A Year in (Reading) Review 2023

Well, with 2023 nearly completed I figured I would go ahead and post my annual year in reading review. This year I read 56 books.

However, while typing this up I caught two books missing from my list. So it is conceivable I read more. But to be fair–you’ll also notice a fair amount of graphic novels on my list, including the Word for word Bible comics. If you decide those don’t count then the number is probably shorter by between 15-20. A while ago I decided to start including graphic novels because while some I can read very quickly, some are quite long and take a while. But the same is true of books: I read Legends and Lattes in about 3 days and On Getting Out of Bed in one. I realize I may be beating a dead horse at this point but in my defense (still on graphic novels) some of these books are long. The Five Families by Raab is over 800 pages of non-fiction history. The Expanse series is over 5,000. So I’m not trying to just pad my numbers. I guess you could say I’m both proud and surprised by this number.

So, a few standouts.

I’ve read The Godfather several times and seen the movies even more–I still marvel at the quality of this story.

Four Thousand Weeks was a very good book–not so much from the time management perspective (although perhaps it was?) but more from the fact that it really helped me focus not so much on my mortality, but on the limit of time I have here on this side of heaven. And specifically, how much has already passed me by. As New Years Eve approaches it is a bit like my life is being lived out in Times Square and, assuming I remain healthy, the ball is midway down the pole. So this has led to a lot of evaluation of my life and contemplation of my future but thus far it has only translated into minimal action. Insert shrug emoji here.

Leif Enger continues to remain one of my favorite authors–if that is possible for someone with only three works to their name. I put it off for a while but I finally read his third work, So brave, young and handsome. Mrs. Wine teased me about the title. It wasn’t until a conversation I shall shortly quote that it hit me what another beautiful book Enger had written touching upon themes like law preceding grace, or uninvited grace still has the power to work or oven the unfairness of God’s grace.

The entire plot of So Brave revolves around the criminal Glendon who has settled down. In his old age, he regrets leaving his wife Blue when the police were closing in on them so he, with his neighbor, set out to find her and to try to seek her forgiveness. In many ways, it is a parable for the Fall. After finding her and apologizing, Glendon begins to work as her employee. His friend suggests they could still get back together. Glendon replies that isn’t possible because of his past. His neighbor points out no one is still chasing him for those crimes and then they have the following conversation:

“Even if you’re right, does it remove my debt?”

“But wait, Glendon–you love Blue…That is partial payment at least, I would think.”

“It’s as you say. But if she loves me back, it deepens what I owe. There ain’t no parity in that arrangement.”

Glendon realizes that his sins put him in a position of debt towards society and his wife and even if she reciprocates his love, that only deepens his debt because he doesn’t deserve her love. He deserves justice.

This was also a year of awakening for me when it came to genre. For half of my life, I’ve told others my favorite genre is science fiction. But I realized this year my favorite books are all mysteries. So I decided to explore that theme further and man did I read some book mysteries. I started on the Darktown Trilogy by Thomas Mullens on vacation. The first one made me so angry and upset that it took a long time to read the next one. In terms of historical fiction, and a punch in the face for America’s racist (too recent) past, it is an excellent book. Not to mention a great mystery.

What else? The Sinatra Club was another disappointing read not because it wasn’t a riveting tale but because I had to face the reality of Our Thing. I’ve been obsessed with The Life since I first saw the Godfather and read at least one book on organized crime every year. This book was the first time I didn’t read some historic perspective that sanitized it but instead here was the total depravity of that life. I had to realize in my mind I had glorified a life that was just deplorable.

So, I could go on. But why? Here are the books I read this year:

Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree
The Godfather by Mario Puzo
Jesus: A Theography by Sweet and Viola
Republocrat by Carl Trueman
Strange Adventures by Tom King
The Human Target Vol II by Tom King
Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life by Nir Eyal
Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O’Brien

The Gods of Gotham by Lindsay Faye
Jesus in His Own Words by Robert Mounce
Word for word Bible comic
*The book of Ruth
*The Gospel of Luke
*The Gospel of Mark
*The book of Jonah
*The Gospel of Matthew
*The Book of Judges
*The Book of Joshua
*The Book of Esther
Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz: Stories from the Witch Knight and the Puppet Sorcerer by Garth Nix

