Library

The story of Elzéard Bouffier, The Man Who Planted Trees, lives in the top five most influential books I’ve ever read, or, better said, immersed myself in. This book slows me down, not just my pace, but my breathing and heart rate as well. It evokes longing and opens up a landscape of soul that defies words. Written in France in 1953, this narrative distills dimensions of the Gospel for the heart of a man to their most simple and breathtaking form. Story is the language of the heart; the greatest truths, those that invite us to be both formed and forged over decades, are often hidden in parables like this. The Man Who Planted Trees stands on its own merit as one of the great exemplars of restored masculinity operating in wisdom’s long view. It’s a book you can pass along to a like-hearted king whose heart burns to become who he was made to be.

Reading David Brooks is like becoming acquainted with a long lost brother whose heart beats with the same hunger for the restoration of men and women. Though his inquiry is powerfully intellectual, historical, and even philosophical (which makes sense—he is a prolific writer for the New York Times), the sincerity of his quest for personal restoration shines through as well; he is a man who has descended through his own initiation. Through his personal reckoning, he’s become a trustworthy guide and steady clarifying voice. His personal reflections on love and his distilled insight into the texture of humility are without a doubt some of the most helpful guidance I’ve ever absorbed. Devoted to truth-telling, he offers biographical sketches of ten historical figures without minimizing either the strengths or weakness of their character. He presents penetrating narratives of multifaceted people, all of whom bear the image of God and all of whom pass through deeply personal struggles and afflictions. Brooks demonstrates how over time each person matures through failure to become the kind of man or woman whose life has a generative impact that continues to this day. This book is a must for your collection of stories, heroes, and guideposts on the path to becoming whole and holy.

It’s rare I find myself laughing out loud and crying in the same chapter of a book. It’s even more rare that I go to Amazon and order every book written by an author, before I’ve even finished reading his first. J.R. Moehringer is that kind of writer. Few authors have taken me more vividly into the dignity and depravity of the human experience, while leaving room for the process of coming to informed conclusions over time. This is life. And there is nothing like a great story of masculine initiation to access the ache and longing over the same themes in our own story. J.R. was raised in a bar, in the company of messy men. If seeds of desire to respond to God’s initiation are rooted deeply in our hearts, especially through the failures, the parables and personalities J.R. narrates can help us find our way toward true north.

“David Brooks has written an absolutely fascinating book about how we form our emotions and character. Standing at the intersection of brain science and sociology, and writing with the wry wit of a James Thurber, he explores the unconscious mind and how it shapes the way we eat, love, live, vacation, and relate to other people. In The Social Animal, he makes the recent revolution in neuroscience understandable, and he applies it to those things we have the most trouble knowing how to teach: What is the best way to build true relationships? How do we instill imaginative thinking? How do we develop our moral intuitions and wisdom and character? Brooks has always been a keen observer of the way we live. Now he takes us one layer down, to why we live that way.” –Walter Isaacson

Recommended by John Eldredge and Dallas Willard, this book is a collection of stories from man of ages past who have recovered the Ancient path. It provides story after story of the Holy Spirit working in the hearts of ordinary people and inviting them up to an extraordinary life as they take their place in the Kingdom of God.

In War, Sebastian Junger turns his brilliant and empathetic eye to the reality of combat—the fear, the honor, and the trust among men in an extreme situation whose survival depends on their absolute commitment to one another. His on-the-ground account follows a single platoon through a 15-month tour of duty in the most dangerous outpost in Afghanistan’s Korengal Valley. Through the experiences of these young men at war, he shows what it means to fight, to serve, and to face down mortal danger on a daily basis.

“In this inspirational work which seamlessly weaves keen clinical observation, neuroscience, historical analysis, the arts, and personal narrative, Dr. van der Kolk has created an authoritative guide to the effects of trauma, and pathways to recovery. The book is full of wisdom, humanity, compassion, and scientific insight, gleaned from a lifetime of clinical service, research, and scholarship in the field of traumatic stress. A must read for mental health and other health care professionals, trauma survivors, their loved ones, and those who seek clinical, social, or political solutions to the cycle of trauma and violence in our society.”
–Rachel Yehuda, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry and neuroscience; director of the Traumatic Stress Studies Division at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York

What if you were handed a golden ticket that could magically start your life anew?

