C.S. Lewis Books | CHEAP For Kindle

A bunch of C.S. Lewis books are cheap for your Kindle...

• Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold ($2.24)
• On Stories: And Other Essays On Literature ($2.51)
• The World's Last Night: And Other Essays ($2.51)
• Of Other Worlds: Essays & Stories ($2.51)
• A Mind Awake: An Anthology of C.S. Lewis ($2.51)
• All My Road Before Me: The Diary Of C.S. Lewis, 1922-1927 ($2.99)
• The Four Loves ($2.24)
• Letters To Malcolm: Chiefly On Prayer ($2.51)
• Surprised By Joy: The Shape Of My Early Life ($2.24)
• Reflections On The Psalms ($2.24)
• The Business Of Heaven: Daily Readings From C.S. Lewis ($2.51)
• Present Concerns ($2.51)
• Poems ($2.51)

Stream New Phoenix Album, Bankrupt!

Stream the new album from Phoenix: Bankrupt! now through iTunes.
It's out next week. Click on album cover or here to listen free.

"Deafening Silence" & Kermit Gosnell

If I told you that in a small building, in a major metropolitan city, within a state of these United States of America there were over 100 children born into this world and then summarily executed, would you expect there to be a national outcry? Would you expect that there would be candle vigils outside this ghastly and horrific place? Would you expect that our President would call a press conference and ask the nation to be in prayer? Would you expect this to be the subject of discussion over the water cooler at work? Would you expect it to be the main story on the nightly news, the front cover of your daily newspaper, the lead story on NPR, and the subject of call-in talk radio shows? If you would expect this, then your expectations would be unrealized. Our country is in the midst of a national crisis, a crisis of conscience, a crisis of avoidance, and a crisis of morality. And the response is deafening silence.

Read more at Kevin DeYoung's blog from guest blogger Jason Helopoulos

Kindle Books on Sale 4.9.13

• Center Church | Tim Keller ($5.99)
• Preaching & Preachers | Martyn Lloyd-Jones ($3.99)
• Jesus the Son of God | D.A. Carson ($3.99)
• Scandalous | D.A. Carson ($4.99)
• Loving the Way Jesus Loves | Phil Ryken ($4.99)
• Dangerous Calling | Paul David Tripp ($5.99)
• A Meal With Jesus | Tim Chester ($3.99)
• Historical Theology | Gregg Allison ($5.99)
• Entrusted with the Gospel - from 2009 Gospel Coalition ($4.99)
• The Gospel as Center - the 14 Gospel Coalition booklets in one book ($5.99)
• The Church Planting Wife | Christine Hoover ($4.99)
• The Good News We Almost Forgot | Why We Love The Church | Just Do Something | Kevin DeYoung ($4.99 each)
• Brothers, We Are Not Professionals | John Piper ($4.39)
• The Gospel & Personal Evangelism | Mark Dever ($3.99)
• Creature of the Word | Matt Chandler, Eric Geiger, Josh Patterson ($3.49)
• Counterfeit Gospels | Trevin Wax ($4.99) 
• Gospel ($3.49) & Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart ($4.39) | JD Greear

New Music Tuesday | Oblivion Soundtrack

I'm no expert on soundtracks and scores, though there are some I just love. Part of the reason some are so appealing to me is they are cohesive and I occasionally find one that is a joy to play as I work, write, study, etc. One new soundtrack that fits my tastes and is by a band I just love, M83, is the Oblivion Soundtrack. I have no idea if the movie is any good, and at this point I don't care. I'm just enjoying the sounds as I work. And it's only $5 for a short time! Go get it.

$5 Albums | April 2013

If you haven't seen them yet, here are some albums you need to check out that are only $5 right now!

• Foxygen: We Are The 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic | I have been listening to this one a lot lately.
• The Avett Brothers: The Carpenter
• The XX: Coexist
• Phosphorescent: Muchacho
• Tegan & Sara: The Con
• The White Stripes: Icky Thump 
• Dan Deacon: America
• The Black Keys: Magic Potion
• Metric: Synthetica
• Animal Collective: Centipede Hz
• Pearl Jam: Vs

Streaming FREE Albums 4.8.13

Iron & Wine: Ghost on Ghost | Whoa. A whole different sound. Interested in your feedback.

The Flaming Lips: The Terror | "Sounding almost post-apocalyptic in its scabrous, searching bleakness — Coyne himself describes the album as "disturbing"..." Yikes. 

