Several years ago, I discovered Erik Larson’s engrossing book Eric’s Storm about the 1900 hurricane in Galveston, Texas. When I read his The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America (which weds the 1893 World’s Fair and serial killer H.H. Holmes), I was hooked. So it was with great expectations that I recently read his latest book, In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin. Once again, Larson didn’t disappoint. Since college, where I minored in history, I’ve always loved books that wed history with suspense. Perhaps that’s why history has always played a major role in the suspense novels I like to write. If you think history is boring, you’ve never read Larson, who is a master at writing engrossing historical suspense. What adds to the intrigue is that his novels are true. Every line of dialogue in his…
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*Don’t forget your free bonus at the end of this letter! Dear Family and Friends, Christmas is a precious reminder. Just as Jesus came as a baby, He’ll surely come again. We just don’t know when. So may the Lord find us busy living for Him while on earth. We had another busy year. Our girls, Laura (11) and Julia (8), have grown several inches and increased in their knowledge of God and life through church, family life, and homeschool. This year we’ve gone with math DVDs for Laura, since that’s not a favorite area for either parent. Both girls excel in piano. This fall they began horseback-riding lessons to feed their horse fixation. They also enjoy trying to keep up with our blue-ticked beagle, Patches. Kim stayed busy as general secretary for Shalom Ministries, based in Brooklyn, New York. She was key in organizing several Holy Land trips—and all…
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See Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, and Part 8. An Allegory: The Edgy Chef Few communication mediums are more powerful than stories. So this week I offer an allegory to my continuing discussion. *** Imagine that a large restaurant association, founded back in the eighties, is well known for its kosher cuisine. The association board has always prided itself in its sensitivity to the religious convictions of its Jewish customers. It has agreed never, ever to allow its restaurants to serve ham, bacon, or sausage. But as times change and restaurants struggle to stay open due to tough economic times, standards change too, especially since some Jewish customers have become more enlightened in their eating choices. In fact, chefs at some of the association’s biggest restaurants have begun offering daring entrees with just the smallest bit of bacon or ham sprinkled in. “Hey, it’s not like we’re serving ham…
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See Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, and Part 8. What Is Unclean Speech? This past August, Kaitlin Nootbaar, a high school valedictorian in Oklahoma, realized she’d made a big mistake. During her May graduation speech, she’d used a curse word inspired by one of the Twilight movies. Now, because of this infraction, the school was withholding her diploma. According to the high school superintendent, Kaitlin had “used language that was inappropriate for a graduation exercise.” Why do I bring up this surprising story? Because it shows that even the world sometimes reveals a collective conscience, at least when it comes to bad language in certain contexts. I’ve observed this in my own experience. During my brief stint at FedEx in 2006, I heard language that would curl your hair. But once fellow employees learned I’d worked at a Bible college for a decade, they cleaned up their act in a…
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