Winn Collier - A Burning in My Bones: The Authorized Biography of Eugene H. Peterson, Translator of the Message

In the time of a generation-wide breakdown in trust with leaders in every sphere of society, Eugenes quiet life of deep integrity and gospel purpose is a bright light against a dark backdrop. For years his life has been the North Star for my life and pastoral call. This seminal biography is an unmistakable call to quiet resistance against the way of the world and, when necessary, the way of the church. Only read this book if youre ready to live differently.

J ohn M ark C omer , pastor for teaching and vision at Bridgetown Church and author of The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry

Winn Collier captures Eugene Petersons sense of wonder over the presence of God and the radiance of Scripture. Through A Burning in My Bones, youll learn to experience life through Eugenes eyes: dig deep, look for what is real, find the sacred in the rough and ordinary, and live like God is real.

M ark B atterson , New York Times bestselling author of The Circle Maker and lead pastor of National Community Church

How do you reduce into words the vital reality of this man, scholar, searcher, teacher, and faithful friend? Eugene was a man who brought Scripture to fresh life for me and millions of otherswho else would invite the phrase Holy Luck into a retelling of the Beatitudes? Winn Colliers skilled storytelling weaves the threads of Eugenes life into something fitting, like the prayer shawl he wore in his study every day.

L uci S haw , Regent College writer in residence and author of The Generosity poems

I knew Eugene Peterson for thirty years, or at least I thought I did. He didnt talk much, especially about himself. I knew nothing about his mouse tattoo, his Pentecostal mothers radio program, the abysmal failure of his first church plant attempt, his friendship with a young Pat Robertson, or his square dancing prowess. Somehow Winn Collier ferreted out the little known facts about Eugene that, taken together, complete the picture of a humble, gentle giant who brought the Bible to new life for millions and became an inspirational model for beleaguered pastors everywhere.

P hilip Y ancey , author of Whats So Amazing About Grace

Captivating from the first page, Colliers artful storytelling immerses us into the life of a spiritual sage. With a gentle hand, he weaves together moments and words and letters and prayers, drawing out themes like threads in a tapestry, never imposing a narrative. In these pages, we go beyond The Message and the pastor, and meet the human in all his earthiness and holiness. This is a work of art worthy of the man who wanted to be a saint.

G lenn P ackiam , associate senior pastor of New Life Church and author of Blessed Broken Given

Eugene Peterson indelibly marked both me and Leadership Journal, the publication I edited for thirty-four years. In an era fascinated by leadership techniques, he insisted that the essence of pastoral ministry was not running a church (to which many ministers defaulted) but curing souls. This outstanding biography tells the story of how Eugene developed his unique and prophetic voice.

M arshall S helley , director of the Doctor of Ministry program at Denver Seminary and coauthor of The Leadership Secrets of Billy Graham

When a book begins with a map, you know its going to be good. When its a biography of a Christian thinker, its even better. A map means place and embodied experience are going to be part of his story of faith. In the same way Petersons words welcomed us to walk in the world of the Bible, Colliers words welcome us into Petersons world, with warmth and generosity. As we spend time in the presence of Peterson, we catch glimpses of the Presence that animated his entire life.

M andy S mith , author of The Vulnerable Pastor and pastor of University Christian Church

Eugene Peterson was my friend. I miss his voice: his warmth, wisdom, and vulnerability. My deepest gratitude to Winn Collier for evoking the pastors heart so beautifully throughout these pages. And for the miracle of deepening our intimacy with him even beyond the veil!

B radley J ersak , author of The Pastor: A Crisis

Eugene Petersons was a momentous life. He held together so much we pull apart: academia and the church, the liberal mainline and evangelicalism, the mystical and the rustic, Hebrew grammar and Dostoyevsky, Jesus and his creation. Now Eugenes life has a suitably momentous biographyan unassuming setting from which this jewel of a life shines. Whether you are a Peterson junkie or have never bought one of his twenty-two million books sold (to date), you will find yourself drawn in and delighted.

J ason B yassee , Butler Chair in Homiletics and Biblical Interpretation at Vancouver School of Theology and editor, with Roger Owens, of Pastoral Work: Engagements with the Vision of Eugene Peterson

This book pulses with life on every pageits expansive and energetic, deeply human, at times painfully honest, and a call to blazing holiness. Winn Collier has given us a biography befitting a beautiful man.

D aniel G rothe , associate senior pastor of New Life Church and author of Chasing Wisdom

Annie Dillard noted, How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. Winn Collier, in A Burning in My Bones, offers us a vulnerable look into the life of Eugene Peterson, who spent his days in pursuit of becoming a saint. Collier fills in the gaps of Petersons life, showing us his struggles to live this holy ambition and revealing a man who wrestled deeply yet who was able to explore the expansive and generous geography of the kingdom of God. This is a candid picture of a pastor who found that Gods holiness can never be experienced abstractly but only lived in dogged commitment to ones place and people.

T rygve D . J ohnson , Hinga-Boersma Dean of the Chapel, Hope College, Holland, Michigan, and author of The Preacher as Liturgical Artist: Metaphor, Identity, and the Vicarious Humanity of Christ

A Burning in My Bones is an intimate portrait of one of the greatest spiritual writers of a generation. But in these pages, Eugene Peterson isnt enshrined. To read Colliers sweeping biography is to understand Petersons faithfulness as something earthy, even imitable. Every chapter inspires our own courage for the long obedience of faith. In short, this isnt a book that simply sketches a life; its a book that makes one long to be saint.

J en P ollock M ichel , author of Surprised by Paradox

A Burning in My Bones beautifully reminds us that we are shaped, as are our expectations, by the people and places we relationally inhabitas habitations of Gods presence. Collier invites us to walk with Eugene, from his early days of walking the hills of Montana to pastorally walking alongside followers of Jesus throughout his adult life, with the expectation that one experiences extraordinary holiness in a holy, wholly ordinary, Presence-filled life.

C herith F ee N ordling , associate professor at the Robert E. Webber Institute for Worship Studies

In my years spent trying to bring people of different ethnicities together in the context of the local church, I picked up quickly that labels were not my friend. I guess thats why Ive always been drawn to Eugene Peterson. What exactly was he? Trying to define (or confine) him is like trying to squeeze too many clothes in a trunk: something is bound to, well, not fit. The only label all of Eugene Peterson nestled neatly in is the Greatest Commandment. He loved God with all of his being, and his neighboreven his ethnically-other neighbor during Jim Crowas himself. At a time of deep label-wearing partisanship, we need books like