Everything including the kitchen sink... but with special attention paid to board games, Jesus Christ, my family, being a "professional" (and I use that word loosely) Christian, and the random firing of the 10% of the synapses I'm currently using.
A raucous and adorably sweet love song - "As my 4x rolls down the road of life, I know that I'll be happier when your wife/All we need is a ring and a dress and a tux, and a love as big as a monstertruck". Note: the original version on the album "You're Soaking in It" is much better than the band's self-cover on "The Emporer's New Band".
You probably know this from the nutty Rube Goldberg music video - but the version I love features a live performance by the University of Notre Dame Marching Band.
My roommate and I drove the campus radio DJ crazy requesting this very odd track off Daniel Amos' "Vox Humana" album. (Many of the musicians involved will show up MUCH later on this countdown in a different Traveling Wilbury-esque CCM supergroup.)
I bought my first Charlie Peacock album (cassette) back in college (1984)… and his most recent album (Every King of Uh-Oh) in 2024. I admire his skills as a musician, producer, writer, and philosopher.
Just three albums in four years - but this band managed to write great rock'n'roll that challenged me to think bigger about what I believed and how I lived it out.
I started pulling this together for a Facebook group I'm a part of... and realized that some of you might enjoy reading my musings and memories about music.
It was the summer of '87 and I was youth minister at a church in SE Texas… living in the "Elijah room" above the garage of one of the church families. They had an excellent stereo system - and I played this synth-pop/dance track over & over at full volume when no one else was home.
This is not the last time this band will appear in my top 100 list - nor the lead singer (Steve Taylor). As Steve put it, "Since most of us live in Nashville, we figured we needed to have a country song." (They are NOT a country band - but this one is delightful.)
I first heard of Kings Kaleidoscope thanks to "The Rise & Fall of Mars Hill" podcast - this song was the theme song and they were a band that was formed at Mars Hill. The struggle with the church they came out of and what it means to follow God... wow.
I love the Muppets. I love "The Muppet Movie". I love "The Muppet Show". And I love that "Muppet Mayhem" TV series on Disney+ made sure this song was a part of the show. "They don't look like Presbyterians to me."
What If only released a single album… but it was a great album-oriented rock album - and "She Rocked My World" was the single. (Another song from '87… seems like there's a trend here.)
This also won't be the last time on this countdown I tap Mark Robertson (who also played bass in Rich Mullins' Ragamuffin Band and was the lead guy behind the rockabilly/punk band This Train).
No, gentle reader, it's not a reading list for me... it's for you.
I was responding to a thoughtful post from artist/author Wes Molebash yesterday and what was intended to be a quick affirmation of his wisdom with a bit of added "spiritual stuff" from me turned into an epic list of novels/graphic novels/series that I heartily recommend.
Here's the original post from Wes:
I replied that reading fiction has had the same kind of impact on my faith in God... both the reality of sin and the hope of truth & grace stand in stark relief in well-written stories. And then I was off to the races.
So, rather than waste all that effort on a mere Facebook post, I decided to revise my list and share it with the kind souls who read my blog. I've arranged the list in alphabetical order by author name.
He's better known as the author of Watership Down... but this epic fantasy novel explores the nature of faith, religion, and politics in ways that profoundly affected me.
superhero graphic novel series set in its own universe that focuses on characters & motivations rather than fight scenes
currently published in six really large (nearly 500 pages each) Metrobooks
I've re-read the series multiple times - it's tremendous.
also recommended by Kurt Busiek - Superman: Secret Identity (the best "Superman" story ever... yes, even better than Alan Moore's "For the Man Who Has Everything" and "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?")
a six novel fantasy series that surprised me over & over as it built a fascinating world and developed characters over time
also recommended by Jim Butcher - the Cinder Spires fantasy/steampunk series... so far there are only two books of a planned six books, but what is out there is really good.
I'm not sure how to describe this nine-volume graphic novel series... it has elements of science fiction, fantasy, and definitely pays homage to Studio Ghibli.
