We recently had a chance to visit with Kirk Billiter, author of the new book Strike the Flag: The Significance of Surrender in Leading and Serving Others, and a long-time friend.
CD: Writing a book is a significant undertaking. What led you to write this book?
KB: My short answer is: I had stories—many of them, lived, remembered, and redeemed by God. I began gathering them years ago, writing about God’s redemptive hand in my life and the quiet, steady ways He has proven faithful through both ordinary days and seasons marked by deep struggle and change.
The second thing my wife Rebecca and I did in 2021 that led me to write this book was join our friend, Eric Elder’s on-line writer’s cohort. We learned so much from him and others in the cohort. In 2022, the whole writer’s cohort went up to Starved Rock to meet for a weekend of writing and training. That jump started me to begin gathering the ideas for writing this book. Continue reading


For the Christian, there are many ways to approach prayer. Some have a daily time set aside for prayer built into their schedule, perhaps in the morning with a cup of coffee and their Bible and devotional reading, or perhaps it is as you rest your head on the pillow. I tend to pray throughout the day, but do most of my praying as I take walks, with a brief time of prayer as I rest my head for sleep at night.


In his excellent book Lead Like It Matters to God: Values-Driven Leadership in a Success-Driven World, a book I feel should be required reading for Christian leaders, former World Vision President Richard Stearns writes that he believes that God is far more concerned about how a leader leads than he is about the success that leader delivers. The book is about why he believes the values Christian leaders embrace are more important than the success they achieve. He tells us that while our culture rewards success, God’s bottom line is faithfulness.
Sing! From Generation to Generation (Live at the Getty Music Worship Conference) – Keith & Kristyn Getty and Friends
Things Unseen: One Year of Reflections on the Christian Life by Sinclair Ferguson. Ligonier Ministries. 570 pages. 2024
Aging is an important aspect of finishing well. It doesn’t matter what our age is, we all tend to age differently. When I retired, I went out with a large group of co-workers. A financial planner that the organization brought in to speak to us told us something that I remember clearly, even though it has been more than eight years ago as I write this.


