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
At some point last fall, it occurred to me that it might have been a good idea to include some questions at the end of my spiritual biography of Charles Lindbergh, as prompts for individual reflection or group discussion. But then life got busy again and the idea vanished… until I learned recently that the … More A Free Discussion Guide for My Lindbergh Biography
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”
Forgive the quiet start to a new blogging year. I’ve been busy launching the J-term version of our Christianity and Western Culture class: over two millennia covered in three weeks! Which is a bit more ambitious than my upcoming speaking schedule, but I’m still happy to have three opportunities over the next five weeks to … More Three Upcoming Lindbergh Events
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
Yesterday a few of us at The Anxious Bench suggested a few books and trinkets that might make good gifts for the history buffs in our readers’ lives. That list already included a biography about a not-infamous person, so I wasn’t tempted to hawk my own wares. But today is another day, and this is … More How to Have a Very Lindbergh Christmas
Today marks the three-month anniversary of Charles Lindbergh: A Religious Biography of America’s Most Infamous Pilot releasing to the public. I’ve published enough books to know that this is almost always an awkward moment for authors. Three months into publication, it’s not just that the initial excitement is long forgotten in the midst of the … More Why I Wrote a Short Biography
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
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
Last week I shared the acknowledgments section from my biography of Charles Lindbergh. Today, a few words about the dedication: In honor of another descendant of Swedish immigrants:Dick Peterson—for whom physics is an act of worship,whose career confirms Anne Lindbergh’s instinct that“the true scientist [is] akin to the artist and the saint,”whose life demonstrates that … More Why I Dedicated a Charles Lindbergh Biography to Dick Peterson
The Pietist Schoolman 