Recent comments by presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann have stirred up the discussion about gay marriage once again. While speaking to a group of high school…
Books
As an aspiring writer, there are not many opportunities that I would turn down to translate my thoughts to words. I’ve written for children’s ministry magazines, news publications, online devotionals, book compilations and currently working on my own book. I’ve written music reviews, commentary on current events, book reviews, conducted interviews and posted literally hundreds of blog entries. But as I envisioned my career as a writer and pondered the possibilities of literary endeavors, reviewing a cook book never came to mind. When I heard that my friend and fellow writer, Mary DeMuth, was looking for folks to read and...
Few books have been radically instrumental in changing my perspective of the Kingdom of God. Some caused me to think. Some caused me to ask questions. Some caused me to change opinions and some changed the course of my personal ministry as a whole. One in particular has accomplished all of these, and more surprising; that book happens to be fiction. I don’t read a lot of fiction and consequentially, I don’t write a lot of fiction. It’s difficult to write, takes more time and discipline and requires more patience than I posses. Reading fiction is just as difficult because...
I met Casey Cease while we were both making our way through seminary. Our paths crossed from time to time as we shared a couple of classes together, but we didn’t know each other very well past the superficial acquaintance. Other than the occasional greeting in the hallways while waiting for classes to begin, I don’t think we shared more than a few words during those four years at Southwestern. This often happens as we journey through life. Our fast-paced culture drives us in different directions, with our field of vision focused directly in front of us. People pass on...
I am seriously moved, definitely warmed and inspired as I just finished a new novel by Doug Worgul, entitled, Thin Blue Smoke. These characters got into my heart and let me know I still have a heart. They’re real and flawed. Some of them have had some really bad breaks in life, but those bad breaks did not set their destiny; one human being caring about another did. Having stumbled upon a review while surfing my Facebook updates, it was the context of Kansas City barbecue that intrigued me because I love barbecue and spent a good many years living...
Note: I was given an advance copy of A Year of Biblical Womanhood as part of the launch team. I volunteered to be on the team because I believe in this project and I wholeheartedly support the ongoing work of Rachel Held Evans. My review is not without bias. My other reviews of the book can be found at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, CBD, and my personal blog. I was first introduced to the writing of Rachel Held Evans by following a bunny trail from one blog to another. At the time, she was about two thirds of the way...
I’ve been thinking a lot about my reasons for writing Forest Life. This is appropriate as I will soon release it to the world. I was up last night considering the metamorphosis that my life has undergone since I began writing the book. The idea for the book began while I was living alone in a cabin, on Kentucky Lake in Paris, Tennessee. My brain had begun to crack so I embarked on an existential exile into the woods. My heart was broken and I needed to find a way to sustain the will to continue living. Even after all...
My lovely wife came to me a few weeks ago and told me about a book, “Fifty Shades of Grey.” She told me that the ladies at her work were just raving about it. What really caught my attention was when she told me that the ladies at work were keeping it secret from their husbands that they were reading it. One of them asked my wife, “If you read it, would you tell your husband?“ She said unflinchingly, “Of course. We don’t keep secrets from each other.” She came home that day and told me about the trilogy that has...
A week ago, there was a man sitting in the Nashville International Airport reading Joy Wilson’s book, “Uncensored Prayer.” He had tears running down his face and was trying to conceal them from the people passing by. Why was he crying? This man had a seminary degree and thought he understood the God of Scripture. A God who had revealed Himself through the prophets in a structured manner. But while reading Wilson’s book, he understood that God is a passionate God who desires to engage with His children, lavish his love upon them, and hold no good thing back from...
This review originally appeared on The Englewood Review of Books website. A Feature Review of Christianity After Religion: The End of Church and the Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening Diana Butler Bass. Hardback: HarperOne, 2012 Reviewed By Jess O. Hale, Jr. As the age of “spiritual but not religious” just now hits its stride in American society, commentators and pundits fill the airwaves, the Internet and a host of books in order to tell us what it all means – most with a great deal more diffuse heat than helpful illumination. Atheists and secularists trumpet religion’s demise as the less...
I first met Dr. Robert, or Bob, as most people call him, through the Faith Interview Series I just wrote for Provoketive. He grew up as an Episcopalian, and then left because of “a deep need for me to be more connected with a community that really took my faith seriously.” He spent some time in the Pentecostal movement and after craving a more intellectually challenging environment, eventually settled into the Disciples of Christ denomination. He is the pastor of Central Woodward Christian Church in Troy, Michigan, and is a founder and active member of the Troy Interfaith Group. His...
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Fifty Shades of TruthI’ve been hearing about a book making the rounds, Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James. Naturally, being a writer and voracious reader, I… -
The Redemption of MetallicaYesterday, as I was driving home from a long road trip, I shuffled through my iPod and I put on Metallica’s Fade to Black. The… -
Putting The Fallen Pastor In His PlaceIn my upcoming book, “Fallen Pastor: Finding Restoration in a Broken World,” I answer a lot of questions about ministry failure. But there’s one question… -
Blue Like Jazz The MovieI have a confession to make. I’ve never liked Christian movies. They are typically thin on development, very campy, and usually serve to present the… -
Baby Killer BluesTen years ago, on June 20, 2001, Andrea Yates drowned her five children in the bathtub, then laid them side by side on the bed. … -
Is Partial Faith Enough For God?I was raised to believe that you might as well not ask God anything if you don’t believe 100%. I was threatened with these verses…
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