That question is at the heart of Life’s Golden Ticket. Brendon Burchard tells the story of a man who is so trapped in the prison of his past that he cannot see the possibilities, the choices, and the gifts before him. To soothe his fiancée Mary, clinging to life in a hospital bed, the man takes the envelope she offers and heads to an old, abandoned amusement park that she begs him to visit.

To his surprise, when he steps through the rusted entrance gates, the park magically comes to life. Guided by the wise groundskeeper Henry, the man will encounter park employees, answer difficult questions, overcome obstacles, listen to lessons from those wiser than he, and take a hard look at himself.

At the end of his journey, the man opens Mary’s mysterious envelope. Inside is a golden ticket—the final phase in turning his tragic life’s story of loss and regret into a triumphant tale of love and redemption.

In these pages Dallas Willard explores what it means to live well now in light of God’s kingdom. He reflects on the power of the Trinity in our lives, the meaning of knowledge, the importance of spiritual disciplines, and much more. Dallas Willard offers poignant thoughts about what it will be like to transition into the very presence of Christ in heaven. This book is adapted from the talks given at the February 2013 Dallas Willard Center “Knowing Christ Today” conference in Santa Barbara, California. Each chapter is followed with an illuminating dialogue between Dallas Willard and John Ortberg. The book closes with the theme of offering a blessing to one another. These reflections form an apt conclusion to Dallas Willard’s public ministry. It is a gift of grace.

Social scientist Brené Brown has ignited a global conversation on courage, vulnerability, shame, and worthiness. Her pioneering work uncovered a profound truth: Vulnerability—the willingness to show up and be seen with no guarantee of outcome—is the only path to more love, belonging, creativity, and joy. But living a brave life is not always easy: We are, inevitably, going to stumble and fall.

It is the rise from falling that Brown takes as her subject in Rising Strong. As a grounded theory researcher, Brown has listened as a range of people—from leaders in Fortune 500 companies and the military to artists, couples in long-term relationships, teachers, and parents—shared their stories of being brave, falling, and getting back up. She asked herself, What do these people with strong and loving relationships, leaders nurturing creativity, artists pushing innovation, and clergy walking with people through faith and mystery have in common? The answer was clear: They recognize the power of emotion and they’re not afraid to lean in to discomfort.

Walking into our stories of hurt can feel dangerous. But the process of regaining our footing in the midst of struggle is where our courage is tested and our values are forged. Our stories of struggle can be big ones, like the loss of a job or the end of a relationship, or smaller ones, like a conflict with a friend or colleague. Regardless of magnitude or circumstance, the rising strong process is the same: We reckon with our emotions and get curious about what we’re feeling; we rumble with our stories until we get to a place of truth; and we live this process, every day, until it becomes a practice and creates nothing short of a revolution in our lives. Rising strong after a fall is how we cultivate wholeheartedness. It’s the process, Brown writes, that teaches us the most about who we are. 

C.S. Lewis once said, “There have been times when I think we do not desire heaven; but more often, I find myself wondering whether, in our heart of hearts, we have ever desired anything else.”

In his acclaimed books, renowned writer, speaker, and philosophy professor Dallas Willard explored the nature of Christian life in God’s Kingdom. Yet one topic remained undisclosed: Willard’s understanding of heaven and eternal life. In the months before his death, Willard engaged in moving and insightful conversations about the meaning of life and the life to come with close friend and theologian Gary Black Jr. These inspiring dialogues were steeped in biblical theology as well as practical wisdom grounded in the here-and-now.

In Preparing for Heaven, Black reveals not only Willard’s profound and liberating vision of life after death, he also deftly unpacks the implications these realities hold for our lives today. Black shows how Willard understood our mortal lives as preparation for what comes next—that death is not the end of one life and the beginning of another, but rather a transition through which we continue the transformational work begun on Earth. Informative, challenging, and poignant, Willard and Black’s conversations and insights challenge us to reconsider our beliefs—that perhaps the line separating the afterlife from this life is not as absolute as we think, and that there is work to be done both now and in the glorious life to come. As a result we will find that our faith is more vibrant—and eternal—than we have dared to imagine.

We have a strong instinct to belong to small groups defined by clear purpose and understanding—“tribes.” This tribal connection has been largely lost in modern society, but regaining it may be the key to our psychological survival.

Decades before the American Revolution, Benjamin Franklin lamented that English settlers were constantly fleeing over to the Indians—but Indians almost never did the same. Tribal society has been exerting an almost gravitational pull on Westerners for hundreds of years, and the reason lies deep in our evolutionary past as a communal species. The most recent example of that attraction is combat veterans who come home to find themselves missing the incredibly intimate bonds of platoon life. The loss of closeness that comes at the end of deployment may explain the high rates of post-traumatic stress disorder suffered by military veterans today.

