I’m always grateful when a reader of one of my books reaches out with a comment or question. Over the weekend, one reader sent this question: 

“On page 107 of An Unhurried Life, you mention the verse Col 4:7-11. I believe that you are saying that we should live as brothers in Christ first, then we live as workers and ministers. I can’t quite see how you are pulling this from this verse. I really would like to hear more of your thoughts on this passage.” 

On...

You are in for a real treat today. We could not have enjoyed our conversation with Father Albert Haase more that we did. He is a truly engaging presence and you will not want to miss what he says about living in the present moment, how the beatitudes can re-wire our ego obsessions, and what it looks like to pray from the heart.

A little more about Father Albert – He is a preacher, teacher, and spiritual director. A former missionary to mainland China for over eleven years, he...

In my childhood, during the summertime, friends and family members would spend their vacations with us at our country home in rural Washington. In addition to some great catching-up time, we would include visits to a standard set of local sites: Multnomah Falls, Beacon Rock, the fish hatchery, The Bridge of the Gods, and Dugan Falls.

As we made our way along, we would always take our friends to eat at a restaurant called “The Char Burger.” At the time, I thought it was...

Welcome to the Unhurried Living Podcast. Today, we are sharing another Inhaling Grace audiobook episode. We pray these might be a few moments of remembering God’s grace that is with you, here and now, as you listen.

What is most needed in the world today is non-anxious presence. (Walter Brueggemann)

A while back, I heard a compelling phrase spoken by Brie Stoner on the Another Name for Every Thing podcast:

“The addiction to the illusion of urgency.”

Each one of the main words in this sentence packs a punch. Do we really want to struggle with an addiction? Do we want to be under any illusions? And is urgency our best mode?

I thought it might be interesting to ponder this sentence together...

Personality. Achievements. Skills. Relationships. Appearance. Richella Parham was haunted by thoughts of not measuring up. She writes, “No matter how well-intentioned the teachings or pithy the advice, I found that most of it didn’t help me change.” She discovered that cultural and spiritual myths about others, God, and ourselves keep us trapped. From there she found that the journey is a spiritual one. If you’ve ever suffered from tortured moments of comparison on...

When I was a young Christian attending a Baptist church that was about 20 minutes away from the home I grew up in, I decided I wanted to make good use of that regular drive. (I was on youth staff, so I ended up at the church multiple times a week). 

I decided to memorize the book of Philippians. This was the early 1980s, so I wrote out the whole book onto a series of 3x5 cards. I would rehearse those lines card by card until they became familiar and repeatable. Once I’d got to the...

Welcome to the Unhurried Living Podcast. Today, we are sharing another Inhaling Grace audiobook episode. We pray these might be a few moments of remembering God’s grace that is with you, here and now, as you listen.

In my early years as a new Christian, the virtues of a morning quiet time were often emphasized by my pastors and spiritual leaders. It became a very meaningful practice for me. Recently, I’ve often heard people reacting to this practice, feeling that it’s a rote activity without much depth.

As I sat to write this week’s post, I had a few ideas about what has been meaningful for me in my morning meeting with God these days. (And meeting with God midday, evening or midnight...

When you dream about growing in your spiritual life—in your communion with God, do you imagine it as a relatively straight and upward journey? Progress at every new stage and season? Or, have you come to realize that the path is more often crooked than straight. Today, Alan interviews his friend and fellow author, Jeff Tacklind, about his recently-released book, The Winding Path of Transformation on the Unhurried Living podcast.

It shouldn’t surprise us that the...