My goal is to read 40 books a year in addition to journals, articles, and commentaries. For 2012, here were my top 5. If there's a hyperlink it will take you to my earlier posts on the book.
Decision Points, by George W. Bush
Bad Religion, by Ross Douthat
The Meaning of Marriage, by Tim and Kathy Keller
Jayber Crow, by Wendell Berry
Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883 by Simon Winchester
Here are the rest of the books read in 2012:
Notes From The Tilt-A-Whirl: Wide-Eyed Wonder in God's Spoken World by Nathan D. Wilson
The Abstinence Teacher by Tom Perrotta (audiobook)
A Place for Healing by Joni Earekson Tada (audiobook)
The Hammer of God, by Bo Giertz
Words From the Fire by Albert Mohler
Tempted and Tried, by Russell Moore
I Am Second: Real Stories, Changing Lives, by Dave Sterrett
The Prophecy of Isaiah: An Introduction and Commentary by J. Alec Motyer
Jerusalem: The Biography, by Simon Sebag Montefiore
Coffee Shop Conversations, by Dale and Jonalyn Fincher
Love Does, Bob Goff
Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World, Michael Hyatt
The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien (6th time through)
The Pastor by Eugene Peterson
Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton
Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything, Joshua Foer
Train Dreams by Denis Johnson
Losing Moses on the Freeway: The 10 Commandments in America by Chris Hedges. I got through most of it before deciding I could find more useful material to read.
The Gospel According to Isaiah 53, editors Darrell Bock and Mitch Glaser
The NIV Application Commentary: Isaiah, by John Oswalt
The three-book "Roland March Mystery" series by J. Mark Bertrand: Back on Murder, Pattern of Wounds, and Nothing to Hide
Christians Are Hate-Filled Hypocrites...and Other Lies You've Been Told: A Sociologist Shatters Myths From the Secular and Christian Media, by Bradley R.E. Wright
Amazing Grace: God's Pursuit, Our Response, by Timothy George
The Prague Cemetery, by Umberto Eco
Great by Choice by Jim Collins
The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien (2nd time through)
The Joy of Calvinism by Greg Forster
Center Church by Timothy Keller. I didn't write a review for this one, but recommend it for every church leader.
A Brief History of Thought by Luc Ferry
The Fever by Sonia Shah
They Call Him Giant Slayer: A Brief Political Biography of Marco Rubio by JA McClure
Through Painted Deserts: Light, God, and Beauty on the Open Road, by Donald Miller (audiobook)
God Is in the Manger: Reflections on Advent and Christmas, by Dietrich Bonhoeffer (audiobook)
Previous years:
Books Read 2009
Books Read 2010
Books Read 2011
Monday, December 31, 2012
Posted with Blogsy
Review of Sonia Shah's "The Fever"
My one complaint is her often snarky comments about Christianity, such as this one about the enlightened contemporary approach to benevolence as opposed to the British colonial and evangelizing motivations she says were behind medical caregiving in the past (p. 139): "Clinical trials have proven that antimalarial drugs, bed nets, and insecticides – unlike, say, the Ten Commandments – effectively alleviate malaria." Ironically, this quote was found in a chapter with the religious title, "The Karma of Malaria." Or she wrote (p. 173-74), "In 1661, malaria outbreaks so roiled London that Parliament House declared a day of fasting to 'pray for more seasonable weather.' By the 19th century, Britain had more effective ways to counter malaria than divine entreaty."
This seems an unnecessary slap at Christians who are the very people who populate efforts to provide relief from malaria--and who move into malaria-infested areas when response is needed to many other disasters and ailments.
Despite this unnecessary intrusion, I found the book a well-written exploration into an as-yet insolvable problem that humanity has found debilitating and even life-threatening.
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Links to Your World, Tuesday, Christmas Day
Nice rendition of "I Heard the Bells"--
Strange facts about 10 favorite Christmas carols.
Apple's getting a new home in Austin, with an eventual 7100 employees at the site.
"What kind of world do you want to have? One where intense, negative feelings we don’t like are labeled as disorders, or a world where people grieve?” That was what one critic said about the new DSM labeling bereavement as clinical depression. The DSM, or Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, represents American psychiatry’s official tool for deciding between mental disorders and normality. Critics say the newest DSM represents "a tendency in modern psychiatry to medicalize the normal range of human experience." The ones to benefit, according to the article, are in the pharmaceutical industry. Story at Wired.
"There is overwhelming epidemiological evidence that the vast majority of people with psychiatric disorders do not commit violent acts. Only about 4 percent of violence in the United States can be attributed to people with mental illness." NYT, Richard Friedman, M.D.
Fonderie 47 takes AK47s off the market in Africa, melts them down, and gives the materials to artists to make jewelry. Cool project, cool photos. Sermon illustration here.
God hates Westboro Baptist Church.
Comforting: "In the autumn of 1885, people in Austin, Texas, began to feel sick. One after another, they developed a chill and then a soaring fever. They vomited and broke out in rashes. Their most distinctive symptom was agonizing pain behind their eyes and in the bones of their arms and legs. And when the fever subsided, lack of appetite and deep exhaustion left them unable to work for weeks or months. Austin had been founded only 46 years before, and it was still small, with just 22,000 people. By the time the epidemic was over, 16,000 of them had fallen ill." Now, according to this Slate article, it's coming back.
Saeed Abedini, American Christian, Imprisoned In Iran For Preaching Christianity, Thrown In Notorious Prison (HuffPo)
China's Central Committee wants the nation's universities to crack down on Christianity.
WSJ: "A Pew Forum study last year found that Christians are persecuted—by independent groups or governments—in 131 of the 193 countries in the world."
Strange facts about 10 favorite Christmas carols.
Apple's getting a new home in Austin, with an eventual 7100 employees at the site.
"What kind of world do you want to have? One where intense, negative feelings we don’t like are labeled as disorders, or a world where people grieve?” That was what one critic said about the new DSM labeling bereavement as clinical depression. The DSM, or Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, represents American psychiatry’s official tool for deciding between mental disorders and normality. Critics say the newest DSM represents "a tendency in modern psychiatry to medicalize the normal range of human experience." The ones to benefit, according to the article, are in the pharmaceutical industry. Story at Wired.
"There is overwhelming epidemiological evidence that the vast majority of people with psychiatric disorders do not commit violent acts. Only about 4 percent of violence in the United States can be attributed to people with mental illness." NYT, Richard Friedman, M.D.
Fonderie 47 takes AK47s off the market in Africa, melts them down, and gives the materials to artists to make jewelry. Cool project, cool photos. Sermon illustration here.
God hates Westboro Baptist Church.