In the process, there's a lot about loyalty, trust, healing from abuse, facing tragedy and death... though intended for middle schoolers, the series got under my skin.
chances are excellent you read it as a student (it's often taught/read in 8th grade)... but you should read it again as an adult
on the other hand, I would not recommend reading Go Set a Watchman - it is essentially an early draft of what became To Kill a Mockingbird and has a much darker/nastier tone
These funny & family-friendly graphic novels are filled with lots of pop-culture references and homages, esp. for kids who love video games. The tinges of "afterschool special" conversations are offset by some great twists, clever Easter eggs, and thoughtful bits of philosophy/theology.
the four book series is whimsical, nail-biting, heartbreaking, hopeful... evil isn't glossed over, heroes can be hurt, and actions have consequences - and I love it.
also recommended by Andrew Peterson - well, he's one of my favorite singer/songwriters
Stan Sakai has been writing the story of Miyamoto Usagi, a rabbit samurai (ronin) in a world of anthropomorphic animals set in 17th-century Japan for forty-two years.
I rejected reading this for years... but finally tried it and was sucked into the excellent storytelling, sly humor, and real emotion.
Sanderson is brilliant at world-building and writing intriguing characters... and the events/revelations of the last section of the book wouldn't land with the same impact if you hadn't lived with the characters through the admittedly long lead-up portion of the first novel.
I'm midway through Oathbringer (the third book) and enjoying it immensely.
As part of working on an honors thesis in college, I read almost everything John Steinbeck wrote. This massive novel is - in my opinion - his magnum opus. (The thesis - which I did not finish - was titled "Theodicy in John Steinbeck's East of Eden" - and I just noticed that Steinbeck himself thought East of Eden was his magnum opus. Great minds think alike!)
Also recommended by John Steinbeck: You likely had to read The Pearl, Of Mice and Men, and/or The Grapes of Wrath in high school. While I think The Grapes of Wrath is brilliant, I'd recommend Cannery Row & Sweet Thursday.
Finally, I would remiss if I didn't heartily endorse C.S. Lewis' Space Trilogy & Chronicles of Narnia as well as J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings. (And, for that matter, the excellent graphic novel about their friendship entitled The Mythmakers.)
As some of my long-time readers know, I spent nearly 15 years as a church planter & pastor (after 13+ years in youth ministry)... which came to end in early 2013. (You can read more about that on my posts aka former pastor guy and Kenny Rogers, Toffee, and a Hatmaker.)
For nearly ten years, I didn't preach. (That's not entirely true - I officiated at funeral services for friends and former congregation members - but I didn't deliver the message for a Sunday morning service.)
In March of 2023, that changed - thanks to the leadership and encouragement of Aarron Schwartz and our church family at Restoration Church Nashville. It's been humbling and wonderful and a bit scary to be back "in the pulpit" (even if we don't actually use a pulpit). The Restoration Church family has been so supportive. (A special shout-out to Bethany and the worship team... it's a privilege to speak after they've helped us prepare our hearts and minds.)
I need to also say "thank you" to a number of folks who encouraged me to take Aarron up on his offer to be part of the preaching rotation - including my wife (Shari Jo), my sons (Braeden & Collin), and even some of the folks I know through my "day job" (thank you, Teri & Denette.)
I decided that I needed to pull those messages into a single place... so that's what this post is for. I'll update it as needed. I'm putting the time stamp for the start of the message - but you're missing out if you don't get the worship team as well.
January 11, 2026 - Joshua 3 & 4 - Upstream Faith
message starts at the 31 minute mark
the video quality is not as good due to WiFi issues at the church (the A/V team had to use the old system in order to stream the service)
"Now faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen [the conviction of their reality—faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses]." (Hebrews 11:1 AMP)
Managed to name-check Disney parks, Star Wars, and my Romantic poets professor at Baylor in the process of telling Joshua's story.
