January's Grab Bag of Suggestions

From time to time we want to give you some suggestions from the pastoral staff at Furnace Brook about resources and ideas that you may find helpful. There is, of course, the risk that these suggestions may end up diminishing your esteem for those making them, but that's a risk we are willing to take.

1. Music - Page CXVI
Check out Page CXVI. Despite having one of our least favorite band names, Page CXVI does a better job of breathing new life into old hymns than anyone else out there. Fronted by Latifah Phillips, Page CXVI's music is as spiritually deep as it is musically fresh. Of particular interest, as we head toward Lent and Easter, are their two albums, "Lent through Maundy Thursday," and "Good Friday through Easter."

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2. Twitter - Hannah Anderson
Follow Hannah Anderson (@sometimesalight). Wife of a pastor in rural Appalachia and author of the wonderful little book, Humble Roots, Hannah Anderson is a refreshing voice on twitter. Her contributions range from charming anecdote to challenging thread and she is someone who makes you think while making you smile.

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3. Breakfast - The Bakery Annex
There are a lot of great places to go for breakfast in our area, but we'd like to draw your attention to the Bakery Annex in Rutland. You can get to it through The Bakery on West Street or its own entrance around the corner. And with "Annex" in the name you know it's got to be good.

4. Podcast - Hidden Brain
NPR's Shankar Vedantam brings us this stimulating podcast that graciously explores what insights social science gives us into the mysteries of human behavior. There have been many times when Hidden Brain drove me back to Scripture to resolve a question it raised or when it confirmed for me truths that Scripture had already revealed. I have never listened to this podcast without learning something.

5. Book, Non-Fiction - Surrender, by Wayne Schmidt
This book has really been shaping Pastor Tate's thinking and ministry over the past six months.

6. Photo - this breathtaking landscape

7. Book, Fiction - Everything that Rises Must Converge, by Flannery O'Connor
No one else has ever approximated Flannery O'Connor's combination of deep faith and uncompromising commitment to narrative violence. No one writes like her and no one who reads her quickly forgets what she wrote.

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8. Resource - Precept Austin
It does not replace every other online Bible study tool (biblegateway, blueletterbible) but it does some things so much better than any other sight that it will quickly become a go to tool for any serious Bible student.

What about you? Do you have any suggestions for books, movies, or breakfast spots to share? Put them in the comments!