The Five Families: the Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America’s Most Powerful Mafia Empires by Selwyn Raab
Stop Overthinking: 23 Techniques to Relieve Stress by Nick Trenton
American Gospel by Lin Enger
Atomic Habits by James Clear
On Getting Out of Bed by Alan Noble
Orbiting Jupiter by Gary Schmidt
Iron Lake by William Kent Krueger
Boundary Waters by William Kent Krueger
Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes by Ken Bailey
Be Thou My Vision by Jonathan Gibson
Warhammer 40K: Marneus Calgary Vol I by Kieron Gillen
So Brave, Young, and Handsome by Leif Enger
Christ-centered Exposition: Exalting Jesus in Exodus, by Tony Merida
How it Unfolds by James SA Corey
Darktown by Thomas Mullens
Lightning Men by Thomas Mullens
The Lilies of the Field by William Barrett
The Watchmen: Doomsday Clock by Geoff Johns
Letters by a Modern Mystic Frank Laubach
The 12 Topsy Turvy Very Messy Days of Christmas by James Patterson
The Santa Suit by Mary Kay Andrews
The Gospel of Mark by Tim Keller
The Attributes of God by AW Pink
The Sinatra Club: My Life Inside the New York Mafia by Sal Polisi
The Mystery of Iniquity by Daniel Taylor

The Expanse series by James SA Corey

• Leviathan Wakes
• Caliban’s War
• Abaddon’s Gate
• Cibola Burn
• Nemesis Games
• Babylon’s Ashes
• Persepolis Rising
• Tiamat’s Wrath
• Leviathan Falls
• Memory’s Legion

  

Last Christmas

So last night Mrs. Wine and I watched a film neither of us had seen before called Last Christmas. We stumbled upon it a bit humorously: Mrs. Wine despises the Christmas song of the same name and while teasing her I came across the film. I played the trailer thinking it would have said song playing on an endless background loop but instead, we both thought, ‘Hey, this looks like a good movie.’ And it was a good movie. But more than a good movie, the film portrayed a character who was the most Christlike figure I’ve seen in cinema in a very long time.

Last Christmas is about a family of Yugoslavian refugees living in London. Specifically, it is about the daughter Katarina (Kate) who had what they thought was a promising singing career that was derailed when she became seriously ill. After surgery and a significant time in the hospital, she finally was “okay.”

However, since that time, she has been far from okay. Kate works as an “elf” in a year-round Christmas store in London. She is functionally homeless: every night she goes to a bar, gets very drunk, and then goes home with a complete stranger. In that way, she has a bed. She had been living with different friends but one by one, those bridges were burned by her destructive behavior of drinking and sleeping around.

While at work one day she meets the mysterious Tom Webster. He takes an interest in her and keeps wanting to take her on a stroll (his idea of a date). At first, she isn’t interested: he isn’t her type. Namely, he seems to have his life together while Kate’s life is a mess. Eventually, she concedes and they go on a stroll (clip below):

This clip is a good summary of everything I just talked about. You see Kate, suitcase in tow, agreeing to go on a date with him at night. She is hoping it will end with her having a place to stay but instead, Tom takes her to a bus where she goes home–the first step in a process of healing for her.

On their date, he continually tells her to look up and follow him and takes her to a secret garden where he proceeds to tell her about the failures and struggles of the other people in the garden and then lets her know that she is “one of them” now.

Thus begins a most unlikely courtship for films these days. Kate’s relationship with Tom completely changes her with the point of serious change coming from a moment of total honesty from her: after the surgery that saved her life, instead of being okay as everyone told her she would be, she feels “half alive.” At the end of this conversation, Kate tries to get Tom to go to bed with her but he refuses.

After this, Kate is completely changed (not immediately, but gradually. And as she changes, you can tell she is being healed in her mind and spirit. She begins volunteering at a homeless shelter. Her relationship with her boss and work ethic change following a suggestion from Tom to try being nice to her boss. She mends things with her estranged sister and parents. She makes up with her friends by restoring the property she had destroyed when her life was out of control. The culmination of all of this comes when she goes to a bar one evening and is drinking. The scene is set up like the start of the film, but when a stranger comes up to her and offers to buy her a drink, she declines and leaves the bar alone. By the end of the film, Kate has found contentment with her life. She is happy with her job at the Christmas store and has decided to pause auditioning for shows.

