A Few of My Favorite Things
Why should Oprah have all the fun? Here are a few of my favorite things.
Contents (click to jump)
Bible passages
Top three:
You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. - Psalm 16:11 (all of Psalm 16 is great!)
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. - Colossians 3:1-4
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” - Revelation 21:1-5
Other favorites:
Isaiah 25:6-9
Zephaniah 3:14-17
Acts 2:42-47
Romans 8
Philippians 2:1-11
Revelation 5
Music: albums and playlists (all links go to Spotify)
Lessons and Carols by Redeemer Community Church (bonus Advent music!)
Delightful songs: a Spotify playlist of individual songs that make me happy
Hymns by Paul Zach (Americana Christian)
Psalms We Sing Together by Wendell Kimbrough (Americana Christian)
Fleet Foxes by Fleet Foxes (indie folk)
Voxtrot (indie pop - here’s a playlist of my favorites)
Illinois by Sufjan Stevens (indie/orchestral folk)
Graceland by Paul Simon (singer-songwriter / Afrobeat)
Coming Home by Leon Bridges (neo-soul)
Not All Who Wander Are Lost by Chris Thile (instrumental bluegrass)
Alan Gogoll - Spotify mix (instrumental acoustic guitar)
Music: individual hymns (all YouTube)
“Before the Throne of God Above” - Joseph Bradshaw and Sandra McCracken
“God Moves in a Mysterious Way” - Matt Francisco and Alyson Snow
“All Glory Be to Christ” - Kings Kaleidoscope
“Jesus, Savior, Pilot Me” - Bifrost Arts
“Be Thou My Vision” - Celtic Worship feat. Steph Macleod
“Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” - Chris Rice
“King of Heaven” - Redeemer Community Church
Board games
Wingspan is Allison’s and my all-time favorite game to play together. It’s got enough strategy to stay fresh, cards with interesting interactions that make each game feel new, and gorgeous artwork and components.
Catan: Cities and Knights is my historical favorite. I don’t like Settlers of Catan - it’s too much luck, not enough strategy - but this adds a few layers of extra ways to gain points and win that make it much more gratifying to play.
Our favorite games to play with my kids are King of Tokyo, where you roll dice Yahtzee-style to make big monsters fight one another, and Ticket to Ride (which is Allison’s old favorite game).
I don’t often play party games, but Codenames and Wits & Wagers are my favorites!
Sermons
“Blessed Self-Forgetfulness” by Tim Keller (audio)
“The Glory of the Groan” by Robert Smith (audio)
“The Expulsive Power of a New Affection” by Thomas Chalmers (PDF)
“The Weight of Glory” by CS Lewis (PDF)
Intellectual books
Surprised By Hope by NT Wright summarizes his scholarly research on the concept of resurrection in the ancient world and early Christianity: the end result is a readable exploration of what the early Christians understood Jesus’ resurrection to mean that elevated my view of the importance of Christian hope.
God’s Big Picture by Vaughan Roberts is the best one-book summary of the Bible I’ve read. It tells the big story, and also shows how the individual pieces (books) fit together into the story.
Through New Eyes by James Jordan is an effort to understand the ancient mindset behind the Old and New Testaments, and then to look at the texts with fresh eyes (instead of modern ones). It’s a fascinating, eye-opening way of reading the Bible.
On the Incarnation by Athanasius of Alexandria is an ancient Christian work on the meaning of the Incarnation. It sounds intimidating, but it’s a short, rich book full of great ideas; and the linked version has an introduction by CS Lewis that’s worth reading in its own right!
Devotional/spiritual books
Meditating as a Christian: Waiting Upon God by Peter Toon is the capstone of several books he’s written on meditating on Scripture, and the best summary of his work. This discipline has meant much to me, obviously, and this is the best book on it I’ve read.
The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis is a series of reflections and devotions on the Christian life. Its world is so different from ours - he was a quasi-monk in the medieval era - that his perspective on Christianity is from a completely different place than mine, in a way that makes his perspective on Scripture, humility, and life very worth engaging with.
The Screwtape Letters by CS Lewis is a “devotional” book in photo negative, because it’s written from the perspective of an older demon advising a younger (in an administrative style that creates some great dry humor) on how to tempt his “patient,” a man living around World War 2 in England. It has brilliant insights about God, sin, and temptation.
Orthodoxy by GK Chesterton is in his words a “slovenly autobiography” of what led him from agnosticism and flirting with paganism to the Catholic Church. He’s a ton of fun to read, and has fascinating ideas about life that I find compelling even when I don’t agree with them.
Death By Living by ND Wilson is a series of reflections on mortality and immortality, written in some of the most vivid prose I’ve ever read.
Fiction books
The Lord of the Rings is my all-time favorite series; every time I pick it up, I reread the whole thing. Epic, gorgeous, inspiring, so fun.
PG Wodehouse created the Jeeves the Butler character and wrote tons of hilarious books and short stories: he was writing a century ago, but I laugh out loud reading him. My favorites are The Code of the Woosters (novel) and Carry On, Jeeves (short stories).
GK Chesterton’s Father Brown mysteries feature a Catholic priest who is a detective, but of what we would call a psychological persuasion (he was writing before psychology was considered much of a thing). Lots of fun.
Frederick Buechner’s Son of Laughter is an imaginative meditation on the life of Jacob in Genesis. Buechner is a semi-orthodox Christian, so don’t assume he gets the events of Genesis right; but what he does get right he gets beautifully, and he is a brilliant prose stylist.
Poems
“God’s Grandeur” by Gerard Manley Hopkins
“Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” by Dylan Thomas
“The Silken Tent” by Robert Frost
“Love (III)” by George Herbert
“The Windhover” by Gerard Manley Hopkins