Currently reading: The Art of Being a Creature by Ragan Sutterfield 📚

No filters on this photo of an amazing sunset last night.

“As Jesus walked this earth, living and working among all kinds and classes of people, he gave us the divine paradigm for conjugating all the verbs of our living.” - Richard J. Foster in Streams of Living Water

Love this photo from a trip out west this past year. Makes me want to enter that craggy cave path again.

When I draw near to the end of a sermon series, I share resources I utilized in my study and preparation for sermons. Here is the bibliography for our recent series, “God’s Grace for an Imperfect Church: 1 Corinthians.”

Looking forward to getting our staff into Richard Foster’s classic book, Streams of Living Water, this coming ministry year (Aug-May). I loved this book when it first came out and am so thankful to work through it together with my team.

You Have Loved Us First - a poem by Søren Kierkegaard

Found this while walking through a back alley in the Third Ward in Milwaukee this past weekend.

Bob was right…

Just finished reading: The Care of Souls by Harold L. Senkbeil 📚 What a wonderful book on pastoral ministry.

Caught the moon over Spider Lake before sunset up here at Fort Wilderness while on a walk last night. So beautiful.

So thankful to return to a favorite, beautiful place in northern Wisconsin at Fort Wilderness where I’ll teach for a weeklong family camp.

Currently reading: Hope Against Hope by Nadezhda Mandelstam 📚

Just finished reading Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude by Ross Gay 📚

Working on a series of devotionals on community for ministry staff at a camp this summer, and enlisting these powerful voices to help bring their rich words along the way.

While on a hike recently, I came across this stunningly dense and channeled bark. I don’t know what it is about the curious rhythms and textures of tree bark that captivates me, but it does nonetheless.

Spent the morning talking with an old friend over coffee. It’s a gift to enjoy conversation with someone I’ve known for almost 20 years in different seasons and different places. So much wisdom on life comes from that longer perspective.

Does anyone have recommendations on musical renditions of Psalm 1 that you could point me toward? I am doing a series of teachings on that psalm and always find that music helps me remember the words. I’d like to be able to recommend something to others during this series. Thanks!

“Wholeness does not mean perfection: it means embracing brokenness as an integral part of life.” - Parker Palmer in A Hidden Wholeness

Does anyone have recommendations on literature in the genre of fiction or poetry that addresses themes of hope amidst despair?

Last Friday, Kelly and I went for a walk along the Lake Michigan coast at the Seven Bridges Trail in Grant Park here in Milwaukee. While we were there a storm blew over and then lingered over the lake.

“The church as a truly universal supranational society is the bearer of the vision that alone can give to each nation a true unity of purpose. But if it is to do that, it must accept in every nation the responsibility of placing all public life—political, economic, and cultural—in the light of its gospel. It must affirm that the central shrine of a nation’s life cannot remain empty, that if Chris is not there then an idol will certainly take his place.” - Lesslie Newbigin, Foolishness to the Greeks, 123.

It was so great to talk through my Doctor of Ministry project with the staff of Eastbrook Church this morning. I am so thankful for where this is going and can’t wait for this to turn into a book in 2025.

Just finished reading The Jesus Prayer by Lev Gillet. If you are looking for a succinct introduction to the history and practice of the Jesus prayer, this is your book. 📚

What might the significance be of Mary mistaking Jesus for a gardener? That’s what I explored in my message, “Mistaken for a Gardener,” this past Sunday at Eastbrook Church as part of our celebration of Jesus’ resurrection. Is the Gospel writer trying to tell us something?