I’ll try to not spoil the film by leaving out some key details about the ending and who (or what) is Tom.

As I mentioned at the start, Tom is the most Christ-like figure I’ve seen in cinema in some time. I say this for several reasons: he urges her to mend relationships, he isn’t afraid to call out her destructive sleeping habits, he encourages her to be kind to people who are rude to her, and repeatedly tells her to “look up” and find wonder in the world that surrounds her. The way of life he tries to introduce her to leads Kate to dedicate her life to serving the hopeless and building a community for them.

But my ah-ha moment came when Tom was still pursuing Kate and trying to get her to go on a date. Kate understood they weren’t compatible. Tom obviously had his life “together” and Kate clearly did not. What did he see in her?

What does God see in me? Why does he relentlessly pursue sinners? What is it about the faithless, highly imperfect church, that makes God stand by her and call her his bride?

There is a concept in our culture called “marrying up.” Men will often say they “married up” meaning they don’t deserve their wife. We, the body of Christ, have “married up.” We don’t deserve him. And yet here he is, repeatedly appearing in our lives, encouraging us to follow him, look up, and love us when we are a hopeless wreck. Thinking about it is as confusing as watching someone who “has it together” pursue a messed-up person. And in the film Last Christmas, that is exactly what happens–and the love completely transforms and heals Kate. I doubt I’ll watch it again but in terms of a beautiful betrayal of redeeming love, it is at the top of my list of recommended films.

A long goodbye begun too soon

It was the summer of 2006 and while traveling between the Berkshires, MA and Washington, DC I made a stop for a few days at a L’Abri. Since I was just passing through, I did not participate in any sort of guided study as is common at L’Abri. But the head of that location, Dick Keyes, was kind enough to still meet with me.

It is a moment that is frozen in time. I can still remember all of the details, down to the color of the shirt he was wearing. We spoke briefly and I answered the questions he asked. They were perceptive questions with little wiggle room when answering. When he finished he said, “Since you won’t be here long I think the best thing for you to do would be to listen to a sermon series by Tim Keller called Practical Grace.”

Who is that? I replied.

Oh, he is just a pastor in New York. But I think this series will help you.

So that day began my experience of the teaching of Dr. Timothy Keller.

My life was never the same.

I ended my educational goals at Ohio State early; forgoing a thesis and hopeful Ph.D. program and tested out to begin seminary. A career. A way of life. A way to see the world and understand it was all changed. It would be impossible to state how God used Tim Keller to completely remake me. And so very important to stress: it is an ongoing process.

So today is his memorial service and I am crying.

But I know he is not crying. He is rejoicing. After all, his last words made it clear he knew where he was going and was excited. What were his last words?

“There is no downside for me leaving, not in the slightest.”

Thank you, Dr. Keller. Thank you, God, for Dr. Keller.

You say Goodbye, I say Hello

Just a thought I had tonight: What does grace look like for the person in need of some goodness and lovingkindness (Titus 3:4)? Is it food, provided inexplicably out of nowhere and without end? A wine that never ends and tastes better than expected and is delivered free of charge, so you’re spared embarrassment at your wedding of being a poor host? Perhaps it is the question, ‘Do you want to be well,’ asked by the one longing to heal? Or maybe it is the willingness to not enter someone’s house but instead do them a favor from afar. Possibly this goodness is as uncomfortable. As uncomfortable as accepting an expensive gift delivered at a dinner party by an uninvited guest. Jesus is the grace of God on full display and if you want to know what the grace of God looks like, look no further than his actions in the Gospels.  

On being useful

Earlier this year I read Alan Noble’s small book On Getting Out of Bed. Overall, it was a good read with some insightful and timely things. But the last chapter really stuck with me. So here I am, a month or so later, with the book again. I checked it out to reread the last chapter and because this blog has become my own personal repository, I’m going to summarize and quote some of that chapter. I know that in the future it will help me to have this to draw on, maybe it will help someone else too.