Combining history, psychology, and anthropology, Tribe explores what we can learn from tribal societies about loyalty, belonging, and the eternal human quest for meaning. It explains the irony that—for many veterans as well as civilians—war feels better than peace, adversity can turn out to be a blessing, and disasters are sometimes remembered more fondly than weddings or tropical vacations. Tribe explains why we are stronger when we come together, and how that can be achieved even in today’s divided world.

Reading the Gospels without knowing the personality of Jesus is like watching television with the sound turned off. The result is a dry, two-dimensional person doing strange, undecipherable things. But when we discover his true character—this man who made the wind, music and flying squirrels—suddenly all of the remarkable qualities of Jesus burst forth with color and brilliance like fireworks. Breaking Jesus out of the typical stereotypes, Beautiful Outlaw welcomes readers into the rich emotional life of Christ, showing how they can experience the actual personality of Jesus in their daily lives in ways that will deepen their faith.

Dallas Willard stands above as a father of the faith.
Renovation of the Heart, a bestseller by Dallas Willard, explains the common misunderstandings about human nature and the discipleship process by outlining the general pattern of personal spiritual transformation―not as a formula, but as a systematic process. As intentional apprentices of Jesus, we are to move deeper into a relationship with God while becoming more like Jesus. In his unique, winning way, Willard guides you in discovering your true identity while exploring spiritual growth in a new way.

Written over three hundred years ago, Brother Lawrence’s collection of spiritual insights sells more and more copies with every passing decade.  It is a supremely helpful tool for people who long to walk with God but are caught up in the rush of today’s world and the spirit of busyness that has impregnated our culture.

The enemy has a sinister strategy to tempt us to overcomplicate the Gospel.  Brother Lawrence walks out the refreshing alternative. Through decades of trial and hardship, he “learned the most essential ingredient of the Christian Life; how to remain in the presence of God.”

Brilliant.  Timeless.  Accessible. Brimming with hope.
I don’t generally read abridged versions of books, but I’ve made an exception with this one.

While the unabridged is even more thorough, the abridged version is small enough to tuck in a pocket, jam packed with life-transforming spiritual truths, and a length that invites you to read it in its entirety, in one sitting, time and time again.

This is a must for the library of a man who wants to become good soil.

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Richard Foster said,

“The Divine Conspiracy is the book I have been searching for all my life. Like Michelangelo’s Sistine ceiling, it is a masterpiece and a wonder.”

I couldn’t agree more.

If Wild at Heart is the manual for the heart of a man, The Divine Conspiracy is the manual for that man’s heart for the decade of becoming good soil.

It’s not for the faint of heart.  And sure, not the kind of book you flip open for a few pages when you are taking a dump.  It reads like a manual.  A manual for the person who is thirsty and serious about becoming a student of God and His Kingdom.

While Dallas goes into great depths of Scripture, history, and theology, his message and his life are quite simple:

“Who are you becoming?”

“The most important thing about a person is not what he does, it is who he becomes.”

The rewards far exceed the work. And the commitment to read, re-read, pray through, go back and forth from the book to the Scriptures, again and again, will utterly transform your life today and your life for eternity.

A few notable quotes to entice you into letting this great work be a part of your apprenticeship in the Narrow Road:

“We were built to count, as water is made to run downhill. We are placed in a specific context to count in ways no one else does. That is our destiny.”

“The real Son of God is at your side. He is beginning to turn you into the same kind of thing as Himself. He is beginning, so to speak, to ‘inject’ His kind of life and  thought, His Zoe [life], into you; beginning to turn the tin soldier into a live man.  The part of you that does not like it is the part that is still tin.”  (Dallas quoting C.S. Lewis)

“When we examine the broad spectrum of Christian proclamation and practice, we see that the only thing made essential on the right wing theology is forgiveness of the individual’s sins.  On the left it is removal of social or structural evils. The current gospel then becomes a ‘gospel of sin management.’ Transformation of life and character is no part of the redemptive message.  Moment-to-moment human reality in its depths is not the arena of faith and eternal living.”

“I am learning from Jesus to live my life as he would live my life if he were I.”

