Stopping to Think

Will Dole
  • 5.0 (10)
  • CHRISTIANITY
  • UPDATED BIWEEKLY

Thoughts on the Bible, theology, culture, books, and whatever else is making me think willdole.substack.com

  1. 6D AGO

    Prayer

    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 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 or get access to bonus episodes, visit willdole.substack.com/subscribe

    2 min

  2. 12/24/2025

    A Christmas Prayer

    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 Gospel, with some thoughts about how a tree might draw our minds in that direction. Anyhow, I did that in the form of a responsive reading this year, which I’ll share here for your Christmas Eve reading. May it be edifying to you, and may you experience the Lord’s blessing on you this Christmas season. Bless us the Christmas We are gathered tonight around our community Christmas tree. Trees play a pivotal role in the biblical story, from the opening chapters of Genesis, all the way through to the final chapter of the final book, Revelation. So in this responsive reading we will rehearse some of that history, and consider how our minds can be drawn to Christ and his work when we look at this tree. After each statement or petition I read, please respond together, “Bless us this Christmas.” Father God, who created the world out of nothing, Bless us this Christmas Creator God, who caused the earth to bring forth life, Bless us this Christmas Loving God, who made mankind in your own image, Bless us this Christmas Providing God, who blessed our first parents with the fruit of every tree—save one, Bless us this Christmas Merciful God, who judged our parents for their sin, but also promised a Redeemer, Bless us this Christmas Jealous God, who hates our sin, and desires our pure worship, Bless us this Christmas Speaking God, who sent your prophets with messages of judgement and salvation, Bless us this Christmas Saving God, who sent your eternal Son into the world, Bless us this Christmas Glad God, who sent an angelic choir to herald the Incarnation, Bless us this Christmas Holy God, whose Son made atonement for our sin upon the Tree, Bless us this Christmas Just God, who accepts Jesus’ work, and gave him resurrection, Bless us this Christmas Adopting God, who gives those who trust in Jesus the status of your children, Bless us this Christmas Gracious God, who sends his Spirit and grants salvation, Bless us this Christmas Redeeming God, who gives eternal life to those who trust your promises, Bless us this Christmas We ask, oh God, that as we see this tree, that we would remember the coming of Jesus, and his for us upon that tree on Calvary, where he purchased our salvation. Grant each one here the faith to trust in his finished work, and the assurance that they will one day be gathered with him around the Tree of Life. Together we pray, Bless us this Christmas. Amen. 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 or get access to bonus episodes, visit willdole.substack.com/subscribe

    4 min

  3. 12/15/2025

    Boys of Blur

    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 intensity, the visceral grip. But it doesn’t simply hit the emotional and narrative beats. You can tell that Wilson’s story is also influenced by the thinking in his father’s essay, “Beowulf: the unChrist.” Like a Viking culture that tore itself apart through greed, envy, and revenge, so too might this small Florida town. So, too, might any of our towns. The only force strong enough to fight that stank is the Love that would lay down His Life for His friends. (also, Swait’s narration is FANTASTIC.) 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 or get access to bonus episodes, visit willdole.substack.com/subscribe

    3 min

  4. 12/08/2025

    The Prayer of Jabez

    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 things popular, I never read it. But I picked up a free copy off a book table at a conference a while back, in part because it was the right size for a tree-stand book. What I found was certainly not prosperity teaching. Rather, Wilkinson gives a pretty straightforward explanation and application of 1 Chronicles 4:9-10. His discussion of blessing explicitly renounces prosperity teaching, and makes clear that God is the arbiter of what “blessing” looks like. There are times when Wilkinson’s illustrations seem to undermine his argument; but on the whole, I think his push to help Christians believe that God is good, God is for them, and God is a God of blessing is a helpful corrective. Too many folks—myself included—can be given over to a defeatist mindset and low expectation theology that needs corrected by the Bible. This is something I have been convicted of lately in pondering the early verses of Romans 2, in the shape of Psalm 8, among other places; I was glad for the reminder here from Wilkinson. Whoever would please God must believe that He exists and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him (Hebrews 11:6). As the author ably illustrates, Jabez was such a believer. And because of this, he was more honorable than his his brothers. May we all seek such honor.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ 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.substack.com/subscribe

    6 min
  5. Parenting Young Children, part I

    12/01/2025

    Parenting Young Children, part I

    This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit willdole.substack.com/subscribe

