Pastor Writer: Conversations on Reading, Writing, and the Christian Life

Shakespeare described the world as a stage and pointed out that a man plays many parts throughout his life. Shakespeare's stages helped me start to recognize some of these unique instincts at work in myself and the men I know. But I also began to recognize them in the men of the Bible. If you read the Biblical stories carefully, it becomes clear that the men of the Bible don't make for great heroes. Their lives are too complicated and messy. They are instead, companions. They expose the complexity of our own lives, and by their lessons, help us find a better way forward as well.

In this new 9-part series, we're taking a closer look at The 5 Masculine Instincts. The series will lead us up to the book's launch on March 1, 2022. In our first conversation, we discuss the question of men and meat, how masculinity has become so controversial, and why men feel a sense of cultural malaise. If you're interested in the book, you can learn more by visiting the5masculineisntincts.com. There you can find information about pre-ordering as well as some special bonuses including all of these interviews in video format. 

Each year, as Christmas comes around, I sit down to make a list of the ten books that most impacted my thinking in the previous year. It’s an interesting exercise for anyone to do. I look through my amazon orders, my bookshelves, and my audible account and I try to recognize the books that impacted me most. In this episode, you'll find a list and explanation of those 10 books.I’d also love to hear what you’ve been reading. Maybe you would create your own list and share it with me. Post it in the Insider’s Facebook group or on social media.Books, and authors who write them, depend on us talking bout them and sharing them. So let’s do it. What did you read that impacted you most in 2021? I can’t wait to hear about it and maybe add some books to my reading list for 2022.

Preston Ulmer, founder of the Doubters’ Club, is passionate about fostering friendship between Christians and atheists. He shares insights on creating empathetic dialogues that encourage understanding and connection amid differing beliefs. Ulmer discusses the need for churches to adapt to cultural shifts and engage meaningfully with skeptics through initiatives like his Doubters’ Club. He emphasizes practical strategies for nurturing faith conversations, moving beyond traditional conversion tactics to build authentic relationships.

Tom Nelson is president of Made to Flourish (MTF), a network that seeks to empower pastors to lead churches that produce human flourishing for the common good. He has also served as senior pastor of Christ Community Church in Leawood, Kansas, for almost thirty years.A council member for The Gospel Coalition, Tom is the author of Work Matters: Connecting Sunday Worship to Monday Work, Five Smooth Stones: Discovering the Path to Wholeness of Soul, and Ekklesia: Rediscovering God’s Design for the Church. He speaks regularly on faith, work, and economics.He joins me today to talk about his book, soon to release, The Flourishing Pastor: Recovering the Lost Art of Shepherd Leadership. It's out from IVP December 14.

Lee Strobel is a former award-winning legal editor of The Chicago Tribune and a New York Times best-selling author of more than forty books that have sold fourteen million copies in total.He currently serves as Founding Director of the Lee Strobel Center for Evangelism and Applied Apologetics at Colorado Christian University.Lee has been described in the Washington Post as “one of the evangelical community’s most popular apologists.”You probably know him best for the Case for Christ. Lee has won national awards for his books The Case for Christ, The Case for Faith, The Case for a Creator, and The Case for Grace. His latest books are The Case for Miracles and the one he joins me to talk about today, The Case for Heaven.

ERIC METAXAS is a #1 bestselling author whose books have been translated into twenty-five languages. The host of a nationally syndicated radio show and the acclaimed conversation series Socrates in the City, he is a prominent cultural commentator whose work has appeared in the New York Times, the New Yorker, The Atlantic, and the Wall Street Journal. He lives with his family in New York City.He joined me to talk about his new book, Is Atheism Dead?

Gary Schnittjer teaches biblical Hebrew and Old Testament for the School of Divinity at (CArn) Cairn University. He is the author of the new book, Old Testament Use of Old Testament. It is a reference book for students and ministers of the word with chapters on every book of the Old Testament as well as a chapter on looking “Toward the New Testament.”He is currently doing research for writing projects under contract with Baker Academic, B&H Academic, and Zondervan Academic. He is also finishing work on the second edition of Torah Story.

Todd Miles is Professor of Theology at Western Seminary in Portland, Oregon, where he teaches theology, church history, hermeneutics, and ethics. Prior to becoming a seminary professor, he was a nuclear engineer at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.He joined me to talk about his new book, Cannabis and the Christian: What the Bible Says about marijuana.