“Kingdom praying and its efficacy is entirely a matter of the innermost heart’s being totally open and honest before God.  It is the matter of what we are saying with our whole being, moving with resolute intent and clarity of mind into the flow of God’s action.   In apprenticeship to Jesus, this is one of the most important things we learn how to do. He teaches us how to be in prayer what we are in life and how to be in life what we are in prayer.”

“We are made to ‘have dominion’ within an appropriate domain of reality.  This is the core of the likeness or the image of God in us and is the basis of the destiny for which we were formed.  We are, all of us, never-ceasing spiritual beings with a unique eternal calling to count for good in God’s great universe.”

There is more… much more. You’ll have to go with God into its depths and goodness to find out.

Parker Palmer has written one of the most honest, provocative and truly helpful books regarding vocation.  While taking a brutally candid journey through his battle with depression, he leads us along the narrow road, coaching us through “listening” to our lives as the primary path to discover and walk in our vocation.  And in doing so, he not only identifies the ability of our potential to guide us, but even more, our limitations.  While I differ in a few categories (like the unfortunate reality he is a pacifist), the wisdom and sage-ness of Life fought for and cultivated through suffering earns my deepest respect and admiration.  Palmer takes a candid and accessible approach into the honest journey from the false self to the true self.  It’s a book laden with depth, breadth, and guideposts to help us find our way home when we are lost at sea.

Here are a handful of quotes from the book to give you a taste:

“Before you tell your life what you intend to do with it, listen for what it intends to do with you… Vocation does not come from willfulness. It comes from listening.  I must listen to my life and try to understand what it is truly about – quite apart from what I would like it to be about – or my life will never represent anything real in the world, no matter how earnest my intentions.”

“as Frederick Buechner asserts when he defines vocation as ‘the place where your deep gladness meets the world’s deep need.'”

“Vocation at its deepest level is, ‘This is something I can’t not do, for reasons I’m unable to explain to anyone else and don’t fully understand myself but are nonetheless compelling.”

“Anytime we listen to true self and give it the care it requires, we do so not only for ourselves but for the many others whose lives we touch.”

“The punishment imposed on us for claiming the true self can never be worse than the punishment we impose on ourselves by failing to make that claim. And the converse is true as well; no reward anyone might give us could possibly be greater than the reward that comes from living by our own best lights.”

“Every journey, honestly undertaken, stands a chance of taking us toward the place where our deep gladness meets the world’s deep need.”

“Despite the American myth, I cannot be or do whatever I desire – a truism, to be sure, but a truism we often defy. Our created natures make us like organisms in an ecosystem; there are some roles and relationships in which we thrive and others in which we wither and die.”

“If I try to be or do something noble that has nothing to do with who I am, I may look good to others and to myself for a while. But the fact that I am exceeding my limits will eventually have consequences.”

“It took me a long time to understand that although everyone needs to be loved, I cannot be the source of that gift to everyone who asks me for it. There are some relations in which I am capable of love and others in which I am not. To pretend otherwise, to put out promissory notes I am unable to honor, is to damage my own integrity and that of the person in need – all in the name of love.”

“When I give something I do not possess, I give a false and dangerous gift, a gift that looks like love but is, in reality, loveless – a gift given more from my need to prove myself than from the other’s need to be cared for. That kind of giving is not  only loveless but faithless, based on the arrogant and mistaken notion that God has no way of channeling love to the other except through me. Yes, we are created in and for community to be there, in love, for one another. But community cuts both ways: when we reach the limits of our own capacity to love, community means trusting that someone else will be available to the person in need.”

“There is as much guidance in way that closes behind us as there is in way that opens ahead of us.”

“If we are to live our lives fully and well, we must learn to embrace the opposites, to live in a creative tension between our limits and our potentials. We must honor our limitations in ways that do not distort our nature, and we must trust and use our gifts in ways that fulfill the potentials God gave us. We must take the no of the way that closes and find the guidance it has to offer – and take the yes of the way that opens and respond with the yes of our lives.”

“I now know that anything one can do on behalf of the true self is done ultimately in the service of others.”

There is so much more goodness in these pages.  Check it out for yourself if you want to go deeper…

Superbly written, candid, redemptive, and amazing story of the intersection between Kingdom and marketplace. A must read for men shaping the leadership of organizations.

The following is the description from Amazon:

This is a story of dreaming big and working hard, of spectacular success and breathtaking failure, of shouted questions, and, at long last, whispered answers. With trademark wit and heart, Phil Vischer shares how God can use the death of a dream to point us toward true success.

