Grace, Grit & Grounds

Sometimes the most beautiful things come from wood that most people would pass by. In this video, I turn a stunning piece of spalted curly maple into a finished bowl, walking through the entire process from rough blank to final finish. This wood came from a small mill just across the Indiana border. It was inexpensive because it wasn’t suitable for construction… too soft, too compromised by spalti...

When the Mask Cracks We all wear something into the world. Roles. Titles. Personas. Expectations. Carefully curated versions of ourselves that help us function, protect us, or gain approval. Most of the time, those masks hold… until they don’t. What happens when the identity you built your life around suddenly cracks? In this episode of Grace, Grit & Grounds, we dive into the limits of self-ma...

Clothed in Meaning Before you step out the door each morning, you make a quiet decision about who you will be that day. Not just what you will wear… but what you will carry. Confidence or fear. Authority or apology. Withdrawal or engagement. Strength or survival. Human beings do not walk into the world naked of meaning. We step into it clothed in identity. In this opening episode of a new mini-ser...

From Slave to Shepherd | The Real Story of Patrick St. Patrick’s Day is often filled with parades, green clothes, and cultural celebration. But behind the holiday stands a real man whose story is far more powerful than the myths. Patrick was not Irish by birth. He was kidnapped as a teenager, enslaved in Ireland for six years, and found God in the loneliness of the wilderness. After escaping and r...

Covered in the Dust of the Rabbi | Grace, Grit & Grounds In the days of Jesus, disciples did not just attend lectures. They followed their rabbi everywhere. So closely that the dust from his sandals would settle on them. It was a sign of devotion, proximity, and transformation. An ancient blessing from the Jewish world said it this way: “May you be covered in the dust of your rabbi.” In this e...

The world feels loud right now. The news cycle never stops. Crisis replaces crisis. Everything feels urgent, uncertain, and overwhelming. But the Church has been here before. For nearly two thousand years believers have walked through seasons of chaos, conflict, and uncertainty. And through it all the Church has held onto something steady… ancient rhythms. In this episode of Grace, Grit & Grou...

In moments of global conflict, it’s easy to react before we reflect. This Special Edition Espresso Shot of Grace, Grit & Grounds is not a political commentary. It’s a pastoral response to conflict in the world and the tension many of us feel when headlines turn heavy. As a pastor, a father, and someone who has walked alongside men and women in uniform, I carry both a deep respect for those who...

In a world that rushes everything, we’ve even learned to rush Scripture. We skim. We highlight. We move on. We prepare lessons. We build sermons. We gather content. But somewhere along the way, many of us have forgotten how to simply sit with the Word of God. In this episode of Grace, Grit & Grounds, we explore the discipline of theological reflection. Not study for production. Not reading for...

I set out to turn a cedar vase. I shaped it smooth. Cut it clean. Mounted it solid. The outside looked finished. The plan made sense. And it shattered anyway. In this episode of Grace, Grit & Grounds, I talk about what happens when our plans splinter, when the workaround fails, and when surrender becomes more than a word we use in church. Proverbs 16:9 reminds us that we plan our way, but the...

Some days feel like walking through fog. You can’t see far ahead. You don’t know how long it will last. And you’re tempted to ask the question David asked in Psalm 13: “How long, O Lord?” In this episode of Grace, Grit & Grounds, we step into the discipline of lament. Psalm 13 gives us permission to speak honestly about sorrow, confusion, and waiting. It reminds us that lament is not weakness....

Growing up in a small Episcopal church in Jacksonville, I remember making palm crosses behind the church before Palm Sunday. As kids, we handed them out to celebrate the King entering Jerusalem. What I didn’t understand at the time was that those same palm branches would later be burned. The ashes collected. And the following year, those ashes would be placed on our foreheads on Ash Wednesday. In...

Most of us have heard of Mardi Gras. Fewer of us have heard of Shrove Tuesday. While serving in Belgium, a British friend introduced me to something called “Pancake Day.” At first, I thought it was just a fun tradition. Turns out, it runs deep in church history. In this episode, we explore the roots of Shrove Tuesday—where it came from, what “shrove” actually means, and how this day was meant to p...