The Shouting Matches: Grownass Man | Includes Justin Vernon of Bon Iver playing mostly falsetto-less blues-rock. I hear Wilco, Black Keys, & other flavors here. This isn't your hipsters' Justin Vernon. And it may be impossible for this to have been recorded in a rural cabin. Check it out.

The Knife: Shaking the Habitual | One of my favorite, creepy, beat-centric bands. Get ready for quirk.

Cheap Kindle Books 4.5.13

Some fantastic books are cheap on Kindle right now...

• The Church Planting Wife | Christine Hoove ($4.99) - please go buy this!
• The Good News We Almost Forgot | Why We Love The Church | Just Do Something | Kevin DeYoung ($4.99 each)
• Glorious Ruin | Tullian Tchivijian ($4.49)
• Brothers, We Are Not Professionals | John Piper ($4.39)
• The Gospel & Personal Evangelism | Mark Dever ($3.99)
• The Deep Things Of God | Fred Sanders ($3.82)
• Creature of the Word | Matt Chandler, Eric Geiger, Josh Patterson ($3.99)
• Counterfeit Gospels | Trevin Wax ($4.99) 
• Gopsel | JD Greear ($3.99)

Mako Fujimura | Top 5 Books on Creativity

I love Makoto Fujimura's art and reading his thoughts on art, in his book Refractions and elsewhere. Mako lists and gives some comment on his five favorite books on creativity at Christianity Today. Read his comments each book there, but here's his list...

• The Gift: Creativity & The Artist In The Modern World | Lewis Hyde
• On Beauty & Being Just | Elaine Scarry
• Walking On Water: Reflections On Faith & Art | Madeleine L'Engle
• The Mind of the Maker | Dorothy Sayers
• Four Quartets | T.S. Eliot

National Poetry Month 2013

It's here again! Always look forward to National Poetry Month (NPM). It's a good yearly reminder to consider our words and make the most of them. May our words be pregnant with meaning! It's a good reminder to see the world thorugh a poet's eyes. In a world of abbreviations, texting, and Twitter we would do good to say more with less. And it would be good in the hustle of life to slow down and digest something beautiful in slow meditation, seeing every word in its place and with its purpose.

Who are some poets you like? It's ok if you don't know the book sort. What songwriters do you like?

For more info on National Poetry Month, go to The Academy of American Poets website (Poets.org) (also Twitter | Facebook). They founded NPM in 1996.

New Albums Streaming FREE 4.1.13

• Besnard Lakes: Until In Excess, Imperceptible UFO | Yucky title that probably has some really important meaning (?)...but I love this dreamy, ambient rock goodness
• Kurt Vile: Wakin On A Pretty Daze | I dig it
• The Black Angels: Indigo Meadows
• Caveman: Caveman
• The Lovely Wild: The Sun As It Comes

Keller | Four Kinds Of People

In Tim Keller's excellent expository guide to Galatians says there are four kinds of people concerning works & the law. I'll give you his categories with a very short explanation. Check out Galatians For You (Amazon, Kindle, WTS) starting on page 117 for a fuller explanation.

1. Law-obeying, law-relying | "Under the law," often smug, self-righteous, superior. Sensitive to criticism despite outward confidence. "Pharisees." They go to church.
2. Law-disobeying, law-relying | Strong works-righteousness, but not living consistently. May go to church, but on periphery b/c of low spiritual self-esteem. Guilt-ridden.
3. Law-disobeying, not law-relying | Secular & relativistic. Vague spirituality. Choose own moral standards & insist they are meeting them. Earn salvation by feeling superior to others.
4. Law-obeying, not law-relying | Understand the Gospel and living out the freedom of it. More tolerant than #3, more confident than #2, more sympathetic than #1. Still struggle to live out #4 and see the world as a #1, #2, or #3.

Raised?

Jonathan Dodson's new book is out, and it's free, and it's just in time for Easter: Raised?: Doubting the Resurrection. As you go download it for Kindle, iBooks, or as a PDF (or all three, like I did)...comment and share your favorite books on the resurrection. 

Creature of the Word | The Mission Chasm

If the church leaders say to people, "Living on mission in our city is vital," yet they rarely if ever offer opportunities for people to serve the city, then a chasm exists between how the leaders see the church and how others see her.

Creature of the Word (Kindle, WTS Bookstore), by Chandler, Patterson, & Geiger, pg 97.

New Music Tuesday 3.19.13

Several significant albums released today. I wanted to point out the ones I recommend you check out. There are even more than these I'm checking out but don't know well enough to recommend for you. This week I'm struggling to choose which to buy. I want all of these, and maybe a couple more. A good problem to have!

