Have you noticed that there is a lot of anxiety out there these days? Whether explicit and obvious, or implicit and underlying, many of us are feeling anxious or stressed. But we follow Someone who is called the Prince of Peace. Maybe that could make a difference in how we deal with challenges, troubles, hardships that cross our path. Maybe peace could actually become our operating system.

When we talk about an operating system, we mean the basic underlying software that helps a...

Turn on social media and Marie Kondo is everywhere teaching people how to "declutter" to simplify their lives.

We can’t help ourselves. We are going to join the conversation on Tidying Up by Marie Kondo. If you haven’t seen the Netflix show or read the book, that’s ok. We’re going pass through the subject on our way to a deeper dive into why we’re tempted to cling to things and how letting go can help our souls.

Marie isn’t teaching this directly, but...

In less than a month we enter the season of Lent. We invite you to enter this season with us as we prepare for An Unhurried Lent, living faithfully in our following of Jesus.

Today on the podcast we’ll talk a little about Lent in general, then we’ll unpack the more specific idea of An Unhurried Lent.

The goal of this journey together is to live more faithfully into our following of Jesus. It involves saying the right “Yeses” and the right “Noes.” In a...

The most unremarkable part of a grapevine is where the vine and branch meet, but it is the most remarkable place where growth occurs.

A few years ago we spent a long weekend in a beautiful home on a vineyard. While visiting the Napa region of CA, we had the treat of being hosted by a master gardener. We ate beautiful food and drank amazing wine while seated at a picnic table overlooking the rolling hills and fruit-laden vines. We talked, laughed and shared all the way up to sunset. As you...

In this episode, we’re talking about four common barriers to leadership effectiveness. As a new year presents plenty of opportunities, it also presents common obstacles that get in the way of making, real productive progress.

These aren’t the only four barriers to leading well, but they are four big ones. And these insights aren’t just for people with very visible leadership roles or positions. We see leadership as a much larger category than that. Leadership is about holy...

"Slow is smooth and smooth is fast.”  Understanding this Navy SEAL tactic helps us set our intentions and walk with Jesus as we enter the new year.

Research revealed this concept of "slow is smooth and smooth is fast" is, at Unhurried Living, a similar way for ourselves and our work. Spiritual practices are the slow of “slow is smooth” that we practice so that when we work, we have access to a deep reserve from within.

In our spiritual practices our souls are learning...

This week we "examen" our lives this past year.  This practice of looking back is discernment and can offer great insight into what might be next.

Alan and I take walks a few times a week. And most of the time we have these amazing conversations that lead to me saying, “We should have been recording this! This could have been a podcast!” We’ve never recorded a walk talk, but in this episode we are sharing from a couple of those conversations about contentment and...

The nature of Jesus and his grace is in His invitation to us; it is how He approaches us. But what invitation question does He ask to draw us to Him?

A common approach to living the Christian life is to focus on our own faith, our own practices, our own faithfulness. The emphasis in the story of scripture always begins with God—God’s great faithfulness, God’s mighty works, God’s generous grace. Today, we’ll talk about a key question Jesus asks in the gospels
that...

How can the idea of sabbath and rest be subversive when it is built into the very fabric of God's beautiful creation? Join us this week as we look at the surprising power of rest.

Without giving too much away, here are four of of the nine questions A.J. and I discuss in this podcast.

1. A.J.'s book is entitled “Subversive Sabbath.” In what ways is Sabbath a subversive practice?

2. A.J., please share the story of your own experience of discovering and entering
into the gift of...

We have all felt embarrassed, humiliated or ashamed one time or another, and questioned our identity in those moments. Today on the podcast, we’re looking at the vulnerability that accompanies those dynamics and how Jesus himself can meet us there.

When we think about this question of identity, we envision a simple dot in the center of a dotted circle going around it’s periphery. The dot at the center is our actual, simple identity as beloved sons and daughters of God. The dotted...