A secret fishing hole. A hidden point break. The best carnitas tacos in town. There’s nothing like a good tip from somebody you have at least marginal confidence in. So, in a spirit of generosity towards what might be viewed as “competitors,” we...
READ MOREI want to ride to the ridge where the West commences
I can’t look at hobbles and I can’t stand fences
Don’t fence me in.
-Cole Porter
The places we love call to us because they are, in fact, “the landscape of...
READ MOREA boy with a bb gun on his grandfather’s ranch and the entire summer before him is the richest man in the world.
I was eight years old. My grandfather bought me a pump-model rifle and one of those milk cartons full of bb’s, and I had...
READ MOREJanuary 2015
Dear Friends,
I am among the millions who have fallen in love with the Chronicles of Narnia.
We shared them as a family when our boys were young, and we continue to love them as adults. In fact, Stasi...
READ MOREThe news reports this fall on the execution of children by Isis guerrillas left us all speechless.
We received a number of desperate emails crying out for prayer. It was—and remains—horrible.
All this lingers in my mind as I re-read...
READ MOREHappiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family…in another city.
George Burns
The holidays are racing toward us now, and with them comes those sober adventure/survival trips mistakenly called “visiting family...
READ MOREYet hints come to me from the realm unknown;
Airs drift across the twilight border land,
…whispers to my heart are blown
That fill me with a joy I cannot speak
—George MacDonald, Diary of an Old Soul
I’...
READ MORESeven miles off the rugged west coast of Ireland a wild fang of an island juts out of the sea. Its sheer flanks are uninhabited for all sane reasons. Only seabirds live here, and only in summer, when the fierce North Atlantic storms have subsided...
READ MOREA number of folks I know and love are chasing hard after God these days.
I think the times are demanding it. The draining nature of the pace of life combined with the spiritual battles that seem to be hitting everyone are creating in us a...
READ MOREStasi and I were having dinner last night with some dear friends, leaders of a ministry and seminary. At one point in the conversation the husband said something to the effect of, "I am praying daily for the return of Jesus." And it stopped me in...
READ MOREI was sitting at my desk this morning catching up on email, and noticed the December Wild at Heart letter lying nearby. I picked it up, and read it...and knew I had to share it with you (even if you read the hard copy)...
Dearest Friends...
READ MOREA Merry Christmas to all our dear friends and allies!
As I reflect upon the mystery of the incarnation, and the great invasion of the Kingdom that began under cover of darkness in a remote village in the Middle East, so many wonders flood...
READ MOREI'm not sure if it is the pace of my life, or something to do with forgetfulness, perhaps even modesty, but I hardly ever listen to our own materials once we've recorded them. Especially our podcasts. My loss. Because yesterday, after receiving a...
READ MORELast Sunday night my friend Darrell Evans (worship leader; we use his music a lot at our retreats) was playing in town and Stasi and I had been looking forward to it. Even bought tickets in advance.
But then the weekend took its usual toll...
READ MOREToday we remember the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Smoke billowing from the Trade Center towers; their sudden collapse; the Pentagon on fire; the wreckage in a Pennsylvania field.
Remembering is a really central theme in...
READ MORESome of my blog readers aren't aware that I write a monthly newsletter (that's right, an actual letter—comes in an envelope, printed on paper, delivered by the postman. Remember letters?). So I thought I'd share this month's letter with you here...
READ MOREThis coming Sunday begins a Very Big Week for Christians. Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday is the triumph not only of Jesus Christ, but of our lives as now intertwined with his. This week is the triumph of our faith.
But some of the power of...
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