What Are Shepherds Like?: Books I Read in 2025, Vol. XIV

 

THEY SMELL LIKE SHEEP: Spiritual Leadership for the 21st Century
Dr Lynn Anderson

What kind of leadership will effectively lead the church into the morally turbulent twenty-first century? The same kind of leadership that lead it through the morally and politically chaotic first century. Shepherding. This is the kind of leadership Jesus used, and this is the kind of leadership that will take his church where he wants it to go. While the term "shepherd" produces warm images of love, care, and tenderness, it also describes a form of leadership that is perilously protective, dangerous, dirty, and smelly.

This is the second time I’ve read this book. The first was well over a decade ago—maybe even two—when all the elders at Valley Christian Church read and discussed it together. This time, I revisited it to discuss it with a man in our congregation who’s going through an internship on the path toward becoming an elder. After so many years, it felt almost like reading it for the first time, filled not so much with “ah-ha” moments but with several quiet “ah-so” reflections. I highly recommend this book—not only for potential elders, but for all members of a congregation. For both audiences, it’s rich with Scriptural truth and offers a healthy challenge to what can too easily become “business as usual” in North American “churchianity.”

First Line: Christian people everywhere are crying out for spiritual leaders  -  men and women grounded in the Word of God, made wise by the experiences of life, and filled with the love and compassion of Christ.

Page 56 / Line 5: If we don't provide the flock with positive mentors, many sheep will flock to negative mentors by default.

A Good Line from Somewhere in the Middle: Decision making, having meetings, and administrating  -  while they may have a place in implementing certain minor parts of an elder's role  -  do not constitute the biblical focus of God's calling for shepherds.

Last Line: So we disentangle ourselves from all the others and move out behind him into the morning.

Faithfully Funny: Books I "Read" in 2025, Vol. XIII

 

OF MOOSE AND MEN: Lost and Found in Alaska
Torry Martin & Doug Peterson

Torry Martin — a comedian, actor, and hippie — fled from California to the wilderness of Alaska, searching for answers to life's big questions. He found what he was looking for...and a lot more! A moose got its head stuck in Torry's window. A reindeer was trapped in his kitchen. A bear almost prevented him from reaching his airplane. He once woke up frozen to his cabin floor.

Like the Israelites of old, Torry experienced plenty of miracles and mishaps in the wilderness. And like them, he came face-to-face with God and was changed forever.

Each of these true stories of Torry's hilarious blunders and misfortunes contains a nugget of truth, but one theme prevails: If God can reclaim and repurpose Torry Martin's life, He can do the same for you and those you love.

This is the second book from Martin I've read, but the first one he wrote. I am happy to report it doesn't matter which order you experience them in. But it DOES matter that this time, this tome was HEARD and not seen. Torry's performance of this book is flawless, and the added sound effects, etc., make it come across as episodes of a radio comedy/drama (one of which, Adventures in Odyssey, Martin used to write for). I highly recommend experiencing this book in its audio form, which is presented as a podcast and can be found by CLICKING HERE. Honestly, I hope they produce another one for his 2nd book, The Call of the Mild.

First Line: The 400-pound reindeer was going berserk, wildly trying to make an escape.

Page 56 / Line 5 (estimated): As I looked over at my balcony mates, one man and one woman, I got a strange feeling that something just wasn't quite right.

A Good Line from Somewhere in the Middle: I slept wearing gloves, a hat, and a heavy coat because the only heat in our camper came from a small electrical heater and the propane stove, which I couldn't use too much if I wanted to keep up my life-long habit of breathing.

Last Line: Let the feasting begin.

A Real Book by a Fictional Author: Books I Read in 2025, Vol. XII

 

DRIVING HEAT
Richard Castle

“Nikki Heat, the NYPD’s top homicide detective, has been promoted to captain just in time to face a thrilling case with a very personal twist. In this gripping follow-up to the New York Times bestseller Raging Heat, Captain Heat’s job is compromised when her fiancé, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Jameson Rook becomes a distraction at best, and an obstacle at worst, as their parallel lives not only cross, but collide.”

Once upon a time, there was a dramedy TV series on ABC titled “Castle” about a mystery novelist named Richard Castle who was “attached” to an NYPD homicide squad to aid in his research. (He was friends with the mayor.) He, of course, was not a silent observer, and actually ended up helping several cases get solved…and fell in love with the implausibly beautiful and high-heeled leader of the squad. In the show, it all resulted in a best-selling series of novels about an implausibly beautiful and high-heeled Nikki Heat and an investigative journalist, Jameson Rook (chess players will get the joke).

[Take a breath.]

This book is, supposedly, one of those novels. And it reads pretty much like an episode, or more appropriately, several episodes of the TV series. Same witty repartee, same bursts of action…but with the addition of (unnecessary, in my view) several instances of PG-13 language (and just enough instances of the F-bomb to bump it to R).

All that said, I really enjoyed this and will be browsing the library for more titles in the series.

First Line: The last thing Nikki Heat expected when she received her promotion to captain of the NYPD was how much the proud expression on Rook’s face in the audience would make her want him.