When all is said and done, the only reason to get out of bed–that is, to live life–is for God and His glory. There are other reasons presented: you can live for the World, for the Flesh, or the Devil, but those only care about you “so long as you are useful to them” (97).

The World is only interested in whether you can contribute and be productive in its scheme to live independently from God. If you cannot help with that; say you become ill or too old or poor to help, then you are useless or even worse, viewed as a threat by the World.

“Once your body experiences more pain than pleasure your Flesh has no reason to keep going…To your Flesh, you are only useful while your personal experience of life is a net positive. And if you are not useful, your life is not worth enduring” (98).

An alternative to the World and the Flesh is living for the devil. A life lived for the devil is one that denies the sovereignty, goodness, and preservation of God. It is the self-sufficient person, the self-destructive person, the outwardly violent person. In this way of being, your value again comes down to being useful: how good at you at denying your dependence on God and facilitating open rebellion to him? (98-99)

So here is where Alan punched me in the face:

“Usefulness is the sole criterion for the World, the Flesh, or the Devil. But you have no use value to God. You can’t. There is nothing He needs. You can’t cease being useful to God because you were never useful to begin with. That’s not why He created you, and it’s not why He continues to sustain your existence in the world. His creation of you was gratuitous, prodigal. He made you because He loves you and for His own pleasure…If you live for the World, the Flesh, or the Devil, there is no room for grace, or for God’s gifts.” (99)

Let’s get political, political

I’ve been working my way through Ken Bailey’s Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes (which I highly recommend). He had a section on Luke 13 which helped expand my view of this passage, and the mission of Jesus. I thought I’d share my conclusions with you.

Luke 13:1-3 tells a troubling tale: “There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. ² And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? ³ No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.“

In the past, I’ve always used this (and the following verses) as a biblical demonstration that God does not see some sin differently from others. However, Dr. Bailey drew my attention to the heinous situation described in verse 1, and the expectation of what the Messiah would do. Namely, the Messiah would be a political force: he would liberate the people of God. The land that Jesus lived in was an occupied land. Roman controlled it and overtaxed it to support its wars and culture that was in total opposition to God’s will. Luke 13:1 is a raw picture of what that occupation looked like.

Some Galileans had made the biblically required journey to Jerusalem for the Passover. While in the Temple offering sacrifices, some Roman troops (for whatever reason) decided to slaughter them so that their blood was mingled with the blood of their sacrificial offerings.

Think about that: they are celebrating the sacred festival of Passover that is a celebration of God liberating the Jews from their slavery to the Egyptians. While offering their sacrifices, in the Temple no less, Romans troops (who now control the Jews and their land) decide to slaughter some of the pilgrims.

The Jews were yearning for the liberator God promised them. He would defeat the oppressors and restore the kingdom to Israel. Even Jesus’ closest disciples expected him to do this–hence their question to Jesus after the resurrection. They aren’t expressing astonishment at his resurrection but wanting to know if now, finally, he is going to restore the kingdom to Israel (Acts 1:6). And here, in Luke 13 in bringing this question up to Jesus they are placing the question very clearly before him: what are you going to do about the Romans?

Jesus’ response is just as shocking: unless you repent you will perish just like those Galileans (13:3).

Jesus was (and is) the Messiah but his mission was not to be a political force and liberate the people of God from political oppression but to save them from their sins (Matthew 1:21).

I think in our present times (at least in America) this raises several relevant questions:

1. Do you believe Jesus is the Messiah?
2. Do you take your sins and forgiveness seriously?
3. Are you hoping for a political Messiah?
4. Do you care more about forgiveness and salvation or a political change in the country?

So here we are two thousand years after Jesus died and rose from the dead and I think there are a lot of people in America who consider themselves Christian but are still stuck in Luke 13:1. They are in essence saying, “Jesus, did you hear about the terrible things happening to our country? Did you hear the horrible thing X Politician said? Did you see the terrible law Y Politician proposed? Jesus, did you hear about [insert the most extreme, shocking example you can think of like they did in Luke 13:1]? Jesus, what are you going to do about it?

To which Jesus responds, “What am I going to do? Do you think you’re somehow better than they are? Do you not realize what a terrible sinner you are? If you don’t repent, you will perish. The problem isn’t what political party is in office or what politician is doing something offensive. The problem is inside of you. Why are you so concerned about the political direction of this country when you are on the broad path that leads to destruction?”

