harshly rules over district cities, as in the book. To answer the question offered her, I believe this already exists, though differently …