Reader, "We need to talk." My stomach sank at those words. I'd just collapsed on the couch and flicked on the TV. The work day had been long; the dinner / bedtime routine even longer. Any mental energy I had to "talk" was long gone, used up by reading Goodnight Moon three times in a row. With an exasperated sigh, I paused my show and turned to look at my wife. She met my gaze with quiet determination. "We can't keep doing this." "We can't keep doing what?" I responded with more edge than I...
9 days ago • 2 min read
Reader, In the past two weeks, I've covered some pretty big ideas: Each of us has a spiritual anatomy that's made up of four parts Our calling is to integrate these parts However, as finite human beings, we tend to live from one or two of these parts most of the time Learning how to live as an integrated person is hard. SO HARD. It's honestly a lifelong pursuit, and there are plenty of times when I revert to my default dominant parts. But when I'm able to interrupt that impulse and...
16 days ago • 3 min read
Reader, Last week, I introduced you to the four parts of our spiritual anatomy and suggested this: What spiritual maturity looks like – what it means to be a holistically-formed follower of Christ – is working to make sure that each of these parts is connected and functioning properly. I often find it helpful to define these parts by personifying them. Your heart is the part of you that's a Loving Companion Your soul is the part of you that's a Visionary Guide Your mind is the part of you...
23 days ago • 2 min read
Reader, "We have been designed by God to live, love, and lead with uniquely designed parts." Instinctively, we know this is true. However, a lot of teaching on this topic – teaching that often centers on the concept of "calling" – leads us into confusion. We're told that we need to search and pray that God makes our calling clear to us, as if our true identity is somewhere out there. Jesus didn't talk that way. In Mark 12, Jesus is questioned by one group of religious leaders after another....
30 days ago • 1 min read
Reader, In my last email, I said that we have been designed by God to live, love, and lead with uniquely designed parts. This isn't something I say glibly. It's something I learned the hard way: I know from personal experience what it feels like to try and live life with some missing gears. Ever since our kids were born, I have dedicated a lot of my energy to parenting, however frenetic that energy may have been. I coached my kid's sports teams, made every effort to attend their performances,...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
Reader, 300 miles per hour. For many, that was a mythical threshold that could never be crossed by a car. And yet, in 2019, the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport was the first to do it. Settling into the driver's seat, Le Mans winner Andy Wallace gripped the hand-stitched leather steering wheel. The vehicle he was in was capable of going from 0 to 100 mph in four seconds. After taking off, it took him seventy seconds at full throttle to hit the mind-blowing speed of 304.7 mph. This groundbreaking...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Reader, For the past 35 years, Disney's Little Mermaid has delighted kids of all ages. It features captivating characters, mesmerizing colors, and a soundtrack that set the bar for a generation of kids' films. And that's to say nothing of Ariel, its precocious heroine who dares to dream big and is rewarded with a spectacular happily ever after ending. But are you familiar with the original version of the mermaid's tale? Published in 1837 by famed author Hans Christian Andersen, that story had...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Reader, What would it take for you to live your life with no regrets? Many people are so busy just trying to keep up with their lives that they never stop to consider this question. When they finally have a moment to themselves, the last thing they want to do is evaluate how satisfied they are with their life. They turn to Netflix or bourbon or something else that will let them empty their minds and veg out, so they can muster up the energy to face another day. This cycle is a villain that I...
2 months ago • 1 min read
Reader, Do you know what makes me angry? I know so many people at risk of losing what matters most to them because they are trapped in the unsustainable grind of faith, family, and life. Deep down, they know this smothering grind is unsustainable, but they don't know how to break free. "If not this, then what else?" they wonder. The real deception of this monster called "the grind" is it makes you assume there's something wrong with you. Everyone else seems to be flourishing. Their lives look...
2 months ago • 1 min read