Larry. Bob. Archibald. These VeggieTales stars are the most famous vegetables you’ll ever eat. Oops, meet. Their antics are known around the world. But so much of the VeggieTales story hasn’t been told. In Me, Myself, and Bob, Phil Vischer, founder of Big Idea and creator of VeggieTales, gives a behind-the-scenes look at his not-so-funny journey with the loveable veggies. From famed creator to bankrupt dreamer, Vischer shares his story of trial and ultimate triumph as God inspired him with one big idea after another.

This book was the birthplace of Saving Private Ryan and the HBO Band of Brothers series.  But those were the cliff notes. This is the meat. Looking into the lives of yesterday’s heroes – ordinary men called up into an extraordinary mission.  Ambrose is an incredible modern historian.

A stunning and heroic story of watching how the Kingdom of God of weaves it’s way into the fabric of our lives.  A page turner to the core.

Stunning writing. Essential pieces of history that we will repeat if we don’t read, listen to and learn from our past.  Egan reveals the birth of the US National Forest through the least likely places.  And he helps to show us how man’s inerrant ways have lead to the modern crisis of unhealthy forests, misinformed fire management strategy and consequent wildfires that are unprecedented in our lifetime.  Stories of heroism, courage, and bravery are woven through the tragedy and triumph. Great read. A must for anyone who spends time outdoors.

Remarkable writing and a stunning story hidden in the history of WWII.  You won’t be able to put this book down.

“Read History.”  This was some of the best counsel a sage gave me almost a decade ago and I haven’t stopped since.  Egan is a remarkable writer and gifted historian. While the Dust Bowl has come and gone from most of the collective memory of our nation, the timeless lessons just get better with age.  We have much to learn in this brilliantly told story, particularly in the categories of man and power, nature, stewardship of creation and finding and following the narrow road as Kingdom builders and innate adventure seekers.

The rare and remarkable story of the first successful heroic coast to coast journey of white explorers in America.  Ambrose is a remarkable modern historian. Hidden in these pages is the wilderness of America that has been mostly destroyed. And yet with it comes a hope and a desire to enjoy and conserve the remnant that remains (sound like a familiar story?). The insight into the masculine journey is incredible. Well worth the read.

America’s first band of brothers. Insights into our history, into the beauty and the mess of brotherhood and wonderings about how the hand of God was involved in writing our story in the most unexpected ways.

My all time FAVORITE book to read with my son.  Dahl said this was different than all his other books; this one wrote itself. He said he tried to keep up with his pencil as it wrote and wrote and wrote. He had no idea where the story was going until it’s masterful conclusion presented itself.  We laughed and wept and cheered as we read.  It’s a must.

No story has better captured the essence, the truth, the Goodness and the beauty of the Gospel as a story, than Lewis in The Chronicles of Narnia.  He rescues the imagination from a modern worldview and invites us and our children to be swept up into a Story that is big enough for our hearts to rest and hope.  A must read for our own hearts and to share aloud with the kids.

My kids and I wore the pages out on this book. An ancient Jewish Proverb recaptured in the imagination, creativity, and wonder of the west. A must read with fantastic pictures for your little kiddos.

One of our favorite activities is snuggling up and getting lost in epic adventure tales with our kids.  Even better when those adventure tales involve the wilderness and wrestle with the collision of the old ways and the new (modern) ones. A stunning story that is a must as part of the vision quest for your sons.

A great Christmas holiday read and a chance to write time-tested Kingdom values on the hearts of our children.

It’s really for us. But reading it to our children won’t make us feel as awkward as sipping a latte alone at Starbucks, reading about stuffed bunnies.  Being Real… what would the world look like if we all came home to that.  Casting off fear, fear of man, and walking out from under shame.  Being us. Alive. True. Real.  Giving love, receiving love, moving closer to the source of love…

As Brennan Manning says, “He loves us, because He loves us, because He loves us.  Not as we should be but as we are today.”  Lucado hits a home run in giving us a tool to communicate a thousand times over to our children, You Are Loved.

A modern sage. Rare among men.  Gary helps unlock the deep roots of shame and helps unravel it’s grip over our parenting. He offers practical skills rooted in deep Kingdom realities. Sit at this man’s feet and it’ll transform your life, your today, and your children’s future.

After reading this you’ll know why he waited until his 70′s to publish his first book.  Stunning writing, heroic stories of masculinity, adventure, beauty and wilderness.  The agony and hilarity won’t let you put this one down.