Low: The Invisible Way | One of my favorite bands with what sounds like is another great album. Highly recommend you check Low out. Many good reviews too.

Justin Timberlake: The 20/20 Experience | Before you roll your eyes, Pitchfork gives it 8.4/10. I think JT has been making some of the best, coolest, most fun pop music around...and that was 7 years ago. Now finally with a new album, we get one of the most interesting, engaging, funny, and talented performers of our time with fresh lungs and sounds. Enjoy!

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club: Specter at the Feast | $5 right now. A bit of return to form to earlier albums I really loved. Paste: 8/10. I think this is a band often overlooked and who should have a wider appeal.

Phosophorescent: Muchacho | Getting great reviews. Pitchfork 8.8/10. I heard this streaming free and really liked it and will be picking it up.

Anais Mitchell & Jefferson Hamer: Child Ballads | Not "ballads for children," but Celtic & British ballads compiled by Francis James Child. You'll struggle to find an album more thoroughly beautiful this week.

Stornoway: Tales from Terra Firma | Wonderful acoustic, folksy sounds. Very interested in this one.

Woodkid: The Golden Age | Fascinating sounds, from haunting vocals and to a visual quality to the music. It's engaging. Reminds me of Antony & the Johnsons as well as my album of the year a couple of years ago, The Poison Tree.

Les Miserables Soundtrack (Deluxe Edition) | If you can't stop singing it (see: my wife and daughter), this 42 track double album is the whole dealio. A must for lovers of the film/musical.

Vampire Weekend | "Diane Young" & "Step"

If this is the new direction of Vampire Weekend, I'm in! These two songs have me all worked up over the awesomeness. New album, Modern Vampires of the City, out in May. Here's "Diane Young" and "Step."

Music Monday 3.18.13

Here are albums streaming free this week that I think are worth checking out...

• Julian Lynch: Lines | I'm listening to this now, and it's fascinating. Electric folk Americana something. I hear Sufjan influence. Really digging it.
• Wavves: Afraid of Heights
• DJ Koze: Amygdala
• Black Rebel Motorcycle Club: Specter at the Feast
• Low: The Invisible Way (out tomorrow, I will be buying it)

Josh Garrels is still giving away 5 albums FREE.

Jonathan Meiburg of Shearwater covers Roy Orbison's "It's Over" in the Texas outdoors. If you don't know Jonathan's work (with Okkervil River too), you should check it out. I still think Palo Santo is his best work. Covering Orbison is hard work, but well done by JM.

Jonathan Meiburg of Shearwater plays "It's Over" by Roy Orbison

Josh Garrels | 5 Free Albums

This is so good. Josh Garrels, the dude who made the excellent 2011 album Love & War & The Sea In Between (my #5 of 2011), is giving away his five albums free. FREE, I say. All "tips" go to World Relief, so don't be afraid to give if you have the means. This is a really cool thing for Josh to do! 

Lots-o-Links 3.13.13

Sam Storms has a new blog, is on Twitter, and you can "Like" on Facebook. It's a trifecta of Stormsian awesomeness!

I got a Maglus Stylus for my iPad (and one for Joe) and it's great! I've tried several now, and it's the best I've used. Joe told me today he's loving his too. Not only is the tip wonderfully responsive with minimal pressure, but the fact it's magnetized makes it almost impossible to forget. PLUS, if you click here you can get yours for 10% off. I seriously hope many will try this one out. LOVE it.

Serving Without Sinking is another book put out by The Good Book Company that I look forward to reading. Actually Molly might beat me to it. It looks quite helpful for those in ministry needing to not merely do our job, but to find delight in our service to Christ.

Eugene Peterson: Living the Resurrection is $1.99 for Kindle.

If you haven't seen it yet, I really hope wives of church planters, pastors' wives, and wives of men in all sorts of ministries buy and read The Church Planting Wife. Molly has been so blessed through it.

Studly Stylus for My Best Buddy

UPDATE 4.3.13: I paid full price, but you can get 10% off by using this link! Get it.

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I get to spend some time with my buddy, Joe Thorn, today. I'm giving him the Maglus Stylus so we can match. Matching is very manly. It's hardly going to make up for him organizing to get me a MacBook Pro & iPad, but should make his life a little better.

I've been using it for a few days and love it. If you are in the market for a stylus, you can go from very cheap to very expensive with various results. I have a couple of cheaper ones around for when I can't find anything else, but this is the one I want with me. Check out the reviews of the Maglus along with a bunch of others at The Verge. Really helpful videos are what sold me on this one.