My Inner Author

Recently I completed reading “The Divine Commodity: Discovering A Faith Beyond Consumer Christianity” by Skye Jethani. I found the book quite stimulating to read and have enjoyed pondering the many thoughts he put forth on the path so many modern churches are on today. Whether you will enjoy reading and considering the many topics discussed throughout the pages will depend on several factors. Can you look yourself and your faith, your church and your beliefs, honestly and objectively, under the microscope? I have enjoyed reading many books over the past several years which make me think about my faith, and challenge me to be honest. At the core, this book delves into the premise our Christian faith and our churches are under assault from our consumerist culture both from without and within. Many less desirable trends and traits from society are now dominating the modern church and in some ways continuing to drive a man-made wedge between God and man. He intersperses the chapters with...

I recently heard an interview with an author, Brad Meltzer, talking about his latest book entitled "Heroes For My Son." He spoke of how when his first son was born, he found himself thinking about what kind of virtues, traits and values he wanted to share with his son. Indeed these are the kinds of thoughts many fathers have once they become proud parents of a boy. (Indeed many of us have the same thoughts with daughters, but admittedly we know daughters grow up into women, a group of people we die never really understanding.) So, I decided to seek out this new tome and see what wisdom it contained. What heroes did he identify with, and would I share many of the same folks, and what others would I want to include on my own list? Indeed the book is not long on details about each hero, it simply lists their names, a quote or two and a brief description of why Mr. Meltzer considers them heroic. I can only imagine how daunting it proved to be to compile such a list, you don...