Comforting: "In the autumn of 1885, people in Austin, Texas, began to feel sick. One after another, they developed a chill and then a soaring fever. They vomited and broke out in rashes. Their most distinctive symptom was agonizing pain behind their eyes and in the bones of their arms and legs. And when the fever subsided, lack of appetite and deep exhaustion left them unable to work for weeks or months. Austin had been founded only 46 years before, and it was still small, with just 22,000 people. By the time the epidemic was over, 16,000 of them had fallen ill." Now, according to this Slate article, it's coming back.
Saeed Abedini, American Christian, Imprisoned In Iran For Preaching Christianity, Thrown In Notorious Prison (HuffPo)
China's Central Committee wants the nation's universities to crack down on Christianity.
WSJ: "A Pew Forum study last year found that Christians are persecuted—by independent groups or governments—in 131 of the 193 countries in the world."
Saturday, December 22, 2012
"This development places the believer on a frontier again, at the beginning of a new adventure"
Paul Elie in the NYT:
From his NYT piece about the dearth of any real engagement with Christian belief in contemporary American fiction.For the first time in our history it is possible to speak of Christianity matter-of-factly as one religion among many; for the first time it is possible to leave it out of the conversation altogether. This development places the believer on a frontier again, at the beginning of a new adventure; it means that the Christian who was born here is a stranger in a strange land no less than the Sikhs, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Soviet Jews and Spanish-speaking Catholics who have arrived from elsewhere.
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Winning Ways: The End?
It ends on December 21. Not the world, likely. But the current talk about the end of the world will end.
A shame, in a way, since there's wisdom in considering the end.
I'm sure you know about the current Mayan meme. Apparently the ancient Mayans had a prophecy that December 21, 2012 would be the end-date of a 5,125-year-long cycle. This has evolved into a cultural sensation, and while most treat it with the humor it deserves, others have panicked. A wave of hoarding has hit China, where the John Cusack film "2012" has been popular. Russia’s government put their minister of emergency situations before the media to reassure people he had “methods of monitoring what is occurring on the planet Earth,” and that the rumors were not true.
Don't laugh, America: NASA scientist David Morrison has also been spending his time explaining to Americans exactly why the doomsday panic is unfounded. "Two years ago, I met with a group of middle-school science teachers,” Morrison says, “and I asked them how many of them were seeing kids who were worried about 2012. Nearly every hand shot up.” He gets "a tremendous number of e-mails about it,” he says, adding that “a large fraction are from people saying they’re scared and don’t know what to do.”
As I said, it's sort of a shame that on December 22 the talk that the world will end will end. Jesus and his apostles strongly advised we think about such things. In the Bible, there are more than 500 references to the end of the world at the return of Christ.
Mind, such careful reflection shouldn't result in the kind of anxiety and panic that the Mayan hoopla has generated. Instead, thinking of the end of all things should result in--
encouraging others to keep going (Hebrews 10:25),
arranging priorities in light of eternity (Colossians 3:2-4),
holy living (2 Peter 3:11-14),
faithful witness (1 Peter 3:15),
and longing prayer (Matthew 6:10).
When you wake up on December 21, why not turn to each of those texts and evaluate your life? It would be a good way to take a day that has grown large in our world's imagination and use it for your own spiritual growth.
Tom
Hillcrest Christmas schedule: On Sunday, December 23, we worship at 10 a.m. with no small-group meetings at 11 a.m. On Monday, December 24, join me for our Christmas Eve Candlelight Service at 6 p.m.
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Each Wednesday I post my article from “Winning Ways,” an enewsletter distributed via email. Sign up at www.hillcrestaustin.info/subscriptions.
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Mental Illness and the Jericho Road
Shannon Royce:
Shannon Royce is president of ChosenFamilies.org, a nonprofit organization for families living with what the organization helpfully calls "hidden disabilities."Mental health concerns are hidden disabilities that don't show any physical marker on the outside. There is no wheelchair, no assistance dog that might indicate that this is an individual who might require assistance or accommodation. Hidden disabilities cover the autism spectrum as well as encompassing those with mental health concerns such as bipolar disorder, depression, schizophrenia and those with neurological concerns such as epilepsy or Tourette's. Each of these disabilities is deeply life-affecting for the individual and the family who loves him or her....
Clearly there are distinctions between those on the autism spectrum, those with mental health concerns and those with neurological disorders. But the thing they have in common is they each are hidden from obvious view. They tend to be misunderstood. We don't know how to respond to them. They make us uncomfortable.
We tend to avoid that which makes us uncomfortable. We are busy. Our calendars are full. Full of good things. Important priorities.
I am reminded of the man who fell into trouble as he went to Jericho. The church leaders who saw him did not throw a rock at him. They did not curse him. They took no deliberate action to harm him.
They just walked past on the other side of the road.
Jesus commended the man who stopped, took notice and got involved. He said the good Samaritan was our example of how to respond. We need to stop, take notice, and get involved. This is not about programs, though programs may be fine. This is about personal engagement.
We are called as the body of Christ to engage the fallen and broken world with the grace and power of the Gospel of Christ. That includes those with mental health concerns.
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Review of "A Brief History of Thought"
Though the French philosopher says he is no Christian, he presents all the philosophical movements as an effort to address "salvation." Each era of thought is shown to argue for three things: a particular "theory" (a way of seeing the heart of reality), ethics (a way of behaving that comes from the theory), and salvation (particularly seen as a solution to the fear of death).
His critique of Stoicism's solution (which advised us to refrain from "attachment") is relevant in the Western world listening to Buddhism's same call. And his dissatisfaction with where deconstruction has left us should resonate in the reader, too. It's notable that the concept of self-sacrifice is what forms the basis of his call back to transcendent values:
This way of thinking should be encouraged by believers. At the least it is a "common grace" defense of transcendent values, without which societies cannot be healthy. Even more, though, this way of thinking can serve as a "common ground" for Christian witness. A philosopical argument from the act of sacrifice and an acknowledgment of the need for salvation from the ultimate problem of death? The Christian story stands very, very close by.Counter to the the inevitable logic of a thoroughgoing materialism, we continue to believe (whether or not we profess to be materialists) that certain values could, in a given situation, lead us to risk our lives....Sacrifice, which returns us to the notion of a value regarded as sacred (both from Latin, 'sacer'), paradoxically retains, even for the committed materialist, an aspect which can almost be described as religious. It implies, in effect, that we admit, however covertly, the existence of transcendent values, superior to our material and biological existence (p. 244).
