Currently reading: The Lost Metal: A Mistborn Novel (Mistborn, 7) by Brandon Sanderson 📚
”What’s the point of all this if people can’t change.” - Wax
You know you are from Michigan when 45° feels wonderfully warm and you choose to sit outside enjoying a good pipe in the sun!
I started reading: Fight Like Jesus by Jason Porterfield 📚
A friend is hosting a weekly discussion of this text. I can’t attend but, I am reading alongside. I think I will share some thoughts throughout Lent from this little book.
Tomorrow at Tap Room we are discussing nationalism, not just the Christian variant. This description of Christian nationalism by Tom Wright hits the nail on the head.
God's Kingdom Come - The Joy of the Kingdom
For the full unabridged message listen here: God’s Kingdom Come - The Joy of the Kingdom
Last year, two hikers in Czechia were walking through the woods when they spotted something metallic sticking out of the dirt. At first, they figured it was just trash—the kind of random debris you find in the wilderness. But when they pulled it out and opened it, they found pounds of gold.
In an instant, their lives were transformed. They weren’t looking for treasure; they just stumbled upon it.
Watched: Shrinking S3E3, D-Day 🍿
“You can get through this on your own. But remember this, you don’t have to.” ~ Paul
This show…
Dang…
The podcast picked up a couple listens. It’s a start.
“Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them, and these will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.”
- Frederick Douglass
I keep seeing people clamoring for a social media that is not owned and controlled by big tech. I beg you, please consider micro.blog as that alternative. Yes, membership costs a little. But it’s well worth it. I’d be happy to tell you my experience.
Finished reading: Humanism from the Heart by Steve Ghikadis, B.A., BEd 📚
This was a really enjoyable memoir. The author, an atheist-humanist is winsome, kind, and generous.
It’s joy inducing to see all the baseball pictures in my feed.
1.2 Attention - What You Train Grows
We live in an age of distraction. Our attention is constantly being captured, pulled, and shaped—often without us realizing it.
In this episode, we explore a simple but powerful truth: what you repeatedly give your attention to quietly forms you.
Spiritual formation doesn’t begin with intensity or effort. It begins with attention. The question isn’t whether you’re being formed—it’s by what.
Rooted in Jesus’ words about the attention and focus (Matthew 6:19–24), this conversation looks at how our daily focus trains our fears, our loves, and our hopes—and how small, grace-filled shifts in attention can reshape us over time.
No heroic practices. No spiritual hustle. Just learning to notice what’s shaping us.
New here? Start with Season 0, a short two-episode introduction to the heart of The Pastor Next Door. It sets the tone—grace-first, honest about doubt, and committed to the slow work of formation.
This work is not about tweaking personalities or winning power struggles. It is about creating the conditions for deep change. And that begins with fostering enough safety for courage to grow. It is about staying present long enough for shame to loosen its grip.
- Creating the Conditions for Deep Change by Chuck DeGroat
Revelation 4 - A Glimpse into the Throne Room
To listen to the whole unabridged teaching, listen here: A Glimpse into the Throne Room
As we move from the letters to the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3 into the vision of the heavenly throne room in chapters 4 and 5, things are about to get “weird.” We are moving from the clear to the less clear—into the realm of deep imagery and symbolism.