MICHAEL STONE is a priest who was found by the Episcopal Church after being nourished by myriad and seemingly unrelated stops along the way: ordained Southern Baptist ministry, participation in almost every mainline Christian denomination and study in five differently confessional seminaries (Roman Catholic, Baptist, Lutheran, Episcopal and United Methodist), preparation for a professorship in Hebrew Bible, teaching high school math, coaching wrestling, teaching speed-reading and comprehensions lessons to students from 3-99, construction, direct-mail marketing, fishing for salmon in Alaska, and being built up by love after having puffed himself up with knowledge. He is the grateful spouse of Rebecca and the proud father of two children, Daniel and Emory, and caretaker of his canine associate, Maggie the goldendoodle. He eccentrically makes soap, competes in long-distance races, mills grain, produces stained glass windows and custom cabinetry, plays the guitar, shops at livestock auctions, and wants to know more about, well, everything.

“Luke’s Gospel, the most inclusive and grace-filled Gospel in the New Testament, has a message of great relevance for our world today. This devotional by Rev. Mike Stone is full of provocative and creative nuggets of wisdom that will inspire, encourage and challenge.”—Mark L. Strauss, Bethel Seminary of Bethel University

“Living on the Plain is a rare find in Christian spirituality. It takes seriously contemporary historical-critical biblical study and the history of the Church. At the same time it asks the question of how a Gospel written two-thousand years ago can relate to us . . . . This book is a wonderful way to begin one's own meditations on the Gospel of Luke—and on one's own life! I give it five stars! —Charles D. Hackett, Emory University