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
"When religious questions were not the most fashionable"
From the international bestseller and my current reading project, Luc Ferry's A Brief History of Thought: A Philosopical Guide to Living--
Exactly.When I was a student – in 1968, when religious questions were not the most fashionable...it was possible pass our exams and even become a philosophy professor by knowing next to nothing about Judaism, Islam or Christianity. Of course, we had to attend lectures on ancient thought– Greek thought, above all – after which we could cut straight to Descartes. Without any transition, we leapt 15 centuries, broadly speaking from the end of the second century (the late Stoics) to the beginning of the 17th century. As a result, for years I knew more or less nothing about the intellectual history of Christianity, beyond the cultural commonplaces. This strikes me as absurd.
Winning Ways: Wise Creasters Still Seek Him
Some call them "Creasters," and with sarcasm.
I first ran across the term a couple of years ago, and it was in reference to persons who only seem to show up for church services at the seasons of Christmas and Easter. Throughout my ministry years I've heard the criticisms of such shallow interest in God.
But here's one pastor hoping to start a friendship with a few Creasters this Advent season.
Now, is it sufficient to worship with God's Family only once or twice a year? Of course not. Christ expects us to connect with a congregation and invest ourselves in the fellowship and ministry offered there. A local church isn't like a restaurant that you occasionally patronize when you're in the mood for its cuisine.
So, why do I have room in my heart for Creasters -- and why should you? Tony Woodlief hit the nail on the head in an article for World magazine. He wondered if the attendance of some Creasters might indicate an undefined longing for an encounter with God:
To that end, this holiday season I hope you'll invite your Creaster friends to Hillcrest. Invite them to this Sunday's musical program at 10, where the meaning of Christmas will be explained and celebrated. Or invite them to our annual Christmas Eve service at 6 pm.
Wise men seek him still!
Note: Thanks for your help with Angel Tree! All ornaments have been taken. If you're participating, please bring your wrapped gift to the tree this Sunday, December 16, or no later than Wednesday, December 19. Find out more at www.HillcrestAustin.org/AngelTree.
I first ran across the term a couple of years ago, and it was in reference to persons who only seem to show up for church services at the seasons of Christmas and Easter. Throughout my ministry years I've heard the criticisms of such shallow interest in God.
But here's one pastor hoping to start a friendship with a few Creasters this Advent season.
Now, is it sufficient to worship with God's Family only once or twice a year? Of course not. Christ expects us to connect with a congregation and invest ourselves in the fellowship and ministry offered there. A local church isn't like a restaurant that you occasionally patronize when you're in the mood for its cuisine.
So, why do I have room in my heart for Creasters -- and why should you? Tony Woodlief hit the nail on the head in an article for World magazine. He wondered if the attendance of some Creasters might indicate an undefined longing for an encounter with God:
In other words, we welcome Creasters because we believe we should start with people wherever they are spiritually and then encourage them to move up to where they need to be.Creasters...come though it doesn't fit their routine. They come, in spite of the discomfort in not belonging. They come because something draws them -- a faint sense of holiness evoked by the season, or because we are more inviting, or for the music, or maybe because the baby Christ [at Christmas] and the murdered Christ [at Easter] are images they can relate to best in their fear and need. They come, with their doubts and their poor attendance records, and somewhere, most importantly, the hope that it isn't all just a myth, that the baby was and is Immanuel, God with us.
To that end, this holiday season I hope you'll invite your Creaster friends to Hillcrest. Invite them to this Sunday's musical program at 10, where the meaning of Christmas will be explained and celebrated. Or invite them to our annual Christmas Eve service at 6 pm.
Wise men seek him still!
Note: Thanks for your help with Angel Tree! All ornaments have been taken. If you're participating, please bring your wrapped gift to the tree this Sunday, December 16, or no later than Wednesday, December 19. Find out more at www.HillcrestAustin.org/AngelTree.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Links to Your World, Tuesday December 11
Remember the story of the officer that bought a homeless man a pair of boots? The man is barefoot again.
"Go to enough weddings and you realize that photographing one is like photographing the coin toss before a football game: Nothing’s actually happened yet." Intriguing article from a wedding photographer.
"When a person feels lonely or is being excluded by others, his or her skin literally becomes colder....Humans everywhere connect the notions of warmth with welcoming, and cold with social exclusion. Linguistic links between these conceptual pairings can be found in Dutch, Turkish, Persian, Chinese, Finnish and a host of other languages." Story in WSJ.
"Vince Lombardi says, in my life there are three things: God, family and the Green Bay Packers, in that order. For me, it's God, family, and Yahoo, in that order." Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer.
"Is scientism defensible? Is it really true that natural science provides a satisfying and reasonably complete account of everything we see, experience, and seek to understand — of every phenomenon in the universe?" This article explains how "the reach of scientism exceeds its grasp."
Are Mormons just another Christian denomination? Um, no.
The hidden origins of Islam. Fascinating.
"The sun will get too hot and oceans will rise. The earth will go away and everything we built will go away too. Everything will be gone. In the meantime, it’s a sad, amazing little place you inhabit, and the world hasn’t ended yet. We’re here, you’re here, and tomorrow might be good, tomorrow can be good, tomorrow has to be good, because otherwise, what are you doing here?" Cheery atheist reassurances. Is it enough for you to go on?
Turn your favorite deceased pet into diamond jewelry.
"Go to enough weddings and you realize that photographing one is like photographing the coin toss before a football game: Nothing’s actually happened yet." Intriguing article from a wedding photographer.
"When a person feels lonely or is being excluded by others, his or her skin literally becomes colder....Humans everywhere connect the notions of warmth with welcoming, and cold with social exclusion. Linguistic links between these conceptual pairings can be found in Dutch, Turkish, Persian, Chinese, Finnish and a host of other languages." Story in WSJ.
"Vince Lombardi says, in my life there are three things: God, family and the Green Bay Packers, in that order. For me, it's God, family, and Yahoo, in that order." Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer.
"Is scientism defensible? Is it really true that natural science provides a satisfying and reasonably complete account of everything we see, experience, and seek to understand — of every phenomenon in the universe?" This article explains how "the reach of scientism exceeds its grasp."
Are Mormons just another Christian denomination? Um, no.
The hidden origins of Islam. Fascinating.
"The sun will get too hot and oceans will rise. The earth will go away and everything we built will go away too. Everything will be gone. In the meantime, it’s a sad, amazing little place you inhabit, and the world hasn’t ended yet. We’re here, you’re here, and tomorrow might be good, tomorrow can be good, tomorrow has to be good, because otherwise, what are you doing here?" Cheery atheist reassurances. Is it enough for you to go on?
Turn your favorite deceased pet into diamond jewelry.