In this video, I’m in the backyard working two pieces of cedar, layering on a simple blend of oil I call Bench Butter. As the wood absorbs what it needs, we talk about preparing our own hearts for Lent. Silence and service are not flashy disciplines. They are slow, quiet layers. Like oil worked into dry grain, they soften what has hardened and strengthen what has grown brittle. As we approach East...

From Pews to Practice In this conversation, I sit down with my friend and fellow pastor Chris Field to talk about something the modern church cannot afford to ignore: discipleship. As Baptists, we have long been strong in evangelism. We know how to call people to faith. But what happens after that? What happens after the baptism, after the excitement, after the first steps? Chris has walked a uniq...

Many men know how to do their jobs, but few know how to work with their hands beyond them. Somewhere along the way, we traded calluses for convenience and lost something we can’t quite name. In this episode of The Craftsman’s Path, we explore how making things shapes the man doing the making. Working with wood, metal, soil, fire, or tools is not about productivity or side income. It is about forma...

Lent is one of the Church’s oldest rhythms, and one of the most misunderstood. In this episode of Grace, Grit & Grounds, we take a step back to reclaim what’s been lost. Not rules or ritual for ritual’s sake, but a simple, intentional season meant to draw us closer to God as we prepare our hearts for Easter. Lent isn’t about earning grace or proving devotion. It’s about slowing down, clearing...

What happens when a generation raised on speed and noise starts asking older, deeper questions? In this episode of Walking the Jericho Road, we step back and listen. A group of young voices reflect on spiritual disciplines drawn from the ancient faith of the Church. Practices once assumed. Wells once dug deep. Ways of following Jesus that were never meant to be flashy, but faithful. This conversat...

We don’t actually know much about heaven. And that matters. In this episode of Grace, Grit & Grounds, Grace for the Worn Thin, we take a serious look at what Jesus actually tells us about heaven and hell and why abstraction has quietly weakened both our hope and our urgency. Jesus gives us very little imagery, but what He gives has weight. A real story involving a man named Lazarus. A promise...

Some seasons don’t come with clear feelings or clean memories. They just arrive with weight. In this episode of Grace, Grit & Grounds, The Work That Forms Us, I reflect on how ordinary, repetitive work can become a place of quiet formation when grief, loss, and unanswered questions linger beneath the surface. Through woodworking footage, turning plates from limba black wood, stabilizing cracke...

The new year finally showed up. No confetti. No trumpet blast. Just another morning. In this opening episode of Season Two of Grace, Grit & Grounds, we talk about rhythms, not resolutions. Why real change rarely comes from big promises and usually grows out of quiet, faithful habits practiced over time. This episode leans into spiritual formation, holy rest, and the kind of faith that’s shaped...

There’s a strange, quiet stretch of time between Christmas and New Year’s. The noise fades. The calendar pauses. And most of us rush past it without a second thought. In this final episode of the year, I’m back in the shop finishing two slabs of hickory and a piece of walnut. Sanding. Dusting. Applying oil. Letting the grain come alive. What starts as simple craftsmanship turns into reflection on...

In the rush of Christmas, it’s easy to assume that if God is going to show up, it will be in the big, dramatic moments. The lights. The music. The milestones. But Luke’s story tells us something different. In this episode, Al reflects on the shepherds of Luke 2 — ordinary people in an ordinary field on an ordinary night — and how heaven chose them as the first witnesses of Christ’s arrival. No spo...

Hope isn’t a mood you try to feel… it’s the truth of who you are and the God who meets you where you are. In this episode, Al explores the deep connection between hope, the image of God, and the way Jesus reveals the Father to us. Drawing from Genesis, Philippians 2, and Jesus’ words to His disciples, we look at what it means to be made in God’s image — and how that identity becomes an anchor when...

December has a way of speeding up our lives even as our souls are begging to slow down. In The