    35 min

  6. 11/24/2025

    Oaths and an Unshakeable Kingdom

    Oaths and Vows Let your yes be a yes, and your no be a no— Be full true here below, and use God’s Name to bless. The Kingdom For Thine is the Kingdom and power and the glory; The King in His beauty is the center of the Story. From His garden temple, which He planted and called Eden, Adam and his line were expelled, on account of treason. Across the years rebellion grew until it reached full measure— God destroyed the garden-world, displaying just displeasure. Noah was saved, and from his kin Shem would be the chosen: Then Abraham, and Isaac's son, Israel—now in Goshen. God's mighty arm was bared against Egypt and the nations— all who stand against the King will feel His devastation. But Jeshurun waxed fat and kicked, she left her Kingly Love, though He had fed her in the desert, nourished from Above, They bucked against the law He gave, and cast off all restraint; Such was her rebellion that even worship felt its taint. But then He sent a monarch true, after His very heart, and David's throne it was established—promising to start. But—sinful, greedy, lusting, coveting—incontinence Passed from generations down: the kingdom departed hence. Carried into exile—Assyria and Babylon pressed their foot against the neck of the people who had gone so far afield from all that God had promised and required— O Come, Emanuel!—of being captive we are tired. And so, fullness of all time, the Father sent the Son, and in His Incarnation Kingdom coming has begun. He purchased it by virtue of His sinless life and death, sealed by His triumphant resurrection; now by His breath He poureth out the Holy Ghost into His holy church. And though we shame His name and by our conduct do besmirch, He promises to use us, and display His wisdom through Sovereign action saving sinners, and all things making new. We see it just in glimpses now, clarity eludes us— So until it comes in fullness, we pray, "come, Lord Jesus." 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 or get access to bonus episodes, visit willdole.substack.com/subscribe

    4 min

  7. 11/03/2025

    Atomic Habits and Funding Your Ministry

    For a number of years I’ve used Goodreads to track my reading. I’m in the process of moving all of that tracking over to a spreadsheet, as I’ve found the value I used to find on Goodreads is drastically outweighed by the time I waste there. But what to do with the short reviews I also liked to write on that platform? Well, I’m moving those to handwritten form—which makes me think more clearly and helps me retain much more than dashing a few thoughts off with my thumbs—and then moving that handwritten text to here, if I feel the particular thoughts are worth sharing. Such is the case below. Atomic Habits James Clear, NY: Avery, 2018 In this book, Clear argues for the values of making small, incremental, and intentional changes to one’s life in order to see big long-term changes. He addresses common problems to building positive habits over the long term, and spends most of the book going over his four-step process to habit forming: 1. Make it obvious 2. Make it attractive 3. Make it easy 4. Make it satisfying This book was at its strongest when it was focused on giving practical advice and pointing out the obvious benefits of long-term habit formation. The observations concerning the importance of environmental factors in habit formation and maintenance were helpful. This book was the weakest when Clear seemed too worried about being judgmental, or when his self-importance leads him to the ridiculous—like comparing the process of finishing his book manuscript to when Victor Hugo had a servant lock his clothes away so that he had to stay home until he finished The Hunchback of Notre Dame. I mean, come on man. I think books like this can be useful for reminding you of things you already know, or picking up some practical advice. But I wouldn’t call it life changing. And the “1% better everyday” thing annoyed me, that’s impossible to quantify. Funding Your Ministry Scott Morton, Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2017 (3rd Edition) In this book, Morton argues that support-raising missionary staff should seek to be fully funded. While he acknowledges that perhaps other funding models may work, he believes that ministry will be most effective when missionaries devote the proper time and attention to funding their ministry. Morton also spends a substantial amount of time helping missionaries understand the mechanics of fundraising. He dispels fundraising myths—e.g. that “praying in your support” is wise as a stand alone strategy, or that presenting to churches will lead to large amounts of funds. He also argues forcefully for his preferred funding strategy: face-to-face appeals. His focus on face-to-face appeals is driven by several factors, but two especially: it is the most effective way to raise funds, and it provides the missionary with real opportunities to build relationships and minister to givers and partners. The rest of the book turns the gaze to several particular groups—but the content in each was worthwhile. Some of the specifics related to social media don’t age well, but his emphasis that social can’t be core to your strategy was solid advice then, and is better advice now. The only part of the book that fell out of place was some over-prescription on spending—but you might expect a coffee shop owner to be defensive about the cost of a daily latte. 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 or get access to bonus episodes, visit willdole.substack.com/subscribe

    6 min

  8. 10/28/2025

    Love and Hope

    I’m puttering my way through a project wherein I write poems inspired by each of the 90-some headings in JI Packer’s book, Concise Theology. Here are a couple of them from the middle of the pack— Love God is love— Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. What doth He desire most? Return it. Give this gift to those who bear Image. Our patrilineage from above. Hope Help for our endurance race, built upon the base of grace— hope. Not empty as man offers, with this the wise fill coffers— hope. Look upon his former deeds, let your forward gaze now feed— hope. 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 or get access to bonus episodes, visit willdole.substack.com/subscribe

    2 min
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About

Thoughts on the Bible, theology, culture, books, and whatever else is making me think willdole.substack.com

Information

  • Creator
    Will Dole
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2025
  • Episodes
    78
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Will Dole
  • Show Website
    Stopping to Think

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