Stopping to Think

One of the most frequent comments I hear when I talk to people about reading the Bible is “it just doesn’t make any sense to me.” This little guide is my attempt to give some guidance on getting started. (video version at the bottom of the post) I. What What is the Bible? The Bible, in short, is the very Word of the Living God. When I refer to the Bible, I am referring to the 66 books which includ...

I’m never early to a writing party. This is the second in a two-part series, which logically would have come out last week. But here we are. I think the truths are timeless, so you can schedule a text or email to yourself with the link to read it before next Father’s Day, if you find it helpful. Here’s part one. 3 John 1-15 (ESV) , 1 The elder to the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth. Beloved, I...

Joy Fathers, where do you find joy? In your team winning? In a raise at work? In a well-deserved vacation? In a tree stand on an autumn’s morning? I’m not here to heckle you about any of those things—I think these, and many other places, are perfectly legitimate sources of joy. But where do you find your deepest joy? To answer that question biblically I’d direct your attention to a brief letter in...

From Prisoner to Prince: The Joseph Story in Biblical Theology Samuel Emadi (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2022) I came to this book with high expectations. I have been a (fairly) regular listener to the “Bible Talk” podcast that Emadi cohosts with Alex Duke and Jim Hamilton, since 2020. Familiar with him from that podcast, I knew Emadi has a keen eye for detail and structure in the Biblical te...

Slow Productivity The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout Cal Newport (New York: Portfolio/Penguin, 2024) In the latest of his books relating to knowledge work, Cal Newport sets forth a vision of productivity which is deeply counter-cultural and, for many, counter-intuitive. Newport argues that much of modern knowledge work is dominated by a frenzied pseudo-productivity, in which visible ac...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit willdole.substack.com Adoption is the giftof being brought in. My life must now shift—He has taken my sin,

Brandon J. O’Brien The Strategically Small Church 2nd Edition, Baker Academic, 2025 Stopping to Think is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Brandon O’Brien argues in this book for a different ministry paradigm than has been the norm in evangelicalism over the past 50 (plus) years. Rather than seeing “small” churche...

A Reading of Chapter 5 from my book A Healthy Marriage (click on the title to go to the Amazon page…) Stopping to Think is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Thanks for reading Stopping to Think! This post is public so feel free to share it. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscri...

a reading of Chapter 4 from A Healthy Marriage Stopping to Think is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Thanks for reading Stopping to Think! This post is public so feel free to share it. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit willdole.su...

This is chapter three from my book, A Healthy Marriage, available by clicking on the image below Thanks for reading Stopping to Think! This post is public so feel free to share it. Stopping to Think is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers...

This is the audio of chapter two from my book, A Healthy Marriage. If you enjoy, please follow the link below to purchase—and then rate and review on Amazon, it helps others find it. If you don’t find it helpful, feel free to buy it anyway, but you can pass on the review, ha! A Healthy Marriage on Amazon.com Stopping to Think is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my w...

This is chapter one of the book A Healthy Marriage. You can purchase the book on Amazon by clicking on the following link, or on the picture above. https://www.amazon.com/Healthy-Marriage-Biblical-Introduction Stopping to Think is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss...

This is the introduction to A Healthy Marriage , by yours truly. I plan to post the audio of the first few chapters here for all my subscribers. You can click on the following link or the picture below to buy a hard copy or ebook version. https://www.amazon.com/Healthy-Marriage-Biblical Stopping to Think is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming...

How to Buy Whole Life Ryan Griggs & Building Your Warehouse of Wealth R. Nelson Nash I read these two books in tandem. Nash is the brain behind the Infinite Banking Concept , a method of using cash-value whole life insurance to super-charge one’s savings and then using the accumulated access to capital as a source of financing those things in life that need financed—vehicles, homes, investments, e...

Redwall: Mossflower Brian Jacques Discovering Redwall (via the old TV show being available on Canon+) has been one of the best things to happen to our family in the past years. In this prequel to the original Redwall book, we find the origin story of Martin the Warrior, who must face down Tsarmina the wildcat Queen, and bring an end to her reign of terror. Jacques creates endearing characters and...

This post is part of a series of communion mediations working through the Apostles’ Creed. You can read the creed here . The Life Everlasting. As we come to the end of our meditations on the Creed, we come to what is, in one sense, the easiest part to explain. The belief in everlasting life is, after all, the whole point of Christianity. The apostle Paul 1 Corinthians 15:19 that, If in Christ we h...

Becoming Your Own Banker R. Nelson Nash This is the second time I’ve read Nash’s book. I first picked it up after being introduced to the infinite banking concept by a financial planner. Nelson’s work is deeply counter-intuitive, especially if your intuition is Dave Ramsey-inflected. The conventional wisdom on life insurance is to buy as much as you can for as cheap as you can, and then invest. Fo...

This post is part of a series of communion mediations working through the Apostles’ Creed. You can read the creed here . You will see in the text that this was given December 7th, 2025, which was the second Sunday of the Advent season. As we approach the end of the Creed, we come today to the resurrection of the body. Does that seem out of place in the Advent season? Today is the Second Sunday of...

A Healthy Marriage: A Biblical Introduction You can buy the book in Kindle, paperback, or hardcover formats here: https://a.co/d/9SoRMOZ Thanks for reading Stopping to Think! This post is public so feel free to share it. Stopping to Think is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like...

Most of the poems lately have taken inspiration from the chapter headings in JI Packer’s book, “Concise Theology.” This one is not different, however, the approach to the subject is heavily influenced by David Bahnsen , as well. Enterprise: The Source of Order and Prosperity One mina, five mina, to another, tenThis is the way that the world has always been Talents to all, in proper measure giv’nGr...

What’s Wrong With The World? G.K. Chesterton, 1910. Audiobook read by Wade Stotts G.K. Chesterton wrote this book in 1910. But Dale Ahlquist quips that, “there is good evidence that it was actually written today.” I concur with that assessment. In this book, Chesterton attacks a number of the wrong-headed notions that were current in England prior to the World Wars. In a stark illustration of Eccl...

Prayer The One in Three approach His glory Behold His Splendor may my heart render Praise Sinful heart and hands from your Presence banned until I’m made clean inner truth been seen Confess Joy! Your mercy is more My heart shall adore Bless Your Name Above give for steadfast love Thanks With Your word fill me and let my speech be A Word in season Guard me from treason I pray. Stopping to Think is...

Our town has an annual “Olde Fashioned Christmas” celebration each year at the beginning of December. Local clergy rotate offering a prayer, leading Christmas carols, and “blessing” the tree. This year I had the blessing. I think it’s silly to bless a tree and so, when it’s my turn for the blessing, I fudge a little and usually pray for God’s blessing on the community, and offer a reminder of the...

Boys of Blur N.D. Wilson, Random House Children’s, 2014. Audiobook read by Joffre Swait This book is a wild ride through the swamps of Florida, We meet the protagonist, Charlie, at a funeral for a man he doesn’t know. That man, Willie Wisdom, will loom large in Charlie’s story. Wilson’s retelling of the Beowulf tale in the a modern key offers exactly lovers of that epic poem want: the thud, the in...

The Prayer of Jabez Bruce Wilkinson, Multnomah, 2000 I was surprised—pleasantly—by this book. It was all the rage in popular Christianity when I was a kid. I remember seeing the book and (if memory serves) derivative products all over Christian book stores. Back when those existed. I also remember a vague connection of this book with the prosperity gospel. And so, combined with my aversion to all...