Cogs in the Administrative Machinery

In the 1960s, the New Yorker commissioned the Jewish Nazi escapee Hannah Arendt to journey to Jerusalem to cover the trial of Adolf Eichmann. Afterward, she wrote a book reflecting on that experience where she wrote, “The essence of a totalitarian government, and perhaps the nature of every bureaucracy, is to make functionaries and mere cogs in the administrative machinery out of men, and thus to dehumanize them.”

Approximately twenty years earlier, CS Lewis wrote a book called The Screwtape Letters. Now, this is a book I recommend every believer should read at least once every three years. In the preface to the book (which he dedicated to his dear friend Tolkien!) Lewis wrote “I live in the Managerial Age, in a world of ‘Admin.’ The greatest evil is not now done in those sordid “dens of crime” that Dickens loved to paint. It is not done even in concentration camps and labour camps. In those we see its final result. But it is conceived and ordered (moved, seconded, carried, and minuted) in clean, carpeted, warmed and well-lighted offices, by quiet men with white collars and cut fingernails and smooth-shaven cheeks who do not need to raise their voices. Hence, naturally enough, my symbol for Hell is something like the bureaucracy of a police state or the office of a thoroughly nasty business concern.”

Currently, one of the books I am reading is Selwyn Raab’s Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America’s Most Powerful Mafia Empires. This book has been on my radar for a long while and I’m definitely enjoying it. One (among many) things I learned appears at the start of chapter 12.

“Two freshman senators wanted the prize. It would be an enviable plum: investigating organized crime.

The competitors were Estes Kefauver of Tennessee and Joseph R. McCarthy of Wisconsin. Both were groping in 1950 for the politically hot issue that would get them national headlines….Since Kefauver’s party, the Democrats, controlled the Senate, he outmaneuvered the Republican McCarthy for appointment as chairman of a special subcommittee to investigate interstate ‘gambling and racketeering activities.’

As a consolation, McCarthy found another provocative subject: probing Communist influence in the government.” (p. 96).

Fascinating, and frightening, how the course of history hinges on bureaucracy and the assignment to a committee.

One in a Million

Good Friday has always held a special place in my heart. I can remember when I was still new to the faith, even on the fence and spectating more than believing, sneaking off from work to a Good Friday service (I used to work Friday nights) before heading back after its conclusion.

It was my favorite service when I was a pastor.

We had plans to attend one tonight and see my sister and niece sing in their choir but unfortunately, that didn’t happen. However, it didn’t happen for a good reason: we rather unexpectedly ended up with another dog for our family! That is a story for another time.

What I wanted to write about today, however, was the ordinary nature of the crucifixion.

There was nothing extraordinary about Jesus’ crucifixion. I know it can seem that way. When I thnk about it in my own personal devotions, it is very easy to picture only Jesus on the cross. Crucifixes adorn walls around the globe, but the crucifix isn’t simply depicting a generic victim, but Jesus.

Crucifixion happened all the time in ancient Rome.

There is a scene in The Chosen when Jesus and the disciples are entering a city and as they enter it there are people along the road who have been crucified. Everyone is passing by as if it is no big deal–because it wasn’t. Jesus pauses as if he is considering their fate and his future.

There is much I appreciate about the scene but on Good Friday there is one point I’d like to make: Rome crucified people every day.

When the rebellion of Spartacus was put down, 6,000 people were crucified in a day.

During the Jewish rebellion of 71 AD 500 people were crucified a day for months.

Why should it matter then, that one day in Jerusalem, several criminals were crucified including an itinerant rabbi?

Because that rabbi was not just any other man. And it was impossible for death to hold him.

Dink Farrik IPA

I’m a bit of a Star Wars fan. If you know me, then you know for example, that I have multiple shelves with models I’ve assembled over the years. Or you’ve seen the t-shirts. Or you know my wallpaper is a scene from Rebels which is, IMHO, the best star wars after the original trilogy. Or that I think Dave Filoni is George Lucas’ Paul. If you know, you know.

