On Saturday, violent acts were carried out against an individual who is a former president and current presidential candidate. Regardless of our political convictions or spectrum, such acts need to be denounced unequivocally as wrong. This is also a time to hear a call to be a faithful presence. As you may be aware, this Lead a Quiet Life blog on Patheos pursues understanding 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12, and what it means to lead a quieter life at a slower pace, to discover a simple... Read more
Discontentment convinces us that contentment is found by acquiring something, but truthfully contentment is the act of learning to be happy and satisfied with what we already have, or what God gives to us each day. In the 11th Century, Solomon Ibn Gabirol, the renowned Hebrew poet and philosopher, once wrote, that the “[One] who seeks more than [one] needs, hinders [one]self from enjoying what [one] has. Seek what you need and give up what you need not. For in... Read more
Last year, I attended a workshop for pastors on how to more effectively support those they serve who are going through the journey of mourning and grief. As the event began, the speaker engaged in some light-hearted small talk about the challenges of pastoring, using humor to make his points. One of his comedic reflections highlighted a paradox of modern-day ministry: while many people and polls about patterns of people claim that individuals desire smaller churches, fewer programs, and more... Read more
This past weekend we celebrated Father’s Day, a day in which we as dads also remember and celebrate our fathers, and we remember and celebrate those who have been like dads to us. For those of us who are fathers, we also find ourselves grateful for our children, the blessing they are, and we hopefully find ourselves grateful for the lives they are living. This year, after church, I was blessed to celebrate another Father’s Day by enjoying some Key... Read more
Today, June 1, is the Global Day of Parents. The Global Day of Parents is a day that is declared by the United Nations to celebrate and honor parents worldwide. Without a doubt, parents model a selfless and sacrificial commitment to their children. For many of us, this is one of many holidays that we probably ignore, or don’t even know about. Lately, I have been considering how a call to lead a quiet life influences my role as a... Read more
The Lord’s Prayer is more or less the manifesto of Christian faith, it is a revolutionary prayer that reminds us of our relationship to God and it reminds us of all the teachings of Jesus. However, it is more than just a pattern of prayer for the follower of Jesus. In addition to being a trellis that we pattern our prayers by, it is a reflective theological practice that offers profound insights and reminders into how we can live more... Read more
In pursuing what it means to ambitiously lead a quiet life, we find it is a costly and sacrificial way of living. It is a cost that we have to be willing to accept. As I grew up, collecting items like Baseball cards, I often harbored dreams of stumbling upon that one card or item that could alter my financial status. However, my father consistently tempered these aspirations with the simple yet profound words, “Something is only worth what someone... Read more
This week I found myself reflecting on six profound sayings from the book of Proverbs that shed light on what an ambitious pursuit of leading a quiet life looks like. In 1 Thessalonians 4:11, Paul is inviting the Thessalonian churches, and ultimately us, to live permanently in a state away from the strain of normal societal human encounters and activity. It is not an invitation to escape, but an invitation into stillness (time, dependency, and relationship) with God the Father.... Read more
In a digital world, I fear that we have forgotten what it means to be rooted in reality. As I grew up, I found myself fascinated by sci-fi films depicting interconnected computer systems. The computer systems in movies like Star Trek and War Games differed radically from the ones I used at school, inserting black, floppy, five-inch disks to play games like Moon Patrol, Number Munchers, and Oregon Trail. Although we understood that computers would be an inescapable part of... Read more
On April 1, I celebrated two years as the pastoral leader at River Corner Church, a small church that meets near where the Conestoga River meets the Susquehanna River in Conestoga, Pennsylvania. While this is not a long tenure by any means, nor is it even the longest I have served as a pastoral leader in a context, it is an anniversary worth celebrating. After serving as a pastor for seven years in one context, and serving on the preaching... Read more
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