Wednesday, December 05, 2012
Winning Ways: Opportunities This Christmas
The Christmas season is a perfect time to build your faith while introducing your faith to others. Here are a few Hillcrest events to help in that work:
There's Something About Joseph: This Sunday's message will be especially for men. The characteristics of the man God chose to raise his Son are worth copying in the life of every man. Join us December 9 @ 10.
Light the Trees: Imagine outdoor performances from our talented musicians, congregational carols, hot cocoa, and then flipping the switch to light the trees all around our campus. You don't have to imagine it: Come see it for yourself! December 9, 6 p.m.
And On Earth, Peace: That's the name of this year's choir presentation, scheduled for Sunday, December 16 @ 10. Watch a video introduction at www.HillcrestAustin.org/ChristmasMusical.
O Come Let Us Adore Him: Make our annual Christmas Eve service part of your family tradition. It's 45 minutes, and ready to accommodate the wiggliest child! Music, a brief devotional from me, the Lord's Supper, and "Silent Night" to candlelight. Beautiful. Monday, December 24, 6 p.m.
International Missions: The Lottie Moon Christmas Offering is a huge part of the funding for our International Mission Board, which provides for 5,000 missionaries around the world. Our church's goal: $20,000. I challenge you to make your missions offering at least match the largest gift you're giving to anyone else this Christmas.
Online Giving is Now Available: Now you can make contributions or pay for Hillcrest events on your mobile device. Want to pay for your child's camp registration the moment it's announced in a worship service? There's now an app for that. At the offering time, did you forget to bring a check for your "Beautiful Thing" pledge? Just take out your smartphone and get it done. Find more information and easy-to-follow steps at www.HillcrestAustin.org/OnlineGiving.
Be in prayer for the ministry of your church in this busy season! Oh, and one more announcement you need to know about:
Herb Ingram is Retiring: We were going to announce it at the start of the new year, but the word is out that Herb Ingram is retiring in February. He and Sharron will be staying at Hillcrest as members, though, so we can still groan at his corny puns! We'll tell you more about his plans in January.
There's Something About Joseph: This Sunday's message will be especially for men. The characteristics of the man God chose to raise his Son are worth copying in the life of every man. Join us December 9 @ 10.
Light the Trees: Imagine outdoor performances from our talented musicians, congregational carols, hot cocoa, and then flipping the switch to light the trees all around our campus. You don't have to imagine it: Come see it for yourself! December 9, 6 p.m.
And On Earth, Peace: That's the name of this year's choir presentation, scheduled for Sunday, December 16 @ 10. Watch a video introduction at www.HillcrestAustin.org/ChristmasMusical.
O Come Let Us Adore Him: Make our annual Christmas Eve service part of your family tradition. It's 45 minutes, and ready to accommodate the wiggliest child! Music, a brief devotional from me, the Lord's Supper, and "Silent Night" to candlelight. Beautiful. Monday, December 24, 6 p.m.
International Missions: The Lottie Moon Christmas Offering is a huge part of the funding for our International Mission Board, which provides for 5,000 missionaries around the world. Our church's goal: $20,000. I challenge you to make your missions offering at least match the largest gift you're giving to anyone else this Christmas.
Online Giving is Now Available: Now you can make contributions or pay for Hillcrest events on your mobile device. Want to pay for your child's camp registration the moment it's announced in a worship service? There's now an app for that. At the offering time, did you forget to bring a check for your "Beautiful Thing" pledge? Just take out your smartphone and get it done. Find more information and easy-to-follow steps at www.HillcrestAustin.org/OnlineGiving.
Be in prayer for the ministry of your church in this busy season! Oh, and one more announcement you need to know about:
Herb Ingram is Retiring: We were going to announce it at the start of the new year, but the word is out that Herb Ingram is retiring in February. He and Sharron will be staying at Hillcrest as members, though, so we can still groan at his corny puns! We'll tell you more about his plans in January.
Thursday, November 29, 2012
What an "On-Mission" Small Group Should Be
Do our Common Ground groups and Sunday School classes at Hillcrest look like this? Sometimes yes, and let's work toward the time we can say "consistently yes." Here's Tim Keller from his new book, Center Church (p. 260):
Let's consider what a missional small group could look like....Its members love the city and talk positively about it; they speak a language that is not filled with pious tribal or technical terms and phrases, nor do they use disdainful or combative language. In their Bible study, they apply the gospel to the core concerns and stories of the people in their culture. This is a group obviously interested in and engaged with the literature, art, and thought of the surrounding culture, and they can discuss it appreciatively and yet critically. They exhibit deep concern for the poor, are generous with their money, model purity and respect toward the opposite sex, and show humility toward people of other races and cultures, as well as toward other Christians and churches.
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Winning Ways: What It Takes to Teach the World to Sing
Coca-Cola is on a mission, and I wonder if we match their passion in our own mission.
Duane Stanford for Businessweek reported that Coke plans to spend $12 billion on the continent of Africa this decade, more than twice as much as the previous decade. It is already the continent's largest employer, but Stanford says Coke is now in "a street-by-street campaign to win drinkers, trying to increase per-capita annual consumption of its beverages in countries not yet used to guzzling Coke by the gallon."
Current CEO, Muhtar Kent, said, "There's nowhere in Africa that we don't go. Being in a country is very easy, you can go and set up a depot in every capital city. That's not what we're about. We go to every town, every village, every community, every township."
It won't be easy. The region suffers from poverty, war, and shortages of fresh water. Political instability makes investment in factories risky, and transportation is notoriously unreliable.
But those things are just complications to work through on the way to Coke's destination, according to Nathan Kalumbu, president of the company's East & Central Africa Business Unit. He keeps a photo of a pride of lions above his desk in Nairobi as a reminder to stay aggressive. "You gotta get hungry," he says.
Maybe you remember Coke's most famous commercial, featuring sincere young people on a hillside singing--
I wonder how well we Christians match that passion when it comes to our own mission. Jesus commissioned us to make disciples within every people group in the world. So, even as we're on mission within our own neighborhoods, we send and support missionaries to other parts of the world.
The Lottie Moon Christmas Offering is one way we do that. The collection is a huge part of the funding for our International Mission Board, which provides for 5,000 missionaries around the world.
Join your church family in contributing to this Christmas offering. I challenge you to make your missions gift match the largest gift you're planning for others. Let's teach the world to sing a new song!
Duane Stanford for Businessweek reported that Coke plans to spend $12 billion on the continent of Africa this decade, more than twice as much as the previous decade. It is already the continent's largest employer, but Stanford says Coke is now in "a street-by-street campaign to win drinkers, trying to increase per-capita annual consumption of its beverages in countries not yet used to guzzling Coke by the gallon."