I also like watching The Mandalorian and I’ve enjoyed the introduction of sci-fi swear words like Dink Farrik. It is a fun way to get around censorship and keep something appropriate for other ages while also adding depth to the star wars universe.

I also brew gluten free beer and, generally, enjoy doing so.

I was brewing up a batch about 3 weeks ago. It was a bit of a cobbled together recipe. I had a bunch of different ingredients leftover from prior purchases and wanted to get another type of beer in the basement. So here is the recipe I came up with:

3 Gallon Recipe

3.3lbs Sorghum

1lb D-45 Candi Syrup

1lb Maltodextrin

2 cups Brown sugar

3oz Cascade Hops

S-05 Yeast

So here is the thing: everything that could go wrong went wrong. I kind of improvised this and (maybe) brewed it without being totally prepared. I had the sorghum and sugar and malto in the pot with the water at a boil. It was a smaller pot because I was doing a 1 gallon boil. When I added my first round of hops it did something that has never, ever, happened: I had a boil over!

So here was the first problem: I definitely lost some hops and sugar. No idea how much.

After I got everything under control I proceeded with the brew. The rest of it went fine. When it came time to add the brew into the bucket I had another problem: I didn’t have any hop bags for the brew. No biggie; in the past I used a very fine sieve to pour everything through. Wouldn’t you know that after everything was poured thourhg it and the sieve was draining into the bucket, the stupid thing fell into the bucket. So many hops fell into the bucket, it was awful. I decided whatever, I’ll treat this like a dry hop (even though it isn’t). Put the lid on and called it a day.

I racked it a week later and got a LOT of hops out.

Bottling day came and I remembered that I had used all of my sanitizing solution. So I put in an order and the thing sat in the bucket for about another week. Oops.

I racked it a few more times and then bottled it. Most of the hops were removed.

So, I decided to call it Dink Farrik IPA. Because it, dink farrik, nothing went right.

I’ll let you know how it tastes.

The honey ale is bottle conditioned. I’ll post a separate review of it later but I have started to enjoy it.

I think, however, I am happier that I have two different beers in bottles. It has been many years since my homebrew operations were up and running like this.

Thou Shall Not Kill

As parents, Mrs. Wine and I feel it is very important to speak loudly into the lives of our children when it comes to reinforcing our worldview. We recognize this isn’t simply brainwashing or removing the ability of our kids to “choose their own path” but rather, we are in competition with all of the other voices that speak into their lives.

So we do this in a variety of ways. They attend a private, Christian school. We attend and are involved in church. We have family devotions and other, intentional, moments of addressing faith and life. We pray daily as a family. Stuff like that.

One thing we try to do–but not as well as I’d like–is get ahead of the culture and speak to them first about things, providing a biblical perspective on whatever the hottest trend is in society. You can’t “shield” them from it–it is impossible. So we try to “break the news” to them first. Sometimes this works; sometimes we’re the ones surprised by what they already know.

Strange World is a movie on Disney that they keep asking to watch. We keep telling them that’s fine, but we need to talk about some elements of it first. Later, while mentally going over what I’d say to them I suddenly found myself thinking about violence. We watch Star Wars. We’ve started watching Marvel movies. How many people have they seen virtually die, I wondered, and I never stopped to point discuss that murder is a sin?

One of their favorite shows is Nicky, Ricky, Dicky, and Dawn. The show follows the adventures of four quadruplets. Basically, in every show, they do something they know they shouldn’t do. Then lie about it. The lie causes more problems so they lie some more until it blows up and they have to admit the truth. While our children know lying is a sin and why the truth matters, I’ve never discussed lying with them before watching a show that features liars.

It seems like, after so many years of trying to make grace a priority in my life–experiencing it, sharing it, teaching it, modeling it–I still excel at something more than anything else: being selective in what sins matter.

If the wages of sin is death, then it doesn’t matter what the sin is you’re guilty of–the consequence remains the same as does the solution. As I used to tell people if you swim 50 feet from shore and drown or 1,000 feet from shore and drown who is the worse swimmer? It doesn’t matter because both swimmers are dead.

We will still speak to them about Strange World because it is important to do so. But it is also important to not limit conversations to things our particular culture cares about while ignoring the things God has made clear matter.