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A Darker Shade of Hope – Part 2
Romans 5:2b-5, “And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character;...
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Making Ourselves Mature?
“When the character of mature spirituality has been reduced to specific behaviors or spiritual practices, serious souls have turned the indicators into goals and have approached maturity as a...
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Ministry: Keep It Simple
Head waters of the Jordan River at Caesarea Philippi (March 2013) Like some of you who read this blog, my vocation, my way of providing for our family is by serving in ministry. As such, I found Jesus...
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Ministry: Service as Overflow
Head waters of the Jordan River at Caesarea Philippi (March 2013) [Remember: I will be moving the majority of my blogging activity over to The Leadership Institute blog beginning next week, February 4....
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Discerning Holy Desire
Galatians 5:22-23, “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against...
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How Do You Balance Work & Rest
A while back, a pastor wrote me and asked for a little help with finding rest and balance in his busy ministry life. I wrote him back a letter something like this. (I think this could help Christian...
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Confidence in the Presence
I love finding meaningful insights in little lines of scripture where you don’t expect it. For example, I recently read this line in my morning scripture reading: Colossians 4:17 NIV, “Tell Archippus:...
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Book Endorsement: Beloved Dust
I’m glad to write a little endorsement here of Jamin Goggin and Kyle Strobel’s new book Beloved Dust. The publisher was kind enough to send along a copy a couple of weeks ago (though that does not...
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Awakened by Reality
Hole in a wine barrel. [As a brief reminder, I am blogging twice a week on our ministry blog at The Leadership Institute website. Many are sharing that they appreciate hearing different voices from our...
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Celtic Prayers for St Patrick’s Day
On St. Patrick’s Day, I thought it would be nice to share here some simple, everyday prayers from the Christian Celtic tradition that have blessed me over the years. They had prayers that acknowledged...
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What Does It Mean to Be Biblical?
Image from Pixabay.com When I became a Christian in high school, I was part of a church that would have called itself a Bible church. Teaching the scriptures was primary. It was a good foundation for...
View ArticlePsalm 63: Thirsty For God
Enjoy these phrases from Psalm 63, and the prayers that flow from them. 1O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there...
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The Importance of Listening to God
I lead a lot of day retreats that have at the heart of them a number of hours to be alone and quiet in listening prayer. I led one on Friday. Earlier this year, one participant shared a conversation...
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Following Jesus Into Solitude
One of the writers who has provided me rich counsel in cultivating Jesus’s own rhythm of work and rest has been Elton Trueblood (1900-1994). Below is my paraphrase of a quotation from his book, The...
View ArticleLegalism: How to Love God’s Law Without It
The first line of An Unhurried Life says, “I’m a recovering speed addict—and I don’t mean the drug.” Well, I’m also recovering from legalism. There was a time when I loved having clear biblical rules...
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Morning Prayer: Enjoying Scripture in the Caribbean
While I was writing the first draft of my next book, An Unhurried Leader: The Lasting Fruit of Daily Influence, I enjoyed a few days at a friend’s remote home in Jarabacoa, Dominican Republic. One of...
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Hope: The Lasting Fruit of Resurrection
This last Sunday, I had the treat of preaching at Holy Trinity Church in Costa Mesa on hope. Since my nickname has sometimes been “Eeyore” (not my favorite one), speaking on hope was as much for me as...
View ArticleProductivity is Patient and Organic
When it comes to Jesus talking about the productivity of our lives, I love that he uses organic imagery. He is the vine. We are the branches. If we remain connected to him in interactive friendship, we...
View ArticlePrayer: A Strategic Leadership Practice
I sometimes get stuck in knowing quite how to offer prayer for someone else. When I was young, I had all kinds of great ideas about what God should do for everyone in my life. I look back now and think...
View ArticleFreedom: Investing or Spending It
I hope you enjoyed your Fourth of July with family or friends yesterday. I hope it was a joyful celebration of freedom for you. Gem and I began the morning with an hour walk in our extended...
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