In Consideration of Sparrows: What Birds Teach Us About Who We Are, Where We're Going, and the Joy of Following Jesus - Hardcover

Burrell, Kevin

Hardcover

ISBN 13: 9798217152261

Verlag: Multnomah Press, 2026

Inhaltsangabe

Birds don’t just sing—they preach.

Pastor and birder Kevin Burrell takes readers on a one-of-a-kind journey of theology, nature, and wonder that reveals God’s truth through the lives of birds.

The world is loud, life is fast, and wonder is slipping through the cracks. But Jesus gave a simple command—consider the birds. Pastor and birder Kevin Burrell takes that call literally, weaving together the beauty of creation, the depth of Scripture, and stunning illustrations from artist Aedan Peterson in a way that is insightful and delightfully unexpected.

From the Arctic Tern’s relentless migration to the Satin Bowerbird’s obsessive collection of blue trinkets, Kevin shows us why these feathered creatures illustrate timeless truths found in Philippians. A Western Scrub Jay’s funeral echoes Paul’s perspective on life and death. An albatross’s lifelong commitment mirrors the call to steadfast faith. Even the sparrow—once deemed a pest—reminds us why anxiety has no place in the kingdom of God.

This book is more than ornithology. It’s more than theology. It’s an invitation to slow down, look up, and rediscover the Gospel written in the wings of creation. With wry humor, fascinating science, and rich biblical insight, Considering Sparrows transforms both how we see birds—and how we see God.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Kevin Burrell is the co-lead Pastor of StoneBridge Church Community in Charlotte, North Carolina. An avid birder, Kevin’s pastoral heart and avian interests united with the formation of his blog, Ornitheology, where he utilizes birds as illustrations of the Christian life. He lives in Charlotte with his wife Beverly, three children, and five birdfeeders.

Aedan Peterson is an illustrator and visual developer born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee. He’s been busy for the last few years, illustrating the new edition of Pembrick’s Creaturepedia, The Story of God Trilogy, The Tree Street Kids Series, and Dead-eye Dan and the Cimarron Kid. He’s also delved into the world of animation working as a character designer and background artist for The Wingfeather Saga animated series. When he’s not painting trees with his wife or playing with his daughter, he can be found bird watching, or eating chips and salsa, or doing both at the same time.

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— Chapter 1 —

The Caged Bird Sings

It has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. —Philippians 1:13

The soul helps the body, and at certain moments uplifts it. It is the only bird which sustains its cage. —Victor Hugo

Does a caged bird count?

In the unspoken rules of “life list” birding, convictions may vary. A life list, as the words imply, is a list of every bird a person has identified in their life to date. Birders keep scads of lists: year lists, county lists, state lists, patch lists, yard lists. But there is one list to rule them all: the life list. To add a bird to your life list—to see a bird that you’ve never seen before—well, that’s a really good day.

There is no agreed-upon set of varsity-league birding rules for life lists, so birders tend to let their conscience guide them. The purists only count birds they’ve identified visually. The artists only count birds they’ve photographed. Regular-type birders like myself are usually willing to make do with any sort of ID, sight or song, so long as it’s definitive, making it a lot easier to bag those owls and whip-poor-wills. But there’s one thing all serious birders agree on.

Zoos don’t count.

And thus my dilemma. I was on a day trip with some friends in the Panamanian rainforest, enjoying an afternoon of canopy zip-lining. I had honestly expected to spot some birds along the way, but the Panamanian canopy is surprisingly quiet in the heat of the afternoon, and more concentration was required for jumping out of trees than I anticipated. Thus far the day was a ten on the fun meter but a bust on birding.

As we turned in our gear and helmets and walked a dusty street to some nearby shops, I heard the clarion call of a parrot. I scanned the trees and followed the sound, turning into an alley between two shops. Lo and behold, there it was: a gorgeous bright-green Mealy Parrot—a bird not previously on any of my lists. A lifer!

Did I mention it was in a cage?

The large square metal cage sat on a wooden bench in the alley, with a youngish boy sitting next to it. The parrot jabbered cheerfully, as if he and the boy were having a casual conversation. A lifer, yes, but cages sure feel like cheating. Does a caged bird count? To reiterate, I had spent the day in the canopy of a rainforest—supposedly the pinnacle of biodiversity—and all I had to show for it was one semi-cooperative Crowned Woodnymph on the approach trail. The birds of Panama are not to be taken for granted, apparently. And here was a lifer, right in front of me and clearly not going anywhere.

