In "What Does Your Soul Love?", the chapter on fear contains these words:

When we’re little the list of things we fear may be quaint: the dark, the boogeyman, spiders, the mean dog next door. However, depending on your family or situation, you may have had next-level fears: the anger of an alcoholic dad, gun shots from the drug house down the street, bullies with hidden knives at school.

Nowadays, we have the real fear of public shootings and bombings, even in parts of the country...

Forty years ago, in my early years as a new Christian, I found myself in a Christian tradition that preached the virtues of avoiding drinking alcohol in any form—wine, beer and certainly strong spirits. The usual reasons were given: the dangers of addiction, the desire to avoid tempting those among us who may have had a leaning towards addiction, and such.

Today, I find myself an Anglican priest who is honored to occasionally preside over the Lord’s Table in which we use real wine...

In early December, Alan and I spent a week in Avila Beach, CA planning content for the first quarter of 2020.  It's very helpful to get away and focus on that kind of thinking.

While we were there I noticed the same apartment complex down the street that has been under construction for at least a year, maybe two. And each time we visit, it doesn’t look like much is being done. Did they run out of money? Do they not have a plan? Is it just not at the top of their to-do list?...

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

Today is a new day, a new year, and a new decade all at once. So much “new.” The kingdom of God is like that. So much new--renewal, restoration, refreshment, new life. 

One of the ways I’ve been feeling this lately is in the spirit of Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians: 

“Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day (4:16).” 

Wasting away seems like pretty strong language for the realities of aging, but I have...

Last year, Alan wrote and released Inhaling Grace. One of the big ideas in this little book is that gratitude is exhaling the grace we inhale. A mentor of ours reminded us often that just as surely as we are saved by grace and, of course, we are, we also live by grace, serve by grace, even lead by grace. Today, we share a little practice that has helped us remember this more in our moment-to-moment lives.

As you listen you will enter into a mediation of Psalm 103. We encourage you...

No long blog from us today. We simply wanted to say Merry Christmas to you. 

We know that this day may hold all kinds of emotions and dynamics for you. For some this day is pure joy, and for others this day carries the weight of grief.

No matter your situation, we do pray that you will experience the reality of “God with us” in the birth of Jesus.

“Jesus is here” is real. A mom and a dad, shepherds, angels and wise men unveil the story.

Simply and humbly, Jesus...

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

I still remember reading the counsel that Dallas Willard gave John Ortberg after he’d moved to Chicago to join the staff of a large church there. (John writes about this the chapter titled “An Unhurried Life” in The Life You’ve Always Wanted. He doesn’t mention Dallas by name there, but instead talks about a “wise friend.”) What was John’s question? 

“What do I need to do to be spiritually healthy?” 

After a long pause,...

Two years ago, I made a new friend. We had lunch together here in Orange County, myself, him and his wife. I heard some of his story about his ministry as a pastor in Portland, Oregon, but then I found out something really encouraging. He was working on a book on the theme of hurry. That friend is John Mark Comer and the book, which came out last October, is titled The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry.

There have been a few books written on the subject of hurry, both before and...