2020 has been a rough year. And that is an understatement. It may seem counterintuitive to at least some of us, but one thing that can help us is to see this year up against the expansive backdrop of God’s eternal presence. Christ crucified is a witness to everything we are seeing. Christ crucified is present in our pain, our outrage, our anxiety, our fears. Let’s dig into a practice that can help us envision God’s presence and expanse now. 

Before we dive in here, I...

How can we step off the treadmill of busyness and make real progress toward true productivity? Where can we find space for our souls to breathe? We try filling our lives with achievements, possessions and recognition but can end up feeling emptier than ever. Where can we find real fullness? Many of us are hurried, and hurry is costing us more than we realize.

We’re here to help you become more present to God, to yourself and others, and to live from fullness rather than running on...

Alan shares a guided prayer from Psalm 16. It’s a practice that has been key in his ongoing recovery from his addiction to hurry.

In this mini-sode, Alan shares a way of praying scripture that has become an important part of his spiritual rhythm. In a sense, it’s not just about “me praying scripture.” It’s also about God’s Spirit praying scripture into me.

It’s a way of not only thinking about and studying scripture, but also letting scripture soak...

In this podcast, I'll share a little personal story about my own daily engagement with scripture in my spiritual journey. I want to talk a bit about unhurried ways I’ve been seeking to come to the Bible in recent years.

Last Spring, about 15 months ago, I began engaging a chronological Bible reading plan. I hadn’t ever read through the Bible that way and thought it might be a life-giving practice for me.

Basically, what I did was listen to the chapters for a particular day while...

While I was writing the first draft of my next book, An Unhurried Leader: The Lasting Fruit of Daily Influence, I enjoyed a few days at a friend’s remote home in Jarabacoa, Dominican Republic. One of the rhythms I practiced was morning prayer using the morning lectionary* passages.

My habit is often to take a meaningful verse or two from my readings to reflect on and pray through in my journal. It is a discipline that helps me pray the scriptures. Below is a journal entry from one of...

I want to tell you about an unhurried practice I've been engaging for a few months now. For my last birthday, I was given an especially beautiful present. One of the disciplines that has been an important part of my spiritual journey over the years has been reading and reflecting on scripture. For many years recently, I have read the Bible on digital devices like my iPhone, iPad or computer screen. I found myself wanting to read a physical Bible again, but my most recent NIV Bible was so...

Scroll to the bottom of this post to download a free Retreat eBook that includes a schedule for a 24-hour retreat, with options for a half-day and full-day retreats.

Over the years, I’ve led or been part of countless retreats: youth retreats, couples retreats, men’s retreats (never a woman’s retreat—surprise!), leadership retreats, strategic planning retreats, spiritual retreats. What I’ve learned is that there a lot of different ideas out there about what...