Golden Days – Jack McCallum

I really enjoyed this book.  It’s essentially about Jerry West and specifically about his role in two different NBA seasons – 1971-72 as a member of the Laker team that set the all-time record for wins in a season (since broken twice) and the all-time record of 33 games in a row (that still stands […]

Separation and Service – J Hudson Taylor

Read this book because I was so inspired/impressed by Taylor after reading his biography last month.  This is a devotional on Numbers 6 and 7 – not exactly common passages to write a devotional about.  Taylor wrote this as a result of coming to these chapters in his Bible reading during a particularly discouraging time […]

Matthew 5:5-6

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth To be meek is to truly understand what I am and how that affects my interactions with others. I see others through the lens of my own sin. If I am poor in spirit to the extent that it causes me to mourn over sin, […]

Maximum Volume – Kenneth Womack

First of all, I really like biographies about people in the music industry.  The stories of people or bands who make it big in rock or even in other genres are fascinating to me – probably because it’s so outside of my experience.  I also really like music from the sixties and I especially like […]

Matthew 5:1-4

The Beatitudes The word ‘beatitude’ roughly means ‘blessing.’  Jesus starts His sermon with a list of attributes that characterize those who are blessed – who receive God’s approval.  Said another way, He lists the attributes of those for whom this sermon is intended.  The Sermon on the Mount is Jesus’ manifesto explaining how to live […]

1917 – Arthur Herman

The subtitle to this book is “Lenin, Wilson, and the Birth of the New World Disorder.”  It’s a fascinating book written with a thesis that Woodrow Wilson and Vladimir Lenin actually had a lot in common in their view of and approach to the world.  The author’s contention is that both men used the end […]

Amos 1:1-2

1 Amos is a sheepherder and keeper of figs from Tekoa, a city just south of Jerusalem in Judah, sent by God to prophesy against Israel.  Though he lives in the Southern Kingdom, he is sent to speak against the North.  The words he speaks come from visions that God has sent to him. He […]

Amos – Overview & Introduction

Amos is a book of prophecies and condemnations proclaimed by a shepherd from Tekoa – a town just south of Bethlehem in Judah.  Not a prophet by trade, Amos describes himself in the book as a herdsman and a grower of sycamore figs (7:14).  Amos is called by God to prophesy against the Northern Kingdom […]