February 23, 2025 - 2nd Samuel 6 - When The Ark Comes to Town...
message starts at the 40 minute mark
I left out another 80s reference from my notes to the 1984 film "Footloose"
God will not be put and kept in a box, whether the box is constructed of crafted wood or hewn stone or brilliant ideas or fine feelings. We don't take care of God; God takes care of us.
September 1, 2024 - Exodus 35 - More Capable Than You Realize
message starts at the 35 minute mark
"Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy." (Psalm 33:3 NIV)
Every faculty you have, your power of thinking or of moving your limbs from moment to moment, is given you by God. If you devoted every moment of your whole life exclusively to His service you could not give Him anything that was not in a sense His own already. So that when we talk of a man doing anything for God or giving anything to God, I will tell you what it is really like.
It is like a small child going to its father and saying, "Daddy, give me sixpence to buy you a birthday present." Of course, the father does, and he is pleased with the child's present. It is all very nice and proper, but only an idiot would think that the father is sixpence to the good on the transaction.
"I have prayed [especially] for you [Peter], that your faith [and confidence in Me] may not fail; and you, once you have turned back again [to Me], strengthen and support your brothers [in the faith].” (Luke 22:32 AMP)
March 17, 2024 - Luke 20:27-40 - Jesus & the Theobros
message starts at the 38:30 minute mark
balloon illustration is borrowed from N.T. Wright's Luke for Everyone
Yeah, I somehow managed to combine Narnia, levirate marriage, and Admiral Ackbar into the message.
September 24, 2023 - Luke 14:25-35 - Counting the Cost
message starts at the 38:30 minute mark
my personal notes call this message "The Symphony Bar"
“Simply put, if you’re not willing to take what is dearest to you, whether plans or people, and kiss it good-bye, you can’t be my disciple.” (Luke 14:33 MSG)
March 26, 2023 - Luke 8:22-25 - Master of the Storm
message starts at the 33 minute mark
The message here is NOT “Jesus will calm all the storms in your life”… it is “Jesus will not leave you alone in the boat”.
"If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast." (Psalm 139:9-10 NIV)
Here's my own personal Five & Dime list (the games I played 5+ and 10+ times in 2025). I may have stopped collecting the Five & Dime stats for everyone else - but I haven't stopped collecting my own! As always, I include only face-to-face games and games played with human opponents over apps/online. What that means is that games that I play only solo via an app or website (examples: Next Station: London, Ascension, Draft & Write Records, etc.) are not counted. (All three of those would be 50+ plays if I did.)
Games with an asterisk [*] were on my Five & Dime list last year. Each asterisk indicates another year... and each plus sign indicates five years! Believe it or not, there's actually one game that has been on this list for 15 years [+++].
If you're curious, here's the games that have been on my Five & Dime list for 5+ years
Race for the Galaxy (15 years)
Jump Drive (8 years)
Unmatched: Batlle of Legends (6 years)
Can't Stop (5 years)
Dollars
Memoir '44 134 ***
Quarters
Arydia: The Paths We Dare Tread 38
Dimes
Unmatched: Battle of Legends 16 +*
Clank! Catacombs 12
Flamme Rouge 12
Ticket to Ride: Legends of the West 12
Can't Stop 11 +
Undaunted 2200: Callisto 11
Distilled 10 *
Lost Ruins of Arnak 10 *
Path of Civilization 10 *
Pirates of Maracaibo 10 *
Nickels
Endeavor: Deep Sea 9
Galactic Cruise 9
It's a Wonderful World 9
Race for the Galaxy 9 +++
Sniper Elite: The Board Game 9
Terraforming Mars 8 *
Fast Food Franchise 7 *
Heat: Pedal to the Metal 7 ***
Heroscape 7 *
Jump Drive 7 +***
New Frontiers 7 *
Small World 7
Thunder Road: Vendetta 7
World Wonders 7
7 Wonders: Architects 6 ***
7 Wonders Duel 6
Ancient Knowledge 6 *
Minigolf Designer 6 ****
Return to Dark Tower 6 ***
Ticket to Ride & City versions 6 *
Sea Salt & Paper 6
SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence 6
Tales of the Arthurian Knights 6
The Guild of Merchant Explorers 6
Canopy: Evergreen 5
Draft & Write Records 5
Dune: Imperium & Uprising 5 ****
Everdell 5 ***
Fill or Bust 5
In the Footsteps of Darwin 5
Innovation 5
Let's Go To Japan 5 *
Lost Cities 5
Rise 5
Roll for the Galaxy 5
Unstoppable 5
Waypoints 5
Just Missed (with 4 plays)
A caret [^] denotes that they were on the Five & Dime list last year... and a pound sign [#] marks games I'm pretty sure will return in 2026. A dollar sign [$] indicates that the game was on the "Just Missed" list last year.
