It has been a long time since I have read a book that impacted me more than this one. In places I laughed out loud reading this book in a room by myself. In other places I cried at the challenges some kids have to face just because of where they were born. The book [...]

I should have known better. In order to preview this book, Hometown Prophet by Jeff Fulmer, I had to promise to write a review on my blog within 30 days. I have never made that commitment before. I usually tell people I’ll read 25 pages or so and see if it captures me as a [...]

Sara and I are off to North Carolina in the morning, for a weekend retreat and then a special gathering with fellow-travelers in Charlotte on Sunday night. I thought I would leave you with this before I go: I don’t often say this about a book, but I will this time. If you are the [...]

I’ve known Stan Firth for a number of years now, as Father has allowed us to fellowship together a few times. I enjoy this elder brother in the faith, the price he’s paid to follow his conscience and the simple passion, hope, and joy he brings to those who cross his path. Formerly a Baptist [...]

The enthusiasm of a friend of mine from the St. Louis area for the writings of John O’Donohue has gotten me to read some of his stuff of late. O’Donohue was an Irishman, a poet, and a deep-thinker in living beyond the excesses and anxieties of our age to find simplicity of heart and life [...]

If you listen to our podcast, you’ve heard Brad and I often say, “It is what it is.” Although we don’t always get the life we want, or circumstances to unfold the way we desire, we can find grace a plenty to live in the reality of life that unfolds around us. We are at [...]

I was reading through some of Bo’s Cafe this afternoon, once again enjoying the rich story of a man finding freedom from the most powerful force out to destroy him—himself! Listen to this exchange between some people who really understand grace and someone who hasn’t yet got a clue what it is:

Last week in Nashville I stayed with a family that is unique to say the least. This is my second time being in their home and I think some of you would enjoy knowing them, especially if you’re a frazzled mom or a parent of a child with learning differences. Jay and Theresa Lode are [...]

One of the most-asked questions I get as I travel around is, “How do we raise our children in this new life of grace?” I often found myself lamenting the fact that I didn’t have a resource to recommend for people. Well now I do! I have found the best book on parenting I’ve ever [...]

You’d have to be fully off the grid, not to have heard of Susan Boyle, the 47 year-old woman who recently shocked the audience and judges of Britain’s Got Talent with the most incredible performance of The Dream I Dreamed from Les Miserables. It was featured on news shows throughout the U.S. and as of [...]

After my most recent blog post, Kent Burgess, a good friend of mine who blogs at Faithfully Dangerous, sent the following quote. It was part of a longer quote published the same day. I love it, and tragically it is too often true of many people: Love is always about giving up control, and people [...]

I’m off to New York City over the weekend and into the early part of next week on business for Windblown Media, and to hang out with some fellow-travelers in the New York area. It should be fun. But I haven’t been on an airplane for nearly two months and I’m already dreading the airport [...]

Later today I’ll head off to the airport for a flight to Germany where I will spend the next three weeks wandering through Germany and into Switzerland to spend time with brothers and sisters on this marvelous journey. So You Don’t Want to Go to Church Anymore was released last year in German, and He [...]

Recently I’ve received a whole raft of books for me to check out. The best by far was The End of Religion: Encountering the Subversive Spirituality of Jesus by Bruxy Cavey. He’s a Toronto pastor of a church “For people who aren’t into church.” His premise is that Jesus came to make us irreligious by [...]

For those of you who enjoyed Divine Nobodies, you’ll be thrilled to learn that Jim Palmer’s latest has just been released: Wide Open Spaces: Beyond Paint-by-Number Christianity. I read this quite a few months ago when it was still in manuscript form. I’ll have to say, I liked his first one a whole lot better, [...]

For our morning readings Sara and I have been reading a book that came recommended to us. “What Jesus Meant” was written by Garry Wills, a Catholic who is Professor of History Emeritus at Northwestern University. I have mixed feelings about the book, but love what we read this morning. Here are some quotes from [...]

I’m reading a fascinating book that someone recently recommended to me. It is NOT a Christian book. It’s a book about an emerging business model written by a couple of Stanford grads, which makes it all the more frustrating. Why is it that the world sometimes recognizes what God is up to far sooner than [...]

You’ll love this! My friend Gayle Erwin (author of The Jesus Style) has just released his latest book Not Many Mighty. Sara and I have been reading bits of it each morning before work and it has been so refreshing. With his unique sense of humor Gayle retells the Old Testament stories and recounts the [...]

A couple of days ago, I quoted from Chasing Francis, book I’ve just finished reading. It came highly recommended to me, but honestly I found it to be a bit of a mixed bag. In the end, howeiver I was grateful to have read it. It encouraged my personal journey as well as helped me [...]

What does a Hip-Hop artist, Waffle House waitress, tire salesman, and disabled girl have to do with discovering spiritual truth? What if embracing authentic Christianity is a journey of unlearning? Welcome to Jim Palmer’s world! Last spring the publisher sent me an advance copy of a book titled , Divine Nobodies, hopeful I would find [...]

Well, our blissful vacation on the Olympic Peninsula ended early because of the constant shelling of our quiet seaside cottage by the neighbors on the hill behind us, who started celebrating July 1 with thousands of dollars of fireworks that began in the late morning and continued well past midnight on one evening. And it [...]

As I wrote earlier Sara and I are reading through The Christ of the Mount by E. Stanley Jones while she gets ready to leave for work in the morning. This book is a classic study through the Beatitudes, especially how the blend together in our lives to demonstrate God’s life to the world. Here [...]

Sara and have been reading together The Way of Jesus: A Journey of Freedom for Pilgrims and Wanderers by Jonathan and Jennifer Campbell. It was recommended to me by a friend from New Zealand. Though the reading does get tedious at times with a lot of intellectual curiosities, I love the journey this couple is [...]

I have just finished reading Nelson Mandela’s autobiography, Long Walk To Freedom. What a great read! I met so many people, black and white, in South Africa this summer that spoke of Mandela with deep admiration and respect for how he helped liberate South Africa from racial oppression. He spent 27 years away from home [...]