The famous humanist Erasmus is credited for saying, "When I get a little money, I buy books; if any is left I buy food and clothes." If you're a bibliophile like the rest of us, you are shaking your head in agreement right now!

The building in the picture is called the Radcliffe Camera, which is part of the Bodleian Library system of Oxford University in England. I spent a couple of weeks at Oxford as a "reader" researching Puritan theology for my Masters thesis, and much of my time was spent here. There's something about old books and old libraries that foster a love for reading, for sure ...

I appreciate the fact that my colleagues in the communications department here at LifeWay are avid and broad readers. Every now and then it's fun to poll the office to see what people are reading. So here are the results for February 1, 2010:

Rob Phillips: I've just started Three Views on the Millennium and Beyond, edited by Darrell L. Bock. Just recently I finished Why You Can Have Confidence in the Bible by Harold J. Sala.

Jennifer Tramel: What I'm reading is called The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. My favorite types of fiction deal with negative utopias or post-apocalyptic situations. One of my other favorite authors recommended this, and I've been trying to find the time for about a year now.  When I got the Kindle for Christmas, I knew exactly what my first Kindle book would be!

Polly House: I'm reading Crazy Love by Francis Chan with my small group from church and A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink with the rest of communications staff.

Brooklyn Lowery: I'm taking an early American literature class right now (in this case, that means writings to 1800). At the moment, I'm working through some Native American creation myths and letters from early American explorers (Columbus, for instance). It's actually more interesting than it sounds, though I would be lying if I said I can't wait to get home and read more every night.

On a less academic, but more spiritual note, I'm reading The Holy Wild by Mark Buchanan. I read his Your God is Too Safe a few years ago (I highly recommend it) and have been trying to follow that up with The Holy Wild ever since -- finally making it happen, and I'm not disappointed. Thanks, Mark, for both of these books!

Kelly Shrout: A few months ago, I started reading Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens to my son. We will finish the novel in the year 2020 at the rate we're going. My grandmother, who is British, gave me the book years ago. Reading this book reminds me of her, which is truly special now that I'm reading it to my son.

Micah Carter: Right now I'm finishing up The End of Christianity by William Dembski, a thought-provoking work in speculative theology. At a snail's pace I'm working through Shepherding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp, well worth the time so far. Eventually, I'll be re-reading Margaret Kostenberger's Jesus and the Feminists for a book review I'm doing for the Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, coming out later this year.

Posted by Micah Carter

This past week I attended the annual meeting of the Association of State Baptist Papers in Coeur d'Alene, ID, held at the resort of the same name. The purpose of my trip primarily was to meet state paper editors, but also to host a luncheon for them provided by LifeWay. Even more, LifeWay's president and CEO Thom Rainer also addressed the editors, so it didn't hurt to be present for his portion as well.

This trip was my first to Idaho, so I was looking forward to seeing a ton of snow and maybe a few moose. I saw neither. Sure, there was snow on the tips of the mountains in the distance, but none on the ground below. I left more snow in Nashville, TN, than I saw in Idaho!

But my trip wasn't about snow and moose, it was about state paper editors and getting to know them. Here are some of the editors I met and with whom I spent some time in conversation:

• Bob Terry, The Alabama Baptist
• Bob Simpson, BaptistLIFE (MD/DE)
• Jim Smith, Florida Baptist Witness
• Norman Jameson, Biblical Recorder (NC)
• Todd Deaton, Western Recorder (KY)
• Elizabeth Young, Portraits (AZ)
• Kelly Boggs, Baptist Message (LA)
• Tony Martin (assoc. editor), The Baptist Record (MS)

I also spent some time with other SBC entity representatives, such as Mike Ebert from North American Mission Board, Van Payne from International Mission Board, Wanda Lee from WMU, and Richard Land from Ethics & Religious Liberties Commission.

There were also some editors with which I was unable to connect, like Doug Baker from The Baptist Messenger (OK) and John Loudat from Baptist New Mexican (NM).

It was a joy to meet these editors because I read their papers weekly (or as often as they are published). I am grateful for their labors in the states they serve, and I pray for their success in communicating news and information to Southern Baptists across our convention.

So, for the record, it was nice to connect in Coeur d'Alene with these contributors to Baptist life.

Micah Carter