7 Wonders Dice 4
Ascending Empires: Zenith Edition
Buffet Boss #
Cabanga!
Carcassonne: Hunters & Gatherers
Cartographers: A Roll Player Tale ^
DC Comics Deck-Building Game $
Fishing
Fliptoons
Great Western Trail: El Paso
Hamlet: The Village Building Game #
Marvel Champions: The Card Game
Pixies
River Valley Glassworks ^
Sanctuary #
Spooktacular
The Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle-earth ^
After All These Years
These are games that fell off the list... after years of repeated play. I felt compelled to say a few words at their passing.
7 Wonders
After nine years, this classic game dropped out of the Five & Dime (despite playing it just last week!). I will need to fix this in 2026 - it's too good to leave behind.
Yeah, there was just this one that dropped off despite being played year after year. Don't know if that's good or bad. :-)
It's been a very long time since we've sent out Christmas cards - probably the first decade of our marriage. Since we've been married thirty-five years, that's a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.
So, rather than trying to build a Christmas card list, I decided to make a Christmas card blog post...
Here's the ho-ho-ho-highlights of 2025 for Mark, Shari, Braeden, and Collin:
I'm still working for the TN Department of Education - and is about to finish my 12th year with the agency. (Profoundly thankful for my supervisor and the team I work with.)
Shari has been volunteering with NAMI (the National Alliance on Mental Illness).
Braeden is seeking a Masters degree online from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary while working part-time at Essential Church in Huntsville, Alabama.
Collin is halfway through his junior year at UT Chattanooga and is working part-time at Rocket Fizz in downtown Chattanooga.
The boys & I were able to attend Gulf Games in February in Asheville, NC (just Mark & Braeden) and in July in Lexington, KY (all three of us).
Shari & I had an amazing two week vacation through portions of Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia in May... including a detour to make sure Shari got to see Niagara Falls. (I highly recommend hiking the Gorge Trail at Watkins Glen State Park, btw.)
Yes, I acknowledge that "ho-ho-ho-highlights" is a level of Dad joke-ness and cheese that I should not have attempted. But I did and you kept reading, so we both lose. [grin]
Top row: Lake Erie, Halloween, Gulf Games Bottom: Grammy & all of her grandchildren & great-grandchildren (Thanksgiving)
On the more difficult side, my mom passed away in February after a long fight with Alzheimer's. My grief is a weird mixture of sadness and relief - and the certainty that she is present with the Jesus she loved and served throughout her life.
Mom playing Qwirkle with us in 2014
May your Christmas be blessed - not only merry but also meaningful. May your New Year be filled with truth, beauty, and grace - and may you be an instrument of His peace to folks around you.
My support of the No Kings protests is not about policy agreement with a platform or allegiance to a particular political party. It's simply this: our current president (and his administration) are choosing to act in ways that clearly indicate a desire for an imperial presidency that is not constricted by social norms or constitutional guardrails.
And that is decidedly bad for our country... and, due to our outsized influence in world affairs, everyone else.
“Not that I don’t have the right to do anything I want to do. I’m the president of the United States." Donald Trump in an August 2025 Cabinet meeting (talking about use of the military inside the U.S.)
