“Thank God [Bert] is not a normal Baptist preacher/pastor. He’s a new era Will Campbell tempered by Frederick Buechner and carried to the edge by Stephen King. Perhaps God calls guys like Bert to ministry to assure that the church keeps its edginess.”

“You may find yourself surprised by the sharp edges of the gospel poking through [Bert’s] stories and deflating your pipe dreams of what it means to be a follower of Jesus. . . . He spins every tale in the light of God’s mercy and grace and leaves his readers with lots to ponder.”

“Much of what [Bert] does ‘kind of happens,’ and that’s a beautiful thing... The more I read his material, the more I think of Bert as someone who asks, in essence, ‘What if we really believed all the things we say we believe and really lived according to the standards we say we have?’”

“With both humor and poignancy, Bert shares his pastoral imagination and his keen eye for seeing the holy all around us.”

“[Bert’s] wit and insights are as refreshing as hand-churned ice cream—a delight to savor.”

“Bert’s approach to culture, spirituality, theology, God, and community reminds me of that incredibly eccentric Southern artist, Howard Finster, who took all things broken—bottles, dishes, tools, furniture, paintings, anything discarded—and turned it all into art and installed it in its own place of honor in his yard... That’s exactly what Bert does with his writing.”

“With humor and insight, Bert connects the person in the pulpit to the person in the pew, auditorium, or classroom, and does so in away that sends one out the door thinking, ‘I can make God’s creation a better place with my life.’”

“Bert writes about spiritual matters in worldly terms. If that seems like a contradiction, pull out your New Testament and read the parts in red ink.”

“In the music of Johnny Cash and Elvis, Derek Trucks and Tom Waits, Bert sees life … as a chance for God’s transcendent grace to invade the moment, for the story of God’s love for every person to be told again.”