AS KINGFISHERS CATCH FIRE A Conversation on the Ways of God Formed by the Words of God

From the translator of The Message, a definitive collection of teachings on the Christian life and how Scripture informs our relationship with Christ.

“Sixty years ago I found myself distracted.” So begins the introduction to AS KINGFISHERS CATCH FIRE. What follows is the record of the collaboration of pastor and congregation in acts of worship and a life together. What Peterson discovered is that the pastor's life is much more than just the preaching. It is also made up of attending to the details in all the circumstances and relationships specific to a people and a place - prayers at a hospital bed, conversations with the elderly, even small talk on a street corner.

This collection of spiritual writings presents Peterson's distinctive approach designed to communicate to his congregation, and the reader, "the full counsel of God." Seven sections containing seven teachings, each expertly crafted to stir the biblical imagination. In these teachings, Peterson walks the reader through Scripture to bring fresh insight to familiar names such as Moses, David, Isaiah, Solomon, Peter, Paul, and John of Patmos.

Peterson is the author of such classics as A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places, Tell It Slant, and the translator of the million-selling The Message Bible. He is truly beloved and is praised by John Ortberg, Max Lucado, Shane Claiborne, Dallas Willard, Philip Yancey, Leith Anderson, Tremper Longman III, and Luci Shaw. And even U2's Bono is a fan. In fact, the two recently teamed up to release a new documentary about their unlikely relationship and a conversation they had on the book of Psalms: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-l40S5e90KY

EUGENE H. PETERSON, translator of The Message, a bestselling translation of the Bible, is professor emeritus of spiritual theology at Regent College, British Columbia, and the author of over thirty books. He earned his B.A. in philosophy from Seattle Pacific University, his S.T.B. from New York Theological Seminary, and his M.A. in Semitic languages from Johns Hopkins University. He also holds several honorary doctoral degrees. In 1962, Peterson was a founding pastor of Christ Our King Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) in Bel Air, Maryland, where he served for 29 years before retiring in 1991. He and his wife live in Montana.