Look, I'm not arguing or campaigning for a president of a different party - I want a president of a different character. Someone who would respect the law, not simply pay people to find loopholes. Someone who chooses to champion the hard work of passing bills to effect change rather than issuing blizzards of executive orders. Someone who values smart people who disagree with them over loyalist lap dogs. Someone who sees their role as an opportunity to serve others rather than profit themselves.
And I want Congress to do their dadgum job: holding the president accountable for his actions, writing laws that reign in the power of the Executive branch, and actually taking care of the needs of their constituents rather than performing for social media likes and viral camera moments.
We don't need a king, a "dictator for a day", or even an imperial president. We need men and women of character to lead our country. When we choose leadership based on our tribes or the willingness of a candidate to say the stuff we want about our pet issue, we get the kind of leadership we deserve.
"In 2016, I declared: I am your voice. Today, I add: I am your warrior. I am your justice. And for those who have been wronged and betrayed: I am your retribution."
"If I happen to be president and I see somebody who’s doing well and beating me very badly, I say go down and indict them, mostly they would be out of business. They’d be out. They’d be out of the election." Donald Trump (November 2023, interview with Univision)
Put another way, we've been warned about kings and character before.
Fed up, all the elders of Israel got together and confronted Samuel at Ramah. They presented their case: “Look, you’re an old man, and your sons aren’t following in your footsteps. Here’s what we want you to do: Appoint a king to rule us, just like everybody else.”
When Samuel heard their demand—“Give us a king to rule us!”—he was crushed. How awful! Samuel prayed to God.
God answered Samuel, “Go ahead and do what they’re asking. They are not rejecting you. They’ve rejected me as their King. From the day I brought them out of Egypt until this very day they’ve been behaving like this, leaving me for other gods. And now they’re doing it to you. So let them have their own way. But warn them of what they’re in for. Tell them the way kings operate, just what they’re likely to get from a king.”
So Samuel told them, delivered God’s warning to the people who were asking him to give them a king. He said, “This is the way the kind of king you’re talking about operates. He’ll take your sons and make soldiers of them—chariotry, cavalry, infantry, regimented in battalions and squadrons. He’ll put some to forced labor on his farms, plowing and harvesting, and others to making either weapons of war or chariots in which he can ride in luxury. He’ll put your daughters to work as beauticians and waitresses and cooks. He’ll conscript your best fields, vineyards, and orchards and hand them over to his special friends. He’ll tax your harvests and vintage to support his extensive bureaucracy. Your prize workers and best animals he’ll take for his own use. He’ll lay a tax on your flocks and you’ll end up no better than slaves. The day will come when you will cry in desperation because of this king you so much want for yourselves. But don’t expect God to answer.”
But the people wouldn’t listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We will have a king to rule us! Then we’ll be just like all the other nations. Our king will rule us and lead us and fight our battles.”
Samuel took in what they said and rehearsed it with God. God told Samuel, “Do what they say. Make them a king.”
1st Samuel 8:4-22 MSG
These six things the Lord hates;
Indeed, seven are repulsive to Him:
A proud look [the attitude that makes one overestimate oneself and discount others],
A lying tongue,
And hands that shed innocent blood,
A heart that creates wicked plans,
Feet that run swiftly to evil,
A false witness who breathes out lies [even half-truths],
And one who spreads discord (rumors) among brothers.
Proverbs 6:16-19 AMP
Whitewashing bad people and throwing mud on good people are equally abhorrent to God.
Proverbs 17:15 MSG
Those who sow injustice reap disaster, and their methods of oppression will fail.
Proverbs 22:8 VOICE
A leader who is a great oppressor lacks understanding and common sense [and his wickedness shortens his days], But he who hates unjust gain will [be blessed and] prolong his days.
Proverbs 28:16 AMP
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pictures above:
top row (left to right)
the President welcoming Putin to Alaska with red carpet
follower of Jesus, husband, father, "pastor", boardgamer, writer, Legomaniac, Disneyphile, voted most likely to have the same Christmas wish list at age 58 as he did at age 8
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