Category: Books

“Understandable but not sympathetic”: The Latest Review of My Lindbergh Biography

June 27, 2022

I’m glad for any review of Charles Lindbergh: A Religious Biography of America’s Most Infamous Aviator, but I’m especially tickled to see the one published recently in Church History, the journal of the American Society for Church History. “Ambiguity best characterizes both the life of Charles Lindbergh and the contemporary and historical interpretations of him,” … More “Understandable but not sympathetic”: The Latest Review of My Lindbergh Biography

Cover and sample devotional page from Centered on Jesus

Centered on Jesus: A Lenten Devotional from the Faculty of Bethel University

February 26, 2022

If you’ve been wondering why this blog has been so quiet this far into 2022, it’s partly because I’ve been working hard on a project that came to mind at the end of 2021 and came to fruition yesterday. Last December I enjoyed several entries in The Advent Project, a multi-media devotional from the Center … More Centered on Jesus: A Lenten Devotional from the Faculty of Bethel University

A New Book about “The Second Greatest Lutheran Theologian”

January 13, 2022

According to church historian Carter Lindberg, that’s how German Lutherans in the early 18th century thought of Philipp Jakob Spener: second only to Martin Luther himself. Born this day in 1635, Spener is less remembered nowadays, but played a prominent role in renewing early modern Protestantism, as a popular preacher and writer and the founding … More A New Book about “The Second Greatest Lutheran Theologian”

The Christian Century Reviews My Lindbergh Bio

December 3, 2021

The latest review of Charles Lindbergh: A Religious Biography of America’s Most Infamous Pilot is also one of the most generous: Any Lindbergh biographer faces a challenge: to tell the truth about the past, both the good and the bad, with both empathy and unflinching honesty. Christopher Gehrz, a history professor at Bethel University in … More The Christian Century Reviews My Lindbergh Bio

Lindbergh Updates: Reader Reviews, First Podcasts, and a Sept. 14 Book Talk

September 6, 2021

It’s been almost three weeks now since my biography of Charles Lindbergh hit shelves, and it’s been a pleasure to read the first reader reviews — all of which have been stellar. I was particularly tickled to find this plaudit from historian-journalist Daniel Silliman, who is currently writing a religious biography of Richard Nixon for … More Lindbergh Updates: Reader Reviews, First Podcasts, and a Sept. 14 Book Talk

The Impostor: Why I Wrote a Biography of Charles Lindbergh

August 16, 2021

Advance and preordered copies of the book have been circulating for a few weeks now, but tomorrow is still a big day for me: the official release of my spiritual biography of Charles Lindbergh. Five years after I first started toying with that idea, it’s beyond exciting to see the book come widely available. I’ve … More The Impostor: Why I Wrote a Biography of Charles Lindbergh