This book revolutionized my parenting.  Our hearts gravitate toward the biggest story we know.  I was brought home to that by Miller. Of course, we were made for the Larger Story. But we so often settle for such small ones.  In parenting, I’m now asking myself – am I inviting my children up into a bigger, better Story than the one they are living today?  Miller is hilariously self deprecating and yet leans into God for his hope. Honest, compelling, inviting.

A dramatic story of what it looks like to live out Kingdom Life and walk with God in a modern world. You won’t be able to put this adventure down.

A brilliant and foundational teaching that grounds our hearts in the reality of a Gospel, a story, a worldview, a way, that is ancient and unchanging and empowering to us in this moment.  A sage of sages.

Many people have told me that this book has brought clarity to their deep desire to understand the story in which they live (situational awareness) and the role in which they play.  Must read.

Peels back many layers to get to our heart and the heart of our God in order to bring hope and homecoming.

Covertly, it’s a book about heaven. If we knew where the Story was headed, we would live with more and more courage, risk and love.  This will help guide you there. Breathtaking book, written in the wake of John losing his closest friend and partner in ministry.

One of the most ruthless strategies of the enemy is to steal from us a picture and a deep knowing of who Jesus really is. We must recover this treasure if we are ever to have the supernatural and inextinguishable life that is offered through the Christian faith. These next three books have restored the heart of Jesus to my heart more than anything I’ve encountered…

Let the cobwebs and the fog blow away and see Jesus as He truly is.  There are few authors that are able to pull back the religious veil and truly experience Jesus.  If you want to know what He’s really like, reading John’s Beautiful Outlaw, Dallas’ The Divine Conspiracy and The Jesus I Never Knew from Yancey are a must.

How rare it is to sit at the feet of a man who has walked, intimately, with Jesus for almost a century… Keating offers insights on the true self like no other in Open Mind, Open Heart.  This sneak peek into some of the most stunning stories of Jesus is rich and remarkable…

Once we can unearth our hearts mired in the reality of both the lost older son and the lost younger son, we can finally turn toward home and receive all the inheritance that is ours as the true, beloved son.

Few teachers have ever brought a teaching and manifestation of the Kingdom of God, “on earth as it is in heaven,” as Dallas Willard.  Heady, thick but life transforming stuff in these pages.  I think of everyone I’ve encountered, Willard will be the least surprised by what He encounters when he Crosses Over and is finally home.

For the over achiever, the discipline of center prayer can be one of the life saving spiritual disciplines available. Keating is a sage of sages. This book is a doorway into a piece of freedom, a way of abiding in the presence of God, and receiving peace in a way that is set apart from most. A must read.

A candid and holy final swan song and autobiography of the heart as John eloquently captures Brennan’s life story of Grace just moments before he finally goes home… a must read on forgiveness, grace and Kingdom come.

While a remarkable read on worldview and spiritual warfare, Chapter 15 has enough profound insight on the Twin Thieves that seek to remove us from the Present moment (and our true union with God) to change us for all eternity…but even more, for LIFE, today.  A must read from spiritual warfare to lifestyle warfare.

Spiritual Warfare 101 at its best. Anderson walks verse by verse through a Biblical worldview of the supernatural.

The best biography I’ve read on Theodore Roosevelt. Millard’s focus is on Teddy’s last years, which were the toughest of his life.  This story centers around his (premature) exit from the US presidency and what would be his last epic wilderness adventure to the Amazon with his son, Kermit.  Brilliant, insightful. Must read.

No American figure has shaped me more than Teddy Roosevelt.  Auchinloss does a great job of offering a concise take on his story while cutting to the heart of this heroic and imperfect legend.

The Story of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph, told in some of the most stunning narrative and imaginative writing I’ve ever read. I’ve worn these pages out and lost count in the number of times I gave this book away.  The enemy is brilliant in making scripture become two dimensional, losing it’s heartbeat – losing the blood, sweat, tears and visceral dimensions of real people living out a real story with a wild, unfettered and free God. Buechner is simply brilliant. And the God He brings in these pages is even more… It’s a must to recapture the Story, Our Story in the mess and beauty of God’s people.

