Post-Health Care Reform Resolves

1. Pray more. 1 Thessalonians 5:17
2. Listen first. James 1:19
3. Work harder. Colossians 3:23
4. Serve others. Galatians 6:9
5. Defend life. Proverbs 24:11-12
6. Grumble less. James 5:9
7. Do justice. Amos 5:24
8. Love mercy. Micah 6:8
9. Walk humbly. Proverbs 15:33
10. Rejoice always. 1 Thessalonians 5:16
11. Trust Jesus. Revelation 19:6

A Lifetime of Reading

1. Read--“A broad interest in books usually means a broad interest in life.” Lyman Abbott

2. Read Deeply--“ Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body. Richard Steele

3. Read Out of Your Time--“I hate to read new books. Contemporary writers may generally be divided into two classes—one’s friends or one’s foes. Of the first we are compelled to think too well, and of the last we are disposed to think too ill, to receive much genuine pleasure from the perusal, or to judge fairly of the merits of either.” William Hazlitt

4. Read Classically--“A classic is a book that has never finished saying what it has to say.” Italo Calvino

5. Read Above Your Head--“You may perhaps be brought to acknowledge that it is very well worthwhile to be tormented for two or three years of one’s life, for the sake of being able to read all the rest of it.” Jane Austen

6. Read and Re-Read--"Re-reading, we always find a new book." C.S. Lewis

7. Have a Plan--“It is a good plan to have a book with you in all places and at all times.” Oliver Wendell Holmes

8. Medium Is Nearly as Vital as Message--“If you cannot read all your books, at any rate handle, or as it were, fondle them.” Winston Churchill

9. Follow the Footnote Trail--“If a book is worth reading, it is worth buying.” John Ruskin

10. Leave a Legacy--“A little library, growing every year, is an honorable part of a man’s history.” Henry Ward Beecher

11. Joy in the Journey--“When I get a little money, I buy books; and if there is any left, I buy food and clothes.” Desiderius Erasmus

2010 Super Bowl Ad Favs

1. VW: Stevie Wonder Punching Game
2. Google: Parisian Love
3. Snickers: Betty White
4. The Late Show: Leno, Oprah, and Letterman
5. NFL: Liftoff
6. Budweiser: Longhorn and Clydesdale
7. Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood
8. Dodge Charger: Man’s Last Stand
9. Denny’s: Overworked Chickens
10. Doritos: Ninja Revenge
11. Focus: Tebow and Mom

Favorite Fiction of 2009

1. The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun by J.R.R. Tolkien
2. Dandelion Fire by N.D. Wilson
3. Agincourt by Bernard Cornwell
4. The Ebb Tide by James Blaylock
5. The Vintage Caper by Peter Mayle
6. The Stress of Her Regard (Revised Edition) by Tim Powers
7. Metamorphosis by James P. Blaylock and Tim Powers
8. Relentless by Dean Koontz
9. Ancient Highway by Brett Lott
10. Tales of the Perilous Realm by J.R.R. Tolkien
11. Again to Carthage by John Parker

Favorite Non-Fiction of 2009

1. Infinity of Lists by Umberto Eco
2. The White Horse King by Ben Merkel
3. Churchill by Paul Johnson
4. Reflections on the Revolution: Islam and the West by Christopher Caldwell
5. Free by Chris Anderson
6. Calvin: A Heart for Devotion, Doctrine, and Doxology by Burk Parsons, editor
7. Why Architecture Matters by Paul Goldberger
8. Planet Narnia by Michael Ward
9. Heroes by Iain Murray
10. The Christian Lover by Michael Haykin
11. Five Cities that Ruled the World by Doug Wilson

Favorite Theology of 2009

1. Counterfeit Gods by Tim Keller
2. Notes from the Tilt-a-Whirl by N.D. Wilson
3. Sabbath Scripture Readings by Thomas Chalmers
4. Romans: St. Andrew’s Commentary by R.C. Sproul
5. The Commission by David Zanotti
6. Sermons Beyond Volume 63 by Charles Spurgeon
7. John Calvin by John Piper
8. Speaking the Truth in Love: John Frame's Theology by John Hughes
9. The Marrow of Modern Divinity by Thomas Boston
10. In Christ Alone by Sinclair Ferguson
11. A Better Freedom by Michael Card

Favorite Carols

1. Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming
2. Wexford Carol
3. Good King Wenceslas
4. Sussex Carol
5. Coventry Carol
6. Divinum Mysterium
7. Nos Golan
8. Once in Royal David's City
9. Wessex Carol
10. A Virgin Unspotted
11. Joy to the World

Jesse's L'Abri Adventure

Winter Favs

1. The beautiful Yuletide season at Parish.
2. Greg Wilbur’s Lessons and Carols.
3. Afternoons writing snug in the Daug Haus.
4. My annual January mission trip—this year to Iraq, Italy, and Austria.
5. Long dark mornings with café robusto at Maxximo Jo’s
6. Football played in the cold, cold, cold.
7. Big hot bowls of Texas chili.
8. A fresh batch of journals to work with.
9. Gethsemane Farms cakes.
10. Dokkestul chocolate covered cherries.
11. My Chesterton and Solzhenitsyn reading plan (I just can’t seem to read either during the warmer months).

Winter Light

My Current Favs

St. Andrew's Chapel

How to Tell You've Arrived at Cafe Tejas