Current CEO, Muhtar Kent, said, "There's nowhere in Africa that we don't go. Being in a country is very easy, you can go and set up a depot in every capital city. That's not what we're about. We go to every town, every village, every community, every township."
It won't be easy. The region suffers from poverty, war, and shortages of fresh water. Political instability makes investment in factories risky, and transportation is notoriously unreliable.
But those things are just complications to work through on the way to Coke's destination, according to Nathan Kalumbu, president of the company's East & Central Africa Business Unit. He keeps a photo of a pride of lions above his desk in Nairobi as a reminder to stay aggressive. "You gotta get hungry," he says.
Maybe you remember Coke's most famous commercial, featuring sincere young people on a hillside singing--
After reading the Businessweek article, you'll see that it apparently takes a lot of sweat and coin to teach the world to sing to Coke's tune.I'd like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony.
I'd like to buy the world a Coke and keep it company.
I wonder how well we Christians match that passion when it comes to our own mission. Jesus commissioned us to make disciples within every people group in the world. So, even as we're on mission within our own neighborhoods, we send and support missionaries to other parts of the world.
The Lottie Moon Christmas Offering is one way we do that. The collection is a huge part of the funding for our International Mission Board, which provides for 5,000 missionaries around the world.
Join your church family in contributing to this Christmas offering. I challenge you to make your missions gift match the largest gift you're planning for others. Let's teach the world to sing a new song!
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Surprising Potential--For Disappointment and For Progress
"The reality of sin that remains in believers means that the church is never nearly as good and distinctive as its right beliefs should make it; common grace in nonbelievers means that the world is never as bad as its wrong beliefs should make it."
Tim Keller, Center Church, 226
Links to Your World, Tuesday November 27
"Male self-control has not changed a great deal over human history. What has grown dramatically is sexual opportunity and what has declined precipitously is social restraint." UT sociologist Mark Regnerus, writing about the Petraeus scandal.
"The youngsters think it is very cool to be Christian....Very soon, Christians will become the majority of university students." Mary Tan, in an article in the Guardian about the rapid growth of Christianity--conservative, Calvinistic Christianity--in China.
After a religious awakening, Angus T. Jones, the "half" in Two and A Half Men, tells everyone his show is "filth" and to stop watching it. Story.
Seven principles in thinking/praying about the "Holy Land" dispute.
Carol of the Bells, NBA-style. Fun:
"The youngsters think it is very cool to be Christian....Very soon, Christians will become the majority of university students." Mary Tan, in an article in the Guardian about the rapid growth of Christianity--conservative, Calvinistic Christianity--in China.
After a religious awakening, Angus T. Jones, the "half" in Two and A Half Men, tells everyone his show is "filth" and to stop watching it. Story.
Seven principles in thinking/praying about the "Holy Land" dispute.
Carol of the Bells, NBA-style. Fun:
"A gardener who tramples his rose bed"
What should you say to an abusive husband in your congregation? Here's an excerpt from a letter one pastor wrote:
From Thabiti Anyabwile's letter to an abusive husband in his church. Good post. Read it here.If Jill were my daughter, I’m afraid I’d be writing this letter from my prison to your hospital room. I know: pastors aren’t supposed to say stuff like that. But I can’t think of a better way to communicate how horrible and dark your treatment of Jill has been, and how sudden and violent God’s judgment would be as He looks on Jill, His daughter, and considers your abuse of her. I know my anger would be a pale and sinful picture of God’s. But that’s what’s most frightening: God’s anger would be perfect, just, and omnipotent. I fear that for you just as I fear the welfare of someone who would harm my girls. My girls are 14 and 12. They’re bright, energetic, funny, quick to serve, curious and outgoing. I imagine those are some of the things you’ve admired in Jill. As a father, I want my girls to be with a man who multiplies and nourishes those qualities in them. To do otherwise would be to slowly tread these beautiful creatures under foot, it would be to kill them slowly. The husband who does that is a gardener who tramples his rose bed with heavy work boots. I wouldn’t want such a husband for my daughters, and God doesn’t want that for His.
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Winning Ways: From Gratitude to God
I usually open my small-group study for seekers by asking what they hope to get out of the course. One woman's answer surprised me:
"I want to know who to thank."
My class is called The Anchor Course, based on the class textbook I wrote with the same name. As we get acquainted with each other during the first week, one of the questions I ask is what drew them to the study. Most people express their desire to find something what will give meaning to life, but I remember one woman who gave me a unique answer.
"I have a different reason to be part of this study," she said. "I just had a baby and my life is filled with so much joy. I want to know who to thank."
What a profound statement! This young woman recognized that much of the wonder and joy in her life could not be attributed to anything she had earned. Perhaps for the first time in her life, she felt an overwhelming sense of what could only be described as gratitude, and for her that implied a Giver. It led her on a search for someone to thank.
We can be like pigs that came upon apples on the ground: we can enjoy the sweet things of life without ever looking up to see where they came from.
It’s true that a lot of people experience unfair pain and disappointment, but we are not looking at all the facts if we simply point to the undeserved heartbreaks of life and conclude that an attentive God doesn’t exist. We have to take into account the undeserved joys of life, too. When we do, like the young woman with her new baby, we will ask, “I want to know if there’s someone to thank for all this.”
David, the beloved poet-king of the Old Testament, had someone to thank. In one of his poems, overwhelmed with a sense of wonder and gratitude, he said to himself--
(For more information on The Anchor Course, go here: www.lulu.com/spotlight/anchorcourse)
"I want to know who to thank."
My class is called The Anchor Course, based on the class textbook I wrote with the same name. As we get acquainted with each other during the first week, one of the questions I ask is what drew them to the study. Most people express their desire to find something what will give meaning to life, but I remember one woman who gave me a unique answer.
"I have a different reason to be part of this study," she said. "I just had a baby and my life is filled with so much joy. I want to know who to thank."
What a profound statement! This young woman recognized that much of the wonder and joy in her life could not be attributed to anything she had earned. Perhaps for the first time in her life, she felt an overwhelming sense of what could only be described as gratitude, and for her that implied a Giver. It led her on a search for someone to thank.
We can be like pigs that came upon apples on the ground: we can enjoy the sweet things of life without ever looking up to see where they came from.
It’s true that a lot of people experience unfair pain and disappointment, but we are not looking at all the facts if we simply point to the undeserved heartbreaks of life and conclude that an attentive God doesn’t exist. We have to take into account the undeserved joys of life, too. When we do, like the young woman with her new baby, we will ask, “I want to know if there’s someone to thank for all this.”
