As Kingfishers Catch Fire: A Conversation on the Ways of God Formed by the Words of God

I waited for the release of As Kingfishers Catch Fire: A Conversation on the Ways of God Formed by the Words of God (Waterbrook, 2017) by Eugene Peterson for many months, yet when I received it, I was reluctant to begin. There is a certain desire to savor what may be one of the final books by a favorite author. Yet ultimately, it does no good to look at a meal with admiration; one must eat. And Kingfishers is a satisfying meal.I knew little about the book when I pre-ordered it in November. When it arrived, I was pleasantly surprised at its length, 372 pages. In the opening letter to the reader, I was also surprised to discover that the book was a collection of 49 teachings from Peterson's 29 years as a pastor. The editorial team wrote, "Throughout this definitive collection of teachings, Peterson is intentional in keeping the main idea the main idea: that we, as Christians, live lives of congruence. Put another way, that the inside matches the outside. Or as we used to hear, that we indeed practice what we preach." Congruence is a good descriptor.The 49 sermons were broken into seven parts. Each part contained seven sermons centered around the writings of Moses, David, Isaiah, Solomon (save one about Job), Peter, Paul, and John. The sermons cover the ground between Genesis 1 and the end of John's Revelation.Through his books, Peterson has reinforced several themes for me: the importance of prayer, the sacredness of the ordinary, and the the beauty of the Word, expressed through words. Each of these themes found their way into the pages of Kingfishers.Although I love words, I fail to capture meaning and beauty the way Peterson so consistently does. My hope is that sharing a few of his words whets your appetite for more.^Regarding the Sabbath--"One day a week stop what you are doing and pay attention to what God has been and is doing" (page 13).^"We are always drifting off into the impersonal. It is easier and less demanding. But it is also demeaning and estranging. Always and everywhere in Scripture our attention is brought back to the central fact: God is a person; God makes persons; God remakes persons. A person like me" (p. 25).^"We live in a culture that knows little or nothing of a life that listens and waits, a life that attends and adores" (p. 77).^From my favorite chapter, The Beauty of Holiness, "Beauty is the outside and holiness is the inside of what is essentially the same thing: life full and vibrant, life God created and God blessed, life here and now" (p. 78).^"We read and live at different speeds" (p. 158).^"A critical question every Christian has to deal with is 'How can I best assist others to a full, mature growth in the Christian way?'" (p. 189).^"International diplomacy takes time and careful listening. Parenting takes time and careful listening. Friendship takes time and careful listening. And Scripture takes time and careful listening" (p. 236).^"You think religion is a matter of knowing things and doing things. It is not. It is a matter of letting God do something for you: letting Him love you, letting Him save you, letting Him bless you, letting Him command you. Your part is to look and believe, to pray and obey" (p. 291).^"I want to know that the nitty-gritty of my life is taken seriously by the gospel, not just the state of my soul. I don't want a religion of neat little slogans about sunsets and heartthrobs. I want something practical that gets into the working parts of my life" (p. 303).^"If Jesus makes it into our daily behavior, observers will begin to think there might be something to this after all" (p. 307).^"In Christ we see the putting to death of self, the killing of self-centeredness, the crucifixion of the ego" (p. 310).Once again, Peterson has instructed me in the Jesus way, showing me with thoughtful prose the beauty of Jesus and of a life lived with him.

This book consists of a compilation of sermons preached by Peterson many years ago. Many of these thoughts were later developed in his books. Though this book is good, its best thoughts are found in its introduction; the book’s sermons are okay but their thoughts are better developed in his latter books.Here’s an excerpt from the book’s introduction:“The Christian life is the lifelong practice of attending to the details of congruence. There should be congruence between what a thing is and what it does.… Our lives should express the congruence of inside and outside; this congruence of ends and means, Christ as both the means and the ends playing through our limbs … the Christ life in the Christ way. Not just the preaching but prayers at the hospital bed … Not ideas, not goals, not principles, nothing abstract or disembodied, but the Good News of the Word made flesh (John 1:14), becoming our flesh (xix). I was learning to embrace the congregation just as they were, not how I wanted them to be. Now our common worship on Sundays was also developing tendrils that reached into homes and workplaces … They were not problems to be fixed or resources to be exploited.… Congregation was not a collection of individuals… But all the parts working organically with Christ as the head (xx).

If you love Eugene Peterson then you will love some of his preaching gems. It is great because it is so brief and can lead you in a great devotion. However, for the narrated edition (a.k.a. audible edition), you can tell that the reader has unnatural pauses. He doesn't have tone fluctuations as if Eugene Peterson would be reading it. This is just common for any book not read by the author. I have used some of the examples for my own speaking. Also, the audible edition does not have the titles that the kindle edition or regular book has and can make it difficult to go back and find chapters you listened to.

I LOVE this book!! If I were to draw a verbal picture of Eugene's amazing, down to earth incite into daily living through faith it would be this; You've been under the water too long. You"re struggling to hold your breath a little longer. You fight to the surface. Your face finally breaks through the water. You gasp to take in that first breath as deeply & as quickly as you can. The water clears from your face so you can finally open yours eyes to see where you are. You realize you're safe, catch your breath & you think to yourself "I can do this". Eugene Peterson is an amazing communicator. If all pastors could deliver a message like him, Christianity would look a little different.

I am admittedly, a fan of Eugene Peterson. His work has spoken to me more effectively than any other author save the Scriptures themselves.This book is of his sermons. How I wish I could have heard them from his heart in person. In this, he doesn’t preach at you, but reaches into you for God to have His way with you.After 40+ years of ministry myself, I am thinking I still have a long way to go to approach this standard. He encourages me to press on throughout this good text.Go for it. It will become one of your favorites too.

Eugene Peterson is already a favorite author. His work has deeply impacted me in all 8 dimensions of my life...as it also might your own life. For those concerned with the sacredness of doing soul work, no matter where on the planet, the 49 chapters take us, in depth, all over scripture. These are refined from several sermon series he did as an active pastor. He is another author, about whom, I have almost all his work in my personal library. Those are all treasured tomes that continue to inform my life...as I believe they would anyone who is desiring to be fully alive from the soul out.

Very good book but his writing style is often longwinded which is a pain. This book is better in this regard. He is also one of very few teachers that I find to be really humble and unpretentious.

brother well pleased

Once again Eugene Peterson slows you down and enables you to sense the mantle of God's love embracing enfold you. Also and only to be expected !!! very challenging.

Stand on the shoulders of a spiritual man. Thanks Pastor and professor Eugene Peterson who is my most favorite writer. Every sermon was spirit led and full of imagination.

Since 2007, Eugene H. Peterson influenced me a lot in spiritually so that I could know what is spiritual maturity in Triune God, why it is important to Christian life, and how to grow with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Although I have met him only one time personally, he was my mentor, pastor, and theologian of Christian Spirituality especially in biblically. And Eugene indicates how preaching can challenge the congregation so that it can be transformed by biblically and spiritually. It might be his last book, so I feel like he gives his last breath to the contemporary church so that it can realize what is its true mission and follow God’s way.So I strongly recommend those are pastors and ordinary Christians, grabbing this book and not just read but eat this book, so making this book can be a plentiful spiritual food in your soul. I mean that soul is your whole or entire being.