Posts from January 2017

Christian, how are we to engage the world today?

My wife and I recently subscribed to Texture, an app that permits us to read about 150 magazines a month (not that we read all of them, of course). In the app you can scroll through the covers of magazines to see what you might want to read. The covers suggest the news is bad right now. There is the general: faster, fitter, leaner, smarter, tidier, better you, covers that are always there and always a little bit irksome. There…

Kindles and Bibles

Those of you who read a lot of them will know about the problem of kindle books. They are also the strengths of kindle books. They are often cheap, so cheap that when someone suggests one in a compelling way you buy it immediately and think no more of it. Then one day you turn to read a book, you aren’t sure what to read and you tell yourself not to buy anything, you have plenty of books, many unread,…

Let God be God by Matthew Brough—reviewed

Full disclosure: I have met Matthew several times, I respect him as a pastor, and he gave me a free early copy of his newest book, Let God be God, which comes out this week. I am glad he did. Glad because I like him and I like free stuff. Also, glad because while this book is certainly worth reading (as I will discuss below) I think I have some helpful advice about how it ought to be read. Brough’s…

One Thousand Gifts. Ann Voskamp-Reviewed

I picked this book up after ignoring it for a long time. In my arrogance, I tend to ignore books that get a lot of hype and popularity. I know I should try to read more of them to know what the good folks of St. Andrew’s might be reading, but I often struggle to do so. Christianity Today had a nice write up about Voscamp and her graceful tone convinced me it was time to pick up her book.…

Office Coffee VS. The Coffee Shop

Here at St. Andrew’s, thanks to the amazing generosity of many people, we recently opened a new administrative wing. It is a delight to work in and the extra space helps us not feel so cramped in our daily digs. The “big Luxury” of what some have come to lovingly call “The Pastor’s Palace” is a Keurig coffee maker. Before you get mad at the waste you should know we bought re-usable pods for all the staff.  We also bought…