David, the beloved poet-king of the Old Testament, had someone to thank. In one of his poems, overwhelmed with a sense of wonder and gratitude, he said to himself--
This Thanksgiving season, let a heart of gratitude lead you to the Someone you can thank!Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And forget none of His benefits.”
(Psalms 103:2 NASB)
(For more information on The Anchor Course, go here: www.lulu.com/spotlight/anchorcourse)
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Links to Your World, Tuesday November 20
How to make homemade Twinkies. Just in case you get a craving now that Hostess is no more.
Facebook posts lead to church discipline. Well duh.
The Gerber Baby turns 85:
The most troubling violation of human rights? Conversion, says the U.N.
Tim Keller, from his absolutely essential book, Counterfeit Gods:
Facebook posts lead to church discipline. Well duh.
The Gerber Baby turns 85:
The most troubling violation of human rights? Conversion, says the U.N.
"Baby-boom Americans who remember the student protests of the 1960s tend to assume that U.S. colleges are still some of the freest places on earth. But that idealized university no longer exists. It was wiped out in the 1990s by administrators, diversity hustlers and liability-management professionals, who were often abetted by professors committed to political agendas....[And] if you're going to get in trouble for an opinion on campus, it's more likely for a socially conservative opinion." (story)
Is second grade the right time for a public school to talk with your kids about homosexual household arrangements? AISD rightly decided this was a subject to be raised by parents, not the school district.
The fetus, though enclosed in the womb of its mother, is already a human being (homo), and it is almost a monstrous crime to rob it of life which it has not yet begun to enjoy. If it seems horrible to kill a man in his own house than in a field, because a man’s house is his place of most secure refuge, it ought surely to be deemed more atrocious to destroy a fetus in the womb before it has come to light.
Tim Keller, from his absolutely essential book, Counterfeit Gods:
If our counterfeit god is threatened in any way, our response is complete panic. We do not say, ‘What a shame, how difficult,’ but rather ‘This is the end! There’s no hope!’ This may be a reason why so many people now respond to U.S. political trends in such an extreme way. When either party wins an election, a certain percentage of the losing side talks openly about leaving the country. They become agitated and fearful for the future. They have put the kind of hope in their political leaders and policies that once was reserved for God and the work of the gospel. When their political leaders are out of power, they experience a death.
Saturday, November 17, 2012
"...and you will live and die a happier and better man"
In the summer of 1864, Lincoln invited his Kentucky friend Joshua Speed to spend an evening with him. When Speed arrived, he found Lincoln reading the Bible. Speed said, "I am glad to see you profitably engaged." "Yes," replied Lincoln, "I am profitably engaged." "Well," Speed continued, "If you have recovered from your skepticism, I am sorry to say that I have not." Lincoln rose, placed his hand on Speed's shoulder, and said, "You are wrong, Speed. Take all of this book upon reason that you can and the balance on faith, and you will live and die a happier and better man."
Ronald C White Jr. I recommend his A. Lincoln : A Biography
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
"Some rather partisan decisions"
Owen Strachan:
From a critique of Ross Douthat's Bad Religion in the Houston Baptist University publication, The City.Though it in no way deserves unquestioning allegiance, the Republican Party--and the conservative movement more broadly--is at least principally on the right side of many issues according to a biblical worldview....Politics involves parties, and factions, and necessary choices must be made by the faithful within this framework....When one side consistently stands for life and permanent, God-ordained institutions, while the other wants the legal right to crush the skulls of fetuses with forceps and tear down traditional marriage, even Christians who are not professional politicians will have to make some rather partisan decisions.
Wednesday, November 07, 2012
Winning Ways: Vague Commands?
The word "stop" is too vague?
That's what a Canadian university professor tried to argue in a 2002 traffic case. Rod Yellon, a University of Manitoba assistant professor was fighting a ticket he got for allegedly rolling through a stop sign. He actually challenged the very constitutionality of stop signs, claiming that without "standards and frequencies of calibration, performance and testing" they are simply too vague.
The judge brought a conviction before Yellon could get too far. Which is too bad, because Yellon's planned strategy included calling a "perceptual psychologist" to testify that police could not have judged that he rolled the stop sign because they were also moving at the time. I bet I'm not the only one who would have liked to have seen the court transcript on that.
We might chuckle at Yellon's absurd claim that the word "stop" is too vague. Then again, how often do we try that one with God? In his 10 Commandments, he says, "Stop!" but the way we behave its as if we're saying, "God, you really haven't defined your expectations clearly enough."
Someone has said, "Countless people who claim to follow the Ten Commandments just never seem to catch up with the Ten Commandments." We're finding out just how hard that is to do in our Fall study. The deeper we take each commandment, and the more thoroughly we apply each one to every aspect of life, the more we realize we need the Son's forgiveness and the Spirit's power. Otherwise, we don't stand a chance!
It's certainly true with the Ninth Word, which we'll look at this Sunday. God prohibits the fabricated report, the too-quick assumption, the elaborated story. He says, "When it comes to false witness against your neighbor--stop!" There's nothing vague about it, but, oh, we're more clever than Yellon at trying to wiggle out of this one! I've been both victim and perpetrator of exaggerated accusations, and you have, too.
Let's join together this Sunday and seek God's help with overcoming this crippling flaw. As usual, we meet for worship @ 10am, followed by small-group gatherings @ 11am. These last 3 weeks of November we have 2 more commandments to examine, and then a Sunday to wrap up the whole Fall study. Do your part to help us end this unified church study with a strong attendance! See you Sunday!
_____
Each Wednesday I post the devotional from my enewsletter, Winning Ways. To subscribe, click here.
That's what a Canadian university professor tried to argue in a 2002 traffic case. Rod Yellon, a University of Manitoba assistant professor was fighting a ticket he got for allegedly rolling through a stop sign. He actually challenged the very constitutionality of stop signs, claiming that without "standards and frequencies of calibration, performance and testing" they are simply too vague.
The judge brought a conviction before Yellon could get too far. Which is too bad, because Yellon's planned strategy included calling a "perceptual psychologist" to testify that police could not have judged that he rolled the stop sign because they were also moving at the time. I bet I'm not the only one who would have liked to have seen the court transcript on that.
We might chuckle at Yellon's absurd claim that the word "stop" is too vague. Then again, how often do we try that one with God? In his 10 Commandments, he says, "Stop!" but the way we behave its as if we're saying, "God, you really haven't defined your expectations clearly enough."
Someone has said, "Countless people who claim to follow the Ten Commandments just never seem to catch up with the Ten Commandments." We're finding out just how hard that is to do in our Fall study. The deeper we take each commandment, and the more thoroughly we apply each one to every aspect of life, the more we realize we need the Son's forgiveness and the Spirit's power. Otherwise, we don't stand a chance!