Page 56 / Line 5: When was the last time you fired one of your weapons?

A Good Line from Somewhere in the Middle: Detective Ramey laughed. “Jealousy’s an ugly thing, Randall.” “Which explains your face,” said Ochoa.

Last Line: All in

Local Free Spirit Tells All: Books I Read in 2025, Vol. XI

 

OLD SHORTS AND POETREE: Book One
Ron Runeborg

“An anthology of short stories and poetry; some factual, some fiction, and some trueish." From Bookscape: "[This book,] published by Lulu Press, stands as a beacon of knowledge and inspiration. With its insightful content and engaging narrative style, this book transcends genres, offering something valuable for every reader." From the back cover: "Ron Runeborg writes for the love of the craft. He lives in Lakeville Minnesota where his lovely wife Linda and little dog-child Montague work tirelessly to appreciate his many eccentricities."

This guy's self-description and a quick glance at the contents persuaded me to spend the quarter (library book sale!) and take this home. It's a wide-ranging collection of short stories, poems, smatterings of thoughts, and autobiographical verbal sketches. As to be expected, some are amusing, some are disturbing, some are thoughtful, and some are absurd. There's a bit of PG-13 language widely scattered throughout, but not enough to make me go "Eww." I'm giving it 3 out of 4 stars.

First Line: This book is an anthology, a smattering, a hodgepodge, a text melange of the stuff that wanders around in the dark recesses of my rather odd brain.

Page 56 / Line 5: Jack started waving his arms as he did every time he had a light bulb.

A Good Line from Somewhere in the Middle: The guy never knows what he's sayin'; he just babbles off some story like his lips are a nail gun and he's building a house.

Last Line: Once comes my reawakening, I'll tell you all I've known.

Whateverrrrr: Books I Almost Read in 2025, Vol. X

 

UNSCRIPTED: A Novel
Davis Bunn

“Line producer Danny Byrd is well known in Hollywood for being someone who gets things done on time and under budget. But when his reputation takes a beating after his partner  -  and former best friend  -  makes off with their investors' money, Danny has one chance to redeem himself and restore his ruined career.

" LA lawyer Megan Pierce has sacrificed years of her life proving herself to impossible bosses, only to find herself disgusted at their snobbery and specious business practices. When an opportunity to actually make a difference comes her way, she knows she has to grab it."

I really tried to get interested in this Nicholas Sparks wannabe, but I had a hard time keeping straight which name belonged to which character. I was THAT uninvested. There seemed to be little-to-no known motivation for any of the main characters to be doing the things they did or feeling the way they felt. I finally gave up a little past halfway through.

I bought this at the library for 25 cents, and it was worth every penny.

First Line: The entire Beverly Hills jail was nonsmoking and air-conditioned.

Page 56 / Line 5: She did without a private life.

A Good Line from Somewhere in the Middle: That's not a car; it's a health hazard with four tires.

Last Line: Then she leaned toward the microphone and said, "The award for Outstanding Television Movie goes to..."

Different Strokes for Different Folks: Books I Read in 2025, Vol. IX

 

SACRED PATHWAYS: Nine Ways to Connect with God
Gary Thomas

“In this updated and expanded edition, Gary Thomas details nine spiritual temperaments and--like the Enneagram and other tools do with personality--encourages you to investigate the ways you most naturally express yourself in your relationship with God. He encourages you to dig into the traits, strengths, and pitfalls in your devotional approach so you can eliminate the barriers that keep you locked into rigid methods of worship and praise. Plus, as you begin to identify and understand your own temperament, you'll soon learn about the temperaments that aren’t necessarily "you" but that may help you understand the spiritual tendencies of friends, family, and others around you. Whatever temperament or blend of temperaments best describes you, rest assured it's not by accident. It's by the design of a Creator who knew what he was doing when he made you according to his own unique intentions. If your spiritual walk is not what you'd like it to be, you can change that, starting here.”

I found this while browsing at the library, but wow, it perfectly fits in with the long-term discussion we Valley Christian Church elders are having about what it means to be a disciple of Jesus and how, as a church body, we can create them. I really appreciate how the author stressed that one of the spiritual temperaments isn't any better or More Correct than any of the others. Different people are just wired differently by an infinitely creative creator. No sense to EVER say, "You don't express closeness to God the way I do. You need to change."

For the record, my top three ways to connect with God, as described in this book, are Intellectual, Enthusiast, and Contemplative. Naturalist is a close 4th, with a noticeable drop in score for everything else on the list.

First Line: Valuable lessons about spirituality can come at the strangest times.

Page 56 / Line 5: Once we are truly humbled, God enlightens us as to what we can do, and this gives us a new sense of dignity.

A Good Line from Somewhere in the Middle: I am not here to offer you a mind-blowing "date" with God. I want us to talk about how to be married to him.

Last Line: There is no greater end in life than this.

To 100K and Beyond

 

Congratulations to our 2017 Kia Sportage!

Neither Beloved nor I can recall ever reaching the 100,000 mile milestone with any of our previous vehicles.

That's a lot of trips from Minnesota to Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Wyoming, and Arkansas.