Epic, heroic story of Iwo Jima.  A great read to learn from our past and live more and more true in our present.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to identify that the spirit of the age is a driven, busy spirit.  Pushing people to exhaustion.  Rather than buckle up and make the best Christian version of a road leading to destruction, it’d do us all well to pause, make an honest assessment, and consider the cost and the outcomes of the road we are currently traveling.  Hart is engaging, medically-based and Kingdom bound to bring people to deeper healing, wellness and hope. There is another way.

David has touched upon some Truth, Goodness and Beauty that causes a deep pause in and decent into the what we do and why we do it.  It’s a challenge to the modern culture of hurry and busyness and a healthy questioning and possible alternative to a medical approach of pursuing life rather than avoiding death. From the inside out, this physician turned cancer patient has earned the right to be heard.

Building as Part II of Victory over the Darkness, Anderson leads us through the process of praying through our freedom.  This is an absolute must.

I’ve not encountered a man who knows the Father, and lives out of Sonship, more than George MacDonald.

A healthy, challenging, sobering and instructive alternative and possible way out from under the tyranny of the spirit of the age that has simply become the norm of our every day life.

Revolutionary, Maverick, Outcast. One of the men that history will be left to truly assess.  I can’t help but consider how much the Gospel is hidden and carried through paradox.  Ornish flips the possibility of preventing heart disease upside down (from a modern western medicine point of view) and takes a bold but balanced approach to considering that the solution for health and wellness might actually be in the places that were intended to bring us deep life in the first place.  A must read for wellness as we humbly engage the aging process, fight for life, and treat our bodies, souls and spirits with a posture that is grooming us to one day be sages that are alive, well and able to offer God’s heart and wisdom to the next generation.

A spiritual housecleaning. This is the best 101 version of praying through our stories and inviting the full work of Jesus to free us from bondage that I have ever seen.  It’s remarkable to do with a spouse, a close ally, or just solo with God. You won’t be the same after this. Can’t recommend it enough.

While we are often good at finding faults and shortcomings, sometimes it would do us well to find the greatest strengths and pieces of the Kingdom of God in which a community of folks have been able to walk in.  The Amish are a peculiar people no doubt. This story from the inside out is a candid, insightful and challenging suggestion of what forgiveness, incarnate, might look like as it expressed through the mess and reality of a group of people doing their best to walk with God.

While Berry is remarkable on many topics, his writing on power and how we handle it is remarkably insightful.  In this work, he relates it to the land we inhabit and how we care (or don’t care) well for it.  Berry is a revolutionary against a culture that worships knowledge and information but in many ways has turned a blind eye toward wisdom (Proverb 8).  Berry, including “What are People For,” is thought provoking and a deeply shaping voice from yesterday.

A direct disciple of Dallas Willard, practical, helpful and hopeful coaching and mentoring in practicing the spiritual disciplines.

Unpacking addiction like nothing else I’ve read, May helps to dramatically increase our awareness in both the addiction and it’s foundation being rooted in our desire to love, to be loved and to move closer to the source of love. Begin to recover freedom on the most intimate and personal levels available…

From a decade of research – data with a soul – Brown uncovers the timeless truths of the fall and the foundation of our false self (poser) rooted in shame and fear.  From that place she gives powerful, time-tested and research-proven action steps toward a lifestyle of shame resilience and increasing freedom.

We live in a culture supersaturated with leadership books. But great leadership books are still rare. This is among the few.  It’s a must read for considering a model for Kingdom leadership.

Page turner to the core. This story crosses many challenging themes and opens our hearts to wonder what God is up to in a person’s story and how we might take the road less traveled.

Fall off your chair hysterical stories of the good, bad and ugly of a Father’s unintended / intended counsel to a son.

The self deprecating humor will take you from hysteria to exhale and back again.  A less than capable attempt at hiking the Appalachian Trail is perfect backdrop to this levity, agony and hilarity.

The down side. You’ll never be able to naively enjoy a meal and and upscale restaurant again. The upside. The Truth will set you free. Everyone eats at restaurants.  It’s good to take a look under the hood at the back side.  If laughter is the best medicine, consider yourself healed.

Great hunting books are rare. I suppose it is because great hunting mentors are rare. To find a hunter that is passionate about the land, the animals, the chase, who values ethics and joy above all other pursuits in the woods and who is more interested in hunting stories than hanging antlers on a wall, is a holy treasure. Thomas is one of those men.  It’ll do a hunter well to sit at his feet and be mentored in the wilderness and it’s ways.

