Reading Posts

My 51 books of 2015

Here are the books I read in 2015 with my rating for them (5 being the best) along with a brief review. Topping the list this year was The Bible Tells Me So and The Grand Paradox.

Any book without a number rating has been given to me by the author or publisher. In addition to this list you might also check out my reading lists from previous years as well as my recommendations on how to become a better reader. A lot of people resolve to read more in the new year and if that’s you I hope this list gives you something to get you started.

This year I also released my book Redeeming Pleasure in September.

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Everyone is a Theologian

reknew manifestoOne of my mentors recently developed a recommended library on a number of theological topics. It’s not just any list, as it spans more than 2000 books. It’s meticulously organized around nine major themes: Bible Interpretation, The Old Testament, The New Testament, Church History, Theology, Apologetics, Christian Living, Philosophy, and Contemporary Science/Free Will/Time. Then, there are numerous subcategories for each of these. He even provides a rating based on the reading difficulty for each book from one to four.

I’m grateful that my book Redeeming Pleasure made this list. In case you can’t find it, it’s in the Theology: Ethics category. It’s rated at a 1 so don’t be scared!

We all have views about God and how to interact with Him. But are your views growing and being challenged? If you can’t easily answer yes to that, I’d recommend you consider spending some time in 2016 growing in your faith in this way.

Click here to check out the list.

The Movement Accelerates

I preached part of the Christmas story at Central this weekend and as the video above shows, I talked about faith versus fear. Specifically, how fear limits but faith accelerates.

This is Amazing Grace

This is Amazing Grace

Who brings our chaos back into order
Who makes the orphan a son and daughter
The King of Glory, the King of Glory

This is Amazing Grace by Phil Wickham

Today we had the chance to change someone’s story forever. It’s one of the best stories I’ve ever been a part of personally. But here’s the thing about stories like this: there are many stories behind the stories. Today we celebrated the official arrival of Aiden Berra Jernigan into our family. C’mon, you knew he was going to get his own Yankee name. But equally as moving was looking around us at the amazing friends and family who have walked this journey with us. More than that, they have held us up in numerous different ways to allow us to play the part we did.

Our heart opened to make the orphan Aiden our son because Jesus Christ has made us His sons and daughters. We love because He first loved us. But living the Gospel like this takes a community of equally faithful people. To them, we want to say thanks.

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Waiting for the Fairytale

Waiting for the Fairytale

Today I dwell in gratitude. Yeah I know, Thanksgiving is over. But today marks 10 years of marriage to my beautiful bride Michelle. We’ve sort of been celebrating for a few months now between two different trips we took this year so even now I feel like I’ve been milking this anniversary (the picture above is from one of them to DC). But today, I realize how fortunate I am with this woman. We don’t have the perfect marriage. We disagree (on a number of things actually). We communicate our disagreements passionately at times (read: argue). We are totally different people. She shines in social situations that cause me to clam up. But she’s not perfect. And here’s the real shocker… she doesn’t complete me.

I get that from Jesus, so I don’t expect her to fill a role which another human is incapable of filling anyway. Our marriage isn’t without it’s issues. We have four young kids who stress us out daily. We lose our tempers. We get snippy in the way we talk to one another at times. We’ve had to work through complicated situations that have caused us to feel disconnected. We say sorry.

Is this sounding like the most unromantic way to celebrate your spouse? It’s not, and I have a previous Valentine’s Day card to Michelle to prove it.

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The Energy of Exodus

I preached last weekend at Central and got to kick off our Potential series. In the video above I look at the story of Moses and the burning bush and explore how your position with God determines your potential.