Exploring Books, Life, and Writing
I enjoy reading early American history, and thought I knew quite a bit on the topic, but I learned so much in every chapter of Gordon Wood’s The Idea of America. This collection of essays was absolutely stellar, covering a variety of topics peppered with new insights at every turn. Here are some: ♦ I Continue reading "What I Learned About the Revolution"
It’s time to celebrate America’s landmark 200th anniversary. “Wait a minute, Andy. Don’t you mean 250th?” Oh, right. I did hear about some to-do back on July 4, 1776. Yet 200 years ago, exactly 50 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, on July 4, 1826, both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died. Continue reading "Celebrating 200 Years"
While C. S. Lewis was perhaps the preeminent Christian apologist of the twentieth-century, he was not, as he often reminded readers, a biblical scholar. Leslie Baynes thinks that shows. As Baynes notes in her book, Between Interpretation Imagination, he was an Oxford don specializing in Medieval literature whose fiction and nonfiction for general audiences Continue reading "Lewis and the Bible"
The book of Revelation is both fascinating and intimidating. How can we possibly understand what all those fantastic images and bizarre scenes are all about? Here’s just one example of a way that can help. Near the beginning and end of Revelation we read about the sea. In front of the throne there was what Continue reading "Making the Sea Crystal Clear"
Seriously? Give away the ending? Don’t writers want to keep readers guessing? Don’t you want an amazing plot twist at the very end that no one saw coming? OK, sure, sometimes. But giving away the ending at the very beginning can also be an effective to keep readers reading. Let me give you a couple Continue reading "Give Away the Ending"
When I started writing She Teaches Me Still about Phyllis Le Peau, my remarkable wife of forty-seven years, I wondered if I’d have enough for a whole book. But as I gained momentum, conducted interviews, and found her appointment calendars, her prayer journals, her ministry newsletters and more, I realized the real issue was instead Continue reading "And Wait . . . There s More"
My wife of forty-seven years, Phyllis, was one of the most remarkable, memorable people you may have ever met. Of course, I’m biased, but many others said the same thing. Take Rick Richardson of Wheaton College, for example. He said, “Phyllis was one of the most spectacular and magnificent human beings I have ever known. Continue reading "A Gift for All"
I am one who believes history has something to teach us. But as Steve Turner said, “History repeats itself. Has to. No-one listens.” The Iran Revolution of 1978 that brought down the Shah and elevated Khomeini was, as the subtitle of Scott Anderson s King of Kings says so accurately, “A story of hubris, delusion, and Continue reading "History Repeats Itself"
It s easy to slap shallow Left or Right political explanations and solutions on the struggles men are facing today. If we really want to help men and women, we have to leave the politics behind. In Of Boys and Men, Richard Reeves explains why. While Reeves affirms the progress women have made in many areas, Continue reading "Boys and Men Are in Trouble"
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and the rest of C. S. Lewis’s Narnia series are widely read and enjoyed. Yet some have criticized them. Tolkien didn’t like the books and found including Father Christmas to be haphazard, an odd mixing of mythologies. Others have wondered why Aslan appears more in the background of Continue reading "Planet Narnia"