Sublime

But I know the moon’s always there, too, waiting for its time to be seen. The day has to fall to make way for the night and the night has to surrender its place so the day can have its turn. This strikes me as a holy rhythm. I wonder if whatever created this rhythm of the tides and the sky and the sun and the moon has a holy rhythm for my life,

As Tish Harrison Warren wrote in her book Liturgy of the Ordinary (a must-read for all young parents), Examining my daily liturgy as a liturgy—as something that both revealed and shaped what I love and worship—allowed me to realize that my daily practices were malforming me, making me less alive, less human, less able to give and receive love

My younger aspirations toward authorship revolved around myself and my own resonance with story, character, and world building. These were self-oriented aspirations. But by getting older and through decades of engaging in ministry, I came to see all my writing as a Godward pursuit and thus every act of writing as spiritual.

Christ-centered books. Books that draw me into communion with Christ include John Owen’s The Glory of Christ and Spiritual Mindedness; John Flavel’s Christ the Fountain of Life; and, more recently, Mark Jones’s Knowing Christ

Your life is lived every day in the middle of that war. It’s a war of doubt and faith. It’s a war of submission and rebellion. It’s a war of anxiety and trust. It’s a war of wisdom and foolishness. It’s a war of hope and despair. It’s a war of allegiance and disloyalty. It’s a war.

how I

“Contentment in ministry is a secret of endurance in ministry. Pastors must learn to be content with what hand God has dealt

disembodied angel rather than flesh-and-blood humanity. Here’s your solution: first, exercise vigorously three times a week. Second, take one full day off a week. And third, spend at least one evening a week with your wife.” “But Pastor Martin, I can’t do that. There are souls to be saved, people need my counsel, I don’t have enough time as it