It's certainly true with the Ninth Word, which we'll look at this Sunday. God prohibits the fabricated report, the too-quick assumption, the elaborated story. He says, "When it comes to false witness against your neighbor--stop!" There's nothing vague about it, but, oh, we're more clever than Yellon at trying to wiggle out of this one! I've been both victim and perpetrator of exaggerated accusations, and you have, too.
Let's join together this Sunday and seek God's help with overcoming this crippling flaw. As usual, we meet for worship @ 10am, followed by small-group gatherings @ 11am. These last 3 weeks of November we have 2 more commandments to examine, and then a Sunday to wrap up the whole Fall study. Do your part to help us end this unified church study with a strong attendance! See you Sunday!
_____
Each Wednesday I post the devotional from my enewsletter, Winning Ways. To subscribe, click here.
Challenges to Contextualization
Another quote on "contextualization," the necessary process of adapting to the culture you are trying to engage with the gospel. From Tim Keller's Center Church:
The subject of contextualization is particularly hard to grasp for members of socially dominant groups. Because ethnic minorities must live in two cultures--the dominant culture and their own subculture--they frequently become aware of how deeply culture affects the way we perceive things....
In the United States..., Anglo Christians sometimes find talk of contextualization troubling. They don't see any part of how they express or live the gospel to be 'Anglo'--it is just the way things are. They feel that any change in how they preach, worship, or minister is somehow a compromise of the gospel. In this they may be doing what Jesus warns against--elevating the 'traditions of men' to the same level as biblical truth (Mark 7:8).
What Churches Must Adapt and Why
Tim Keller on "contextualization," the necessary adaptation that Christians and their churches must make to the culture they find themselves in:
From his book, Center ChurchContextualization is not--as is often argued--'giving people what they want to hear.' Rather, it is giving people the Bible's answers, which they may not at all want to hear, to questions about life that people in their particular time and place are asking, in language and forms they can comprehend, and through appeals and arguments with force they can feel, even if they reject them.
Tuesday, November 06, 2012
Links to Your World, Election Day, Tuesday November 6
The less active you are in a religion, the more likely you are to vote as a Democrat. Or is it the other way around? Either way, it's an interesting finding.
A calculator that determines how much Obama and Romney are spending on you to get your vote.
5 Ways Presidents Affect the Prolife Cause
"Peter Jackson's "Hobbit" movie is on its way, and with it will come the resurrection of the vile dragon Smaug. With fiery breath, razor-sharp claws, scales as hard as shields and a vast underground lair, Smaug is portrayed in J.R.R. Tolkien's text as a merciless killer. But where did the idea for such a bizarre beast—with such an odd mixture of traits—come from in the first place?" Matt Kaplan explains.
Air New Zeland has a new safety video for their flights. Its based on Tolkien characters, of course:
"In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, Atlantic City officials warned Friday that it could take weeks or even months for the storm-ravaged gambling hub to fully repair its infrastructure and get back to utterly and completely ruining people’s lives." The Onion
A calculator that determines how much Obama and Romney are spending on you to get your vote.
5 Ways Presidents Affect the Prolife Cause
"Peter Jackson's "Hobbit" movie is on its way, and with it will come the resurrection of the vile dragon Smaug. With fiery breath, razor-sharp claws, scales as hard as shields and a vast underground lair, Smaug is portrayed in J.R.R. Tolkien's text as a merciless killer. But where did the idea for such a bizarre beast—with such an odd mixture of traits—come from in the first place?" Matt Kaplan explains.
Air New Zeland has a new safety video for their flights. Its based on Tolkien characters, of course:
"In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, Atlantic City officials warned Friday that it could take weeks or even months for the storm-ravaged gambling hub to fully repair its infrastructure and get back to utterly and completely ruining people’s lives." The Onion
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Winning Ways: Too Busy Not to Pray
Are you "reviewing the dailies" with God?
Pastor John Ortberg was struck by an article from cinematographer Bob Fisher about the need for movie crews to spend some time every day reviewing the film that was shot the day before. Before rushing into the next day's production, reviewing the previous day's work enables filmmakers to spot little mistakes while they can still be corrected, and they can celebrate what is going right.
Ortberg recommended that we take a few moments to "review the dailies" with God, too. How are you doing in that important work? Do you have a daily Bible reading routine? A place and time to pray and briefly reflect?
I have a love-hate relationship with the writings of Anne Lamott, but Andree Seu alerted me to an absolutely beautiful Lamott story of a friend whose two-year-old inadvertently locked himself in his room while they were on vacation. It illustrates why we need that regular time of prayer and Bible study. As Seu recounts it:
Pastor John Ortberg was struck by an article from cinematographer Bob Fisher about the need for movie crews to spend some time every day reviewing the film that was shot the day before. Before rushing into the next day's production, reviewing the previous day's work enables filmmakers to spot little mistakes while they can still be corrected, and they can celebrate what is going right.
Ortberg recommended that we take a few moments to "review the dailies" with God, too. How are you doing in that important work? Do you have a daily Bible reading routine? A place and time to pray and briefly reflect?
I have a love-hate relationship with the writings of Anne Lamott, but Andree Seu alerted me to an absolutely beautiful Lamott story of a friend whose two-year-old inadvertently locked himself in his room while they were on vacation. It illustrates why we need that regular time of prayer and Bible study. As Seu recounts it:
We are often very much like frightened, confused children. Through prayer and Bible reading, let God give you that "touch" from the other side, reassuring us that everything's going to be okay as we wait for deliverance.The Mom struggled vainly to get the door unlocked -- trying a few keys she knew weren't the right ones, phoning around to get the landlord. Finally someone was reached and on the way, but there was still a frightened little boy to deal with as they waited for rescue, and his reasoning and verbal skills being minimal, he would not understand the nearness of his deliverance.
So Mom got the bright idea to get down on her knees on her side of the door and slip her fingers underneath in the inch or so gap between door and floor, and she asked the unconsolable child to do the same. He would not be able to see his mother's face until the savior bearing keys arrived, but the feel of her presence through her fingertips while they waited provided some comfort and sense that everything would be alright.
This is like our relationship with God. For now we are bereft of his full presence, for reasons not entirely clear. But he holds out his fingers and I hold out mine, as we touch through his Word and his Spirit every morning. Like Anne says, "It isn't enough. And it is."
