Featured

Whispers of the Ancient Path

2018-01-17T22:39:12+00:00By Joel|discipleship, Featured, Home of Prayer|

"The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you. The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace." Numbers 6:24-26 I know the title is a bit mysterious...and probably a bit too epic for a blog, but it is what it is. I've just been contemplating how the grit of schedules, paying bills, and doing things we enjoy (while putting up with the things we don't), can often make us feel like we're just hanging on. The dust and sweat of life lingers inch by inch closer to tomorrow and it often feels so consuming. One of the themes of my life [...]

The Missional Introvert: Part One

2014-08-28T14:30:34+00:00By Joel|discipleship, Featured, Missional Community|

My wife and I have decided that we want to lead our family as a family on mission. That means that "extended family" is being built around our family's mission, and that also means discipleship is taking place and discipleship takes access to and opening one’s life. Being available. Here's the thing though: I am an introvert. It’s not an excuse; it’s just the truth of the matter. As much as I love people, they tire me out. I need down time. Like, literally, all-by-myself-time: to contemplate, to read, and sometimes to watch movies which makes fodder for future conversations. Whatever it is, that balance must be maintained if I’m going to function well. The interesting [...]

Simplifying

2015-04-07T19:14:01+00:00By Joel|Featured, Simplicity|

Elise Boulding said: Frugality is one of the most beautiful and joyful words in the English language, and yet one that we are culturally cut off from understanding and enjoying. The consumption society has made us feel that happiness lies in having things, and has failed to teach us the happiness of not having things. I've been simplifying my home. It's different than de-cluttering. I'm not just throwing away clutter, but I've been prayerfully restructuring and organizing in a way to avoid clutter being a part of my life. I've taken a bit of fascination in the many blogs and books on minimalism. I think it points to the desire of an overstimulated, sensationalist culture to [...]

Morning and Night: Part 1 (Coffee Song)

2018-01-17T23:57:49+00:00By Joel|Featured, Morning and Night, Music|

I've been writing more music lately and it's been a lot of fun. I decided I need music to drink my coffee to in the morning; music that draws my attention to some of the underlying themes that I often think about: grace, mercy, and what that means to my day. I also need contemplative music for nighttime to drink my tea to, to put the day to rest. So, here you go. This is my first song. It's called "Coffee Song" (clever title, I know). As I wrote this first song, I was contemplating this excerpt from one of my favorite authors, Frederick Buechner (I think most of my morning songs will be based on [...]