In broken Spanish, I asked the boy tending the cage where he got the bird. He assured me he had just captured the parrot that week, and pointed to the nearby tree from which he had nabbed it. Ahhh, a local! If I’d been under that tree just last week, it would have counted. The bird could practically see his old apartment from here.

Today the Mealy Parrot sits on my list as Bird 275. Don’t judge me.

A Church Founded on a Prison Break

The apostle Paul wants the Philippians to know that a caged bird still counts. Stuck in a prison most likely in Rome, Paul isn’t in the most idyllic place to pen a letter; authors today probably would prefer a mountain retreat or beach bungalow for pursuing their creative muse. Furthermore, prison is a definite liability for a man called to be a world traveler for the gospel. I mean, the back of your Bible needs at least four maps just to describe all the places Paul went. Imagine God calling you to take a message to the nations only to be locked in a cell. Wouldn’t you wonder if you’d misunderstood the assignment? Metaphorically, Paul’s wings have been clipped.

We might expect Paul to lament his circumstances. “I’m done. I’ve been benched. My disciple-making days are over.” But there’s no hint of sour grapes or second-guessing. In fact, Paul radiates encouragement and positivity in this letter. The tone of Philippians—beginning to end—is inexplicable joy. William Blake once asked, “How can the bird that is born for joy sit in a cage and sing?” It doesn’t make sense to us. But then again, it does, in part because Paul hasn’t forgotten the origin story of the Philippian church—a story that also prominently features a prison cell. Remember how the church at Philippi—the first Christian church in Europe—got its start?

Acts 16 tells the story. Lydia, the first convert in the region, gave Paul and company a home base from which to meet. However, their second convert gave them an audience, and not necessarily a friendly one; a miraculous exorcism freed a slave girl, but the subsequent loss of her dark-arts business enraged her handlers. And so Paul and his partner Silas, deemed a threat to the city, were beaten repeatedly with rods, sent to an inner cell (in other words, no windows), and fastened to the stocks by their feet. Welcome to European church planting, Paul.

Just hours later, however, they found themselves in their newly baptized jailer’s living room with a home-cooked meal for their stomachs and salve for their wounds. What happened between Scene A and Scene B? What started with some harmless singing ended with a scene measurable on the Richter scale: “Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose” (Acts 16:26).

Apparently, the Lord is not confined by cages.

Years later, when Paul writes to the Philippians from his latest prison Vrbo, his Philippian jailer friend is likely one of the recipients. Imagine him smiling as Paul’s letter is read out loud to the gathered congregation: “Whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me” (Philippians 1:7). The jailer nods knowingly. He knows the gospel still sings in a prison cell and that when God is good and ready, locked doors will shake once more and release Paul for his next assignment. Right now, however, God has work for Paul to do in jail.

Sometimes God opens prison doors. Other times he works through closed ones. Paul speaks of how the whole palace guard—a captive audience—is hearing about Christ:

What has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear. (Philippians 1:12–14)

Paul’s cage doesn’t impede his witness; it amplifies it. Prison unleashes his song. It brings the message up close where the palace guard and all the other neighbors can see it, hear it, and by God’s grace, understand it.

A Cage-Enabled Song

My earliest childhood memory of a bird wasn’t even a bird at all. Just a couple of doors down from our tiny house in East Rochester, New York, sat an equally tiny house occupied by an elderly widow named Katherine. My mother and I would often stop by to visit. As a four-year-old instantly bored by adult conversation, what excited me about Katherine’s house was her bird. It perched on a swing in a small, round metal cage, a bird-shaped housing of gears and feathers in the form of a small white canary. When we wound up the crank on the back of the cage, it would swing on its perch and sing a thin, tin-sounding canary song....

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Multnomah Press
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2026
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 13: 9798217152261
• Einband: Gebundene Ausgabe
• Zeichner: Peterson Aedan
• Anzahl der Seiten: 208
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: MULTNOMAH; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/75020/multnomah-publishers-inc/; ; 1745 BROADWAY Attn: Madison Forwander; NEW YORK; NY; 10019; USA
• Verantwortliche Person: Buchbär; info@buchbaer.de; ; Weberstr. 67; Osnabrück; 49084; Deutschland