One of the founding fathers of the conservation movement, Leopold offers stunning hands-on miles and eloquent words to bringing home the idea of conservation as extending ethics to include land and animals.  In some deep ways he begins to capture Genesis 2 and Romans 8 in it’s mandate for us to steward ALL of creation – God’s people, God’s land, and God’s animals. And that restoration, of Kingdom come, includes all of creation applauding as the sons and daughters of God take their place leading, offering, and stewarding creation according to God’s heart, pleasure and purpose.  It would do us well to step out of the modern western evangelistic worldview and recover some other golden pieces of the Gospel that have been lost.

It is so easy in our modern holiday season to give way to cynicism.  Or even easier to simply get caught up in the tyranny of the urgent and the inordinate expectations and cultural BS of the holidays.  What can we do to recover the Truth, Goodness and Beauty of it all?

Years ago I was praying in anticipation of Christmas and asking God how to live true in the midst of so many temptations and roadside bombs. He said, simply, “Bring the Magic.”  A reference to C.S. Lewis’ beautiful take on the Deep Magic, I made it my mission for each Christmas.

God seems to use some stories to resuscitate my heart each December and remind me of the Magic so I can fight to bring that Deep Magic of the Kingdom and Immanuel – God with us, to my family.

Richard Paul Evans says it brilliantly.  So often we end up trading “diamonds for stones.”  In some effort to get validation outside of God, we take our question to our work, gathering stones, all the while trading the precious diamonds of the “years of our youth” with our wife and our kids.
This story is a quick and heartfelt read to help you recover the Deep Magic of Christmas.  I think you’ll enjoy…

Flips our perception of reality right side up to debunk the false claim that parents raise children.  In the end, when our kids are 30 or 40 we will come home to the reality that it is them who have raised us. It is only through the process of walking with God in parenting that we become the parents we wish we were yesterday.  Allender helps us not waste our pain, avoid the pitfalls we can, and parent from the heart with a healing Kingdom motive.

The second most formative book I’ve ever read – an incredible invitation in to masculinity and the deep and true paradoxes of the Christian faith, lived out in the field and in the fellowship of men. This is one of the most formative books on brotherhood, parent and community I’ve ever read.  It’s a must.

Through narration and artistry, this tapestry of history, tradition and scripture restores the imagination, wonder and awe of the most familiar Story of our faith. It was said by Lewis that through George MacDonald, God baptized his imagination.  For us to ever come into the fullness of knowing God and living in His Kingdom, our imagination needs to be baptized and restored.  This book is a great step. I have found myself returning to it every Christmas season for nearly a decade.  And with every return it leads my once again back to the Scriputures with renewed longing and hope. The ancient stories of Simeon, Anna, Zechariah, even the Inn Keepers are brought to light with the wonder and hope of all that is possible for us through the Incarnation. It is a must read for Christmas with the family.

Reading stories of great men has been a vital source of mentoring and nourishment for my masculine journey.  There are particular stories that stand out and make perfect sense looking back but when lived, looked much more seemingly odd or haphazard.  Stories like Joseph, Teddy Roosevelt and Reagan I count among them.  This autobiography is a fascinating story, not only of history but masculinity, sovereignty and God’s way with a man moving ever deeper into the life, walk and calling God has set for him.

The most formative and shaping book I have ever read.  Recover the heart that God has set within us, as men.

The Sacred Romance, John Eldredge – The very best book I’ve ever read laying out a Biblical Worldview. Walk with John as He lays out the Story we were born into and the heroic and crucial role we play.

The False Self, our “elaborate fig leaf” as John eloquently names, is so close to “us” it is hard to identify it. It’s a mask that has become so normal, that we have worn for so long, we are able to draw little distinction between our true self and the “self” that we have become. That false self, since the fall of man, is most deeply rooted in shame and fear (Gen. 3).  Brene Brown’s research is the best I have seen. She has mined “data with a soul” for over a decade to expose the roots of shame and fear and offer some life-giving possibilities in walking out into true shame resilience and steps toward freedom.  When taking her research and teaching, and then adding to it the essential categories of spiritual warfare (1 Peter 5, Ephesians 6) and true inner healing available today through Jesus (Isaiah 61) it’s a revolutionary model of wholeness.

No doubt one of the toughest books to get through. And yet, there is gold, deep and revolutionary gold, the whole way through out. Get this book. Stick with it. Reawaken some core parts of us as men that have been lost, stolen and atrophied.  Simply phenomenal writing and ideas on the heart of man as a generalist and as specialist/craftsman. A must read – the last page and the footnotes – for every man.