Big Dumb Eyes: Stories from a Simpler Mind by Nate Bargatze. Grand Central Publishing. 232 pages. 2025
***
If you enjoy the comedy of Nate Bargatze, you’ll enjoy this book, his first. I listened to the audiobook edition, which was read by Bargatze, and I would recommend that version to you as he reads it with his deadpan, self-deprecating delivery.
This light-hearted book has Bargatze telling stories about McDonald’s, shopping, his family, his barber, who is also his trainer, dogs, his car named “Old Blue”, his best friend Pee Pee, his wife Laura and daughter Harper, his unfailing love of Vanderbilt University football (who will never win the national championship), and his father, who was a magician and still opens Nate’s shows. He tells us about growing up in a small town in Tennessee, where you could never say the “F-word” in his home (no, not that “F-word”), his poor performance in college, living in a rat-infested apartment in Chicago as he learned standup comedy, and playing basketball in the NBA (no, not that NBA). The book includes blank pages, and random food thoughts. Throughout the book, Bargatze makes reference to his and his family’s Christian faith.
Click on ‘Continue reading’ for:
BOOK REVIEWS ~ More of this review and a review of Roots & Rhythm: A Life in Music by Charlie Peacock
BOOK NEWS ~ Links to Interesting Articles
BOOK CLUB ~ Truths We Confess by R.C. Sproul
I’M CURRENTLY READING….
Roots & Rhythm: A Life in Music by Charlie Peacock. Eerdman’s. 462 pages. 2025
****
I have loved the music of multi-talented (singer, songwriter, producer, author, podcaster) Charlie Peacock’s music since his West Coast Diaries cassettes. My favorite of his albums is his 1995 Everything That’s On My Mind. In addition to pop songs, Peacock has recorded a number of jazz albums. I have seen him in concert a number of times, and also at a speaking engagement for an earlier book (At the Crossroads). I thoroughly enjoyed this new book.
Peacock tells us that the book is about one artistic life rooted in America’s soil, shame, and success. He is an excellent storyteller, and doesn’t tell his story chronologically, which can be confusing at times. He is detailed as he tells his story and the people, he has been friends and collaborators with.
As far as whether Peacock sis famous, he tells the story of a friend of his daughter Molly visiting her years ago. The friend noticed the records hanging on the wall and a few trophies displayed, and asked Molly, “Is your dad famous?” Molly replied, “No. Just well-known.” But Peacock, who once opened for Bob Marley, is a Grammy-Award winning producer who’s worked with Amy Grant, the Civil Wars, The Lone Bellow, Switchfoot, and many, many more. His songwriter credits include Grant’s “Every Heartbeat” and DC Talk’s “In the Light”. He has more than one thousand credits as writer, producer and performer.
Peacock writes of his hometown of Yuba City, California, Sacramento, California and Nashville, Tennessee and his multi-racial family history and John Sutter. He writes of authors who have had an impact on him such as Jack Kerouac, Wendell Berry, Steven Garber and many more.
Peacock makes countless references to songs, albums, and artists throughout the book, either because he worked with them or they influenced him. Some of those who influenced him are John Coltrane, U2, and Bob Dylan. He tells of the significant impact of producer Brown Bannister, who would produce Peacock’s The Secret of Time album. He writes about the Warehouse and Exit Records, and the conflict about being associated as a Christian music artist.
Peacock would begin dating future wife Andi at age 15, and they would be married in 1975. He is transparent in writing that his workload when they moved to Nashville in 1989 would leave Andi lonely and taking on the majority of parenting responsibilities. He also references substance abuse, and therapy.
Peacock’s Christian faith is woven throughout his story. He and wife Andi would move to St. Louis to attend Covenant Seminary. Interestingly, I would be in a class with Andi during the January 2006 term.
I enjoyed reading about Peacock’s relationship with Bono, which began with Bono’s visit to the Art House in 2020 to support DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa), and his subsequent efforts of activism.
Peacock suffers from a neurological disorder, resulting in a constant headache.
I listened to the audiobook version of the book, well read by Peacock. I enjoyed listening to how God has providentially worked in his life. As you read the book, you will want to frequently open your favorite music streaming service and listen to some of Charlie’s songs as well as those he references in this book.
- Is This the Way? A Review of Practicing the Way by John Mark Comer. Kevin DeYoung shares strengths and weaknesses of Comer’s popular book Practicing the Way.
- Study, Savor and Share Scripture: Becoming What We Behold. My wife Tammy has published a book about HOW to study the Bible. The book is available on Amazon in both a Kindle and paperback edition. She writes “Maybe you have read the Bible but want to dig deeper and know God and know yourself better. Throughout the book I use the analogy of making a quilt to show how the Bible is telling one big story about what God is doing in the world through Christ. Quilting takes much patience and precision, just like studying the Bible, but the end result is well worth it.”
BOOK CLUB – Won’t you read along with us?
We are reading through Truths We Confess: A Systematic Exposition of the Westminster Confession of Faith by R.C. Sproul. From the Ligonier description:
“The Westminster Confession of Faith is one of the most precise and comprehensive statements of biblical Christianity, and it is treasured by believers around the world. R.C. Sproul has called it one of the most important confessions of faith ever penned, and it has helped generations of Christians understand and defend what they believe.
In Truths We Confess, Dr. Sproul introduces readers to this remarkable confession, explaining its insights and applying them to modern life. In his signature easy-to-understand style and with his conviction that everyone’s a theologian, he provides valuable commentary that will serve churches and individual Christians as they strive to better understand the eternal truths of Scripture. As he walks through the confession line by line, Dr. Sproul shows how the doctrines of the Bible—from creation to covenant, sin to salvation—fit together to the glory of God. This accessible volume is designed to help you deepen your knowledge of God’s Word and answer the question, What do you believe?”
This week we look at the second half of WCF 29: Of the Lord’s Supper. Here are a few helpful quotes from this section of the chapter:
- Calvin and other Reformers rejected both transubstantiation and consubstantiation on Christological grounds.
- Calvin taught the real presence of Christ, but not His physical presence.
- We must protect a true union of two natures, one that is truly divine and one that is truly human. Jesus has a true human nature and a true divine nature that exist in perfect unity.
- He is truly present in His divine nature, so that we really feed on the risen Christ.
- Christ’s human nature is at the right hand of God in heaven; His divine nature is at the Lord’s Table, where we meet Him.
- We meet the whole person of Jesus at the Lord’s Table, not because His human nature can be physically present here and all over the world, but because He comes to us according to His divine nature, which is perfectly united to His human nature. When He comes, He does so with the whole person.
