I’ve been very upset by the senseless killing of Renee Nicole Good. I had a hard time sleeping last night. (A friend is a pastor to her parents.) So I pray. And then I listen to good music that reminds me there is goodness in this world and evil will not have the last word.

A war budget of 1.5 trillion dollars (proposed for 2027) is $4,322 for every man, woman, and child in America. Mars is a voracious god. (Artwork: “The Face of War,” Salvador Dalí, 1941)

The Magi and I open.substack.com/pub/brianzah...

The ten-week online course through “Demons”—Dostoevsky’s most prophetic novel—begins this evening! You can participate live (with Q/A) or access the recordings later. Information and registration at wolc.com/demons.

“This Light from the Child in the Darkness” youtu.be/eHE8sU6CGCc?...

The study at sunrise on a Lord’s day morning.

Full Moon with Contrail 🌝

The story of the Wise Men from the East led by a star to worship the Christ child is one of the most enchanting stories in the gospel. And for two thousand years this story has fascinated artists of all kinds—painters and poets, composers and writers. Tomorrow I'll tell the story in my own way.

Stranger Things, which I loved, owes a lot to Stephen King’s It, which in turn owes a lot to Tolkien’s Shelob and Samwise Gamgee’s triumph over it through loyalty and friendship.

“Life is more nearly an escape from Dostoevsky than Dostoevsky is an escape from life.” -Arthur Trace, Furnace of Doubt The ten-week online course through “Demons” begins Monday. Info and registration at wolc.com/demons

Happy Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus! a.k.a. The Eighth Day of Christmas

He’s not wrong.

My best playlist of 2025. open.spotify.com/playlist/5dh...

Incarnation IS Salvation youtu.be/vMoyQ4sMboU?...

DEMONS—a ten-week online course through Dostoevsky’s most prophetic novel. You can register at wolc.com/demons

The Mighty Sycamore presides o’re its realm.

The Greatest Novel Ever Written brianzahnd.substack.com/p/the-greate...

I’ve lived long enough to see the second coming of vinyl record Christmas presents.

Word of Life. No filter.

Christmas Eve at Word of Life. (Love the pedal steel!)

My top three favorite Christmas movies: 1. A Christmas Carol (1984*) “Marley was dead.” 2. It’s A Wonderful Life (1946) “Zuzu’s petals!” 3. A Christmas Story (1983) “You’ll shoot your eye out.” * George C. Scott

This Light from the Child in the Darkness” brianzahnd.substack.com/p/this-light...

The Spirit of Prophecy youtu.be/MucrAW-anuU?...

Fourth Sunday of Advent

I’d almost forgotten how much I love Neil Young’s On The Beach. Great album!

Hell…and How to Get There brianzahnd.substack.com/p/helland-ho...

When readers talk to me about my books the one that comes up most frequently is “Sinners In the Hands of a Loving God.” And now Penguin Random House tells me it’s available on Kindle for $1.99. I’m not sure for how long. So…Merry Christmas.

The new “Knives Out” film on Netflix— “Wake Up Dead Man”—is a surprising presentation of the gospel of grace and forgiveness skewering the false gospel of nationalism and vengeance.

Messiah As He Is youtu.be/vuD71NbYfRM?...

I can’t go beyond three with any certainty, but I can name my three favorite novels. 1. The Brothers Karamazov 2. The Lord of the Rings 3. Septology

I just finished my third reading of Septology. It’s my new Advent tradition. I love this book so much. God bless Jon Fosse.

It’s one thing to be seduced by the beguiling tongue of a fallen Maiar like Saruman, but another to be (willingly?) duped by the inarticulate ramblings of a middling Orc. Selah

Billionaires are not invested in making your life better.

Here Is Your God brianzahnd.substack.com/p/here-is-yo...

There Is No Cruelty In Christ brianzahnd.substack.com/p/there-is-n...

I bless the Somalis living in Minnesota. I bless them because I am a Christian and they are children of God.

Reading Septology during Advent is now a new tradition for me. I love this 667-page single sentence so much. God bless Jon Fosse.

My sermon for the first Sunday in Advent. youtu.be/rlzWmLHpEx8?...

Here’s my Advent playlist. open.spotify.com/playlist/3UH...

This is from Nick Cave’s latest Red Hand Files (# 345). And this is also what much of my forthcoming book is about—“Unseen Existences: Of Heaven, Earth, and the Divine Mystery in All Things.” (Releases May 19, 2026.)

Prayer School number 103 is in John Mellencamp’s “Small Town”—Seymour, Indiana. Amen.

“Our every experience of the natural is always already ‘supernatural’ in both origin and end…” -David Bentley Hart, The Light of Tabor

I Believe In An Interventionist God. brianzahnd.substack.com/p/i-believe-...

One can be pragmatic or prophetic— but one cannot be both.

It’s tricky living as exiles in Babylon. youtu.be/jGleS-QhnzM?...

“The only punishment capable of punishing Hitler, and deterring little boys thirsting for greatness in coming centuries from following his example is such a total transformation of the meaning attached to greatness that he should thereby be excluded from it.” -Simone Weil, 1943

A wheel of Stilton cheese from England. This is the good stuff, people.

Next.

The gospel is not a fiction, but it is a story. brianzahnd.substack.com/p/lord-of-th...