Before beginning class this morning, I asked these Nepalese students—most of whom are pastors—to tell me some of the daily challenges they face. In a Communist country where Hindus and Buddhists make up most of the population (and followers of Jesus make up approximately one percent), it can’t be easy. Here were some of their[…]
Read MoreIn the stifling heat, I set out today to visit a Buddhist temple. Buddhist temples are not hard to find in Kathmandu. They dot the landscape of most high places. Religion is everywhere you look. Hinduism and Buddhism have filled the city with their idols. Up the steps I walk, passing the vendors, the[…]
Read MorePart of what enables one to endure the thirty-three hours of travel time to Kathmandu—the hour wait on the tarmac before takeoff, the airport locator that can’t find your ticket, the mind-numbing experience of sitting for hours in a crowded airport, the endless security checks, sitting in the aisle seat next to people with small[…]
Read MoreGreat retreat to Psalm 139. One could also go back to Ecclesiastes and reflect on how Solomon, purportedly the…
Three summer reads, up here in the Washington wilderness, have given me a better sense of where our culture is today— –The Second Mountain, David Books –How to Survive the Apocalypse, Robert Joustra –Suicide of the West, Jonah Goldberg None have been easy reads, but then, a steady diet of daily news and social media[…]
Read MoreOK--ordered the book. From your synopsis, the challenge appears to be not just knowing what is happening but incorporating it…
I set a goal on January 1 to write a new post every Friday. Time up here on the river tends to break routine. The truth of the matter is that it is easy to get distracted by the beauty. But sometimes one simply gets stuck. Anne Lamont, in her witty Bird By Bird, likens[…]
Read MoreYes, you are far along simply by asking the questions.
Sometimes I finish reading something that makes me jump out of my socks. But not today. I am still processing Arthur Brooks’ article in the latest Atlantic, “Your Professional Decline is Coming (Much) Sooner Than You Think.” It’s a candid look at degeneration. Why do I read this stuff? Who likes to read about the[…]
Read MoreSounds as if you are relaxing into whatever God has for you and less in searching for it. Stay…
Writer Michael McGirr speaks of summer as the silent season, where an extravagant slumber on a hot afternoon offers the luxurious expanse of wasted time. Yesterday afternoon, amidst a stunning sky of blue, the occasional wandering clouds, and a southern breeze that conducted the chimes to make their music—I slept. Up here in the wilderness,[…]
Read MoreThis morning my son dropped me off at the station to catch a train to the airport. He is home for two weeks, having spent his first year on a YWAM base in Australia. “Love you, Nate.” “Love you, dad.” There’s no better send off. Such moments are a reminder that there’s something special about[…]
Read MoreAmerican filmmaker Woody Allen once lamented, “I don’t want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve it through not dying.” Endings are not easy for most of us. Endings come with a sense of apprehension, as well as feelings of loss, anger, fear, depression, and confusion. It’s hard to admit we[…]
Read MoreGetting published is hard work. Painfully hard work. In his The Art of War for Writers, James Scott Bell provides a field manual for all writing wretches. Any hope of success will require reconnaissance, tactics, and strategy. I am now on my third book, Contagions of Craziness. As with the first two, the process of[…]
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