Jonathan Shradar

As mentioned in a previous review, as I turned 45 I was looking for some wisdom on how to enter midlife (or well after that) strong and finish the same. John Starke is a pastor in New York that made a public recommendation for another book that helped in that thinking and here he has his own new title that actually perpetuates the pursuit of Christian maturity.  The Secret Place of Thunder , with the subtitle: Trading Our Need to Be Noticed for a Hidden Life with Christ, calls us to see Christ in ways that help us think of setting aside the performative obsession of our age with something more steady and life-giving.  The book is a quick read near 180 pages but it is packed with helpful insight and wisdom. It's about setting aside what the world suggests we must be after for a hidden life in Jesus. "This isn’t a book on escapism or living a more secluded or private life. Actually, it’s about how to live more fruitfully with others..."  Starke challenges our assumption abo

As I turned 45 and began to contemplate what life and ministry would look like into the remaining years of my life (a post mid-life non-crisis!) I followed the recommendation of some faithful saints online and grabbed Ronald Rolheiser's Sacred Fire . The title says it is "a vision for a deeper human and Christian maturity" and that is exactly what I needed.  Rolheiser is a Catholic priest and while that comes through in his writing, I saw great value in his thinking. The book in three parts looks at discipleship as coming to Christ and living even into your adult years and maturity is when the bulk of life is accomplished and something new needs to set in. The section on Mature Discipleship is the largest portion of the book and covers giving our lives away in profound ways as invited by Scripture, strengthened in prayer, and done for others.  Rolheiser gives "Ten Commandments for the Long Haul," which include: 1. Live in gratitude and thank your Creator by enjo

Like most people in reformed circles I anticipated this great book from Collin Hansen and grabbed a physical copy from Barnes and Noble (rare as I read mostly ebooks). Timothy Keller: His Spiritual and Intellectual Formation is, as has been said elsewhere, less biography and more bibliography of Keller's life. The book recounts the people, places, circumstances, and authors that shaped one of the most prominent pastors of a generation.  With his own collection of culture and church defining books, Keller was, like any of us, uniquely formed by a bevy of influences and Hansen has given us the roadmap for adding many of these formative voices to our own lives.  There are some new stories in the book, things perhaps you didn't know of Keller, but much that is here sheds light on the voice you have heard preaching or writing these last two decades of his popularity.  My take-away was to faithfully be where we are supposed to be and stay curious, ready to grow and change across the

I have been anticipating this new book from Jeremy Writebol geared to exhort and encourage pastors. Having just finished an advance copy I can say the anticipation was matched with clear and timely words for those doing ministry in our age.  In Pastor, Jesus is Enough Writebol endeavors to relay Jesus' comfort and challenge in his letters to the churches in Revelation 2 & 3 (which he sees as letters to the messengers, pastors of these churches). Unpacking each helpfully through the lens of modern ministry and how we are prone to trusting in our self-sufficiency, get caught up in the rage of the day, or experience our own suffering.  Each chapter shows how Jesus is enough, that he is for us and how that is meant to shape our vision and execution of ministry. And the book ends in worship, what carries us through.  Writebol's own experience of division and desertion out of the pandemic and political upheaval of the last couple of years serves as the backdrop for this work. Thi

First finished fiction of the year. The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen. This Pulitzer Prize winner weaves a good story through the difficult landscape of the Vietnam war, or American war as it may be. Highlighting the life of a South Vietnamese intelligence officer who is a double agent, the story launches with the fleeing from Saigon and entry into life in Southern California.  There was much to grab a hold of in this book and though I began it at Thanksgiving, it consistently beckoned for reading on days I was free for fiction.  There is plenty of human gravity in the book, assassinations, illicit romance (not graphic in description), torture rape, all told to encapsulate the era. There was also a deep core sense of longing for belonging that pulls back a bit of the veil of the human condition that I found enticing in The Sympathizer.  Thoughtful, provoking, and engaging. I enjoyed this one.