Stopping to Think

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman My rating: 4 of 5 stars Enjoyable, horrifying, fun. Neil Gaiman is a top notch writer, and his narration of the audiobook was excellent as well. I had very little knowledge of Norse Mythology, but my sense is that this is how you should experience it - as if being told the tales of the gods, rather than reading about them in a textbook form. The stories themselves are both fascinating, entertaining, and atrocious. The gods of the North, though superhuman in certain ways, are utterly human in all the ways that matter most. Which, I suppose, is what we should expect from gods made in man’s image. View all my reviews

  Ernest Hemingway on Writing by Larry W. Phillips My rating: 4 of 5 stars Lucid, clear, if somewhat idiosyncratic, advice. As it is drawn from his work and letters across his career, it's interesting to see how his opinions develop or stiffen in certain areas. It was fun and easy to read. I also have a feeling that Hemingway would have hated it. View all my reviews

                                                                    Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash A Response to “A Gospel on the Move” by Eric D. Barreto Introduction In his paper, “A Gospel on the Move: Practice, Proclamation, and Place in Luke-Acts,” Eric D. Barreto argues that from the narrative coming to us as the twin books of Luke and Acts we can draw imaginative tools useful for understanding and evaluating the world around us today. He extends this specifically into the area of border and imigration policy, encouraging his reader to embrace a disruptive and Jesus like stance toward including outsiders in our conception of family and those who belong. Appreciation Barreto asks an important question in his third paragraph on page 175, “how do we move from narration to injun...

If you folks at all enjoy what you read here, and have an interest in gardening, or don't enjoy what you read here, but still have an interest in gardening, then take a look at my new blog, The Insufficient Self-Sufficient. Obviously, there isn't much there to be read, yet. But my hope is to post weekly updates on the states of the roughly 1,000 square feet of my life devoted to growing things.

J. Gresham Machen's The Gospel and the Modern World: And Other Short Writings by J. Gresham Machen My rating: 5 of 5 stars Short, excellent. The clarity of Machen's view of the world in opposition to the gospel if Christ is as necessary and penetrating today as it must have been 80+ years ago. View all my reviews

"I have continued to write for the general reader, based on my belief that if I can't say it in plain English, it must be because I don't understand what I am writing about." Rodney Stark Commonplace Monday is a series of posts wherein, on Monday mornings, I share short quips, sentences -perhaps as much as a paragraph- which I have collected in my various commonplace books and files. If I wrote down or recall where it came from I will certainly give attribution. However, sometimes I write down things and not where they came from. So if you see anything like that here and recognize it, that's what comment sections are for. 

Throwback Thursday is a series of posts, wherein I will on (some) Thursdays post a piece of writing from back in the day. Generally not from this blog. I will edit lightly for readability, but my intention is to allow each piece to stand basically as written. Over the years my mind has shifted on many things, as my knowledge of life, the Scriptures, and myself has grown. I'm not in the business of hiding this fact, so these will probably contain some things which even I think are crazy. Originally Published on Facebook as, "I just felt like writing..." April 14, 2008 at 2:24am Public Friends of Friends Friends Friends except Acquaintances Only Me Custom Good feed South Lake Youth Ministries See all lists... Le Mars, Iowa Area Plummer, Idaho Area Family US Postal Service Acquaintances Go Back I don't know why. I don't really feel like I have anything to say, but maybe some intelligable gibbersh will come out. I guess I'll talk about core gro...

"By tragic historical coincidence a period of abysmal under-educating in literacy has coincided with this unexpected explosion of global self-publishing. Thus people who don't know their apostrophe from their elbow are positively invited to disseminate their writings to anyone on the planet stupid enough to double-click and scroll." Lynne Truss, Eats, Shoots & Leaves pg 182

So, as you may have noticed, that little blogging flourish in October died off as soon as November hit. The reason is really pretty simple. I realized that less is more. But that needs a little elaboration. Because sometimes less is less. Less is more What do I mean by less is more? I mean, less blogging means, for me, more productive writing. I have come to realize that while I do need to be writing, that doesn't mean I need to be blogging. Not every thought that crosses my mind is publish-worthy. I have a hard time with that. I am part of the Selfie Generation, and we think that what we think is the most important thing ever thunk. But it isn't. Most of what I've written on here needs drastically re-written, re-worked, and generally edited (with a heavy hand!).  That's not to say that I won't ever blog. Should an idea that I feel is blog worthy come along, you can of course expect me to write about it on here, no different that I have before. But I have r...

I have oft lamented at the begining of a post how long it has been since my previous one. For example, it's been over a month right now. So, for the information of all interested, I am going to attempt to post more often. In the past, my posting has been basically dependant on the alinging of circumstances such as my mood, my ability to articulate pmy thoughts into writing, and being in an area with wifi in order to upload such thoughts onto the web. I have realized though that I simply need to discipline myself to write whenever the opportunity presents itself, and then make a point of finding time to get it posted. Writing seems to be the primary way God has gifted me for encouraging thought and faith, and for me to neglect the gift given me seems to conflict with the instruction given by Paul to Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:6. So, for my neglegence, I believe I owe an apology. And an attempt at improvement. For a preview of what's to come, here's what I'm thinking (obv...

It's been over a month since I posted.  Hopefully going to video will solve that.

One of these days I will be cool and have a website with links.  Until then I'll just write a blog post filled with links.  Okay, so maybe two links doesn't constitute filling.  But regardless. Genuine Motivation "Press On" archives : http://genmoycm.wordpress.com/category/press-on/ Link to my Facebook notes.  A few okay ramblings there, along with some pointless stuff.  I may rewrite some of it down the road: http://www.facebook.com/#!/cwdole?sk=notes