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Links to Your World, Tuesday October 30
"It is hard to overstate just how popular Austin has become in the American psyche. When I travel and tell people where I’m from, I almost invariably hear that it is either the coolest town they have ever visited or the place they most want to go on their next vacation. It consistently ranks near the top on lists of where to live, whether you’re a college student, recent graduate, single, young family or retiree." That's Richard Parker for the NYT, in an article where he worries that Austin is losing what makes the town so beloved.
Is Texas losing its twang?
How to Share Your Faith: There's an App For That
"Deep reflections on the origins of human life and on God’s providence in the face of evil are hardly to be expected on the campaign trail. But Mourdock’s claims, rather than evincing yet another front in the “war on women,” approach a significant truth: human life is profoundly and even transcendently special, even when, as is too often the case, it is the result of wicked and wrongful acts. Its inviolability rests in that specialness, its sanctity, or dignity, and is not obviated by the distorted choices of men." From Christopher O. Tollefsen, Professor of Philosophy at the University of South Carolina, in The Public Discourse. Read the rest.
Hear, Hear: "President Obama is the most radically pro-abortion president we’ve ever had....Not only is he pro-abortion rights at every stage of pregnancy, he also once supported the right of doctors to kill live human infants who survived an abortion attempt. Moreover, Obama’s HHS mandate requires Christians and other pro-life persons to pay for abortions." Denny Burk.
"My big beef in this whole thing is not so much that pro-life candidates are asked tough questions. Abortion is a super tough topic and one deserving of tough questions. What chaps my hide is that reporters are incapable of asking any tough questions of pro-choice candidates." Mollie has more at GetReligion.
Is Texas losing its twang?
How to Share Your Faith: There's an App For That
"Deep reflections on the origins of human life and on God’s providence in the face of evil are hardly to be expected on the campaign trail. But Mourdock’s claims, rather than evincing yet another front in the “war on women,” approach a significant truth: human life is profoundly and even transcendently special, even when, as is too often the case, it is the result of wicked and wrongful acts. Its inviolability rests in that specialness, its sanctity, or dignity, and is not obviated by the distorted choices of men." From Christopher O. Tollefsen, Professor of Philosophy at the University of South Carolina, in The Public Discourse. Read the rest.
Hear, Hear: "President Obama is the most radically pro-abortion president we’ve ever had....Not only is he pro-abortion rights at every stage of pregnancy, he also once supported the right of doctors to kill live human infants who survived an abortion attempt. Moreover, Obama’s HHS mandate requires Christians and other pro-life persons to pay for abortions." Denny Burk.
"My big beef in this whole thing is not so much that pro-life candidates are asked tough questions. Abortion is a super tough topic and one deserving of tough questions. What chaps my hide is that reporters are incapable of asking any tough questions of pro-choice candidates." Mollie has more at GetReligion.
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Photos from My Indonesia Trip
Here are some photos from my Indonesia trip. I was there for 2 weeks serving with Advance International, which provides pastoral training in under-resourced areas of our world. My responsibility was to teach the book of Isaiah.
Phil Walker, president of Advance, is standing with me and my translator, Hurbert:
Photos of the seminary in Manado:
A welcome dinner break following my morning session:
Lokon, one of three active volcanoes in the Manado area. This one shot up smoke and ash the Sunday before our arrival, but was quiet during our stay:
On Saturday we traveled to Tondano, about an hour’s drive from Manado, up in the mountains. A bit cooler—mid 80s instead of the mid 90s we experienced at sea level in Manado. We were treated to fish drawn from this fish farm and cooked over charcoal:
On Sunday I returned to Tondano to preach at Immanuel Baptist Church.
On Wednesday we were treated to fish at a local restaurant. Here is dinner being pulled up from the nets:
On Thursday we celebrated with graduates of the Manado seminary. Here is Phil and Hubert at the opening message:
Seven Book Reviews
I had a chance to complete a number of books during my 2-week trip to Indonesia. Limited access to internet and TV channels in an unfamiliar language will give you that opportunity.
Before leaving for Indonesia, I went to the public library to check out Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883 by Simon Winchester. Krakatoa is a volcano in between Java and Sumatra, so it seemed a fitting book for my trip. Fascinating account, not only for describing the actual eruption but also for fitting the event into the cultural context of the late 19th century. You should get it in the audiobook version, as I did. The author’s entertaining storytelling is made all the more enjoyable by listening to him read his book to you.
J. Mark Bertrand has a hit on his hands with his Roland March mystery series. I got through all three books in the series: Back on Murder, Pattern of Wounds, and Nothing to Hide. Bertrand’s homicide detective, Roland March, is not a Christian but is surrounded by those who are, and so the conversations on faith that he occasionally gets into come across as quite natural. In other words, if “Christian fiction” has the reputation of being a thinly veiled gospel tract, Bertrand’s storytelling breaks that mold. March’s experiences with the imperfect process of justice 
on earth leaves him wondering: "If there's anything in religion I want to believe,” he says to himself in one of the books, “it's that the dead and disembodied will rise again before the cosmic judge, that the zero-sum game will give way to the balance scales of an unblinded justice...which is more than I can do.” What made the books particularly interesting for me was their setting. March is a Houston homicide detective, and Bertrand has put his stories in lots of familiar Houston scenes for me. Even the subject of the missing persons investigation in Book 
One is a student at my old high school, Klein, and she lived in Greenwood Forest, my wife’s family’s subdivision, and was abducted at Willowbrook Mall, where most of our shopping still takes place on visits back home.
In The Prague Cemetery Umberto Eco invents a story to explain history’s most notorious invention, “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” a forgery that has been used to fuel anti-Semitism down to our own day. The book was tiresome and I was glad to be done with it.
I enjoyed Bradley Wright’s Christians Are Hate-Filled Hypocrites...and Other Lies You've Been Told: A Sociologist Shatters Myths From the Secular and Christian Media. He wants us to take a second and skeptical look at the fear-mongers who, with poor use of statistics, announce the soon-coming collapse of Christianity in the West. Particularly he skewers my least-favorite research firm, the Barna Group, but he finds plenty of additional examples of those who mishandle data. He does this with just the right amount of humor (For example, on the way to rejecting the Barna claim that Christians really are no different than the general population when it comes to sexual misbehavior, he says, “Let me interject that there is a crucial difference between extramarital sex and extra marital sex.” I’ll have to use that one in a sermon sometime.)
Finally, pick up a copy of Timothy George’s Amazing Grace: God's Pursuit, Our Response. This is a re-release of a book that served as the annual Doctrine Study for Southern Baptists about 10 years ago. It is an irenic look at the basic points of Calvinism and the role of Calvinism in Baptist life. It is a quick read, and it will give you a deeper appreciation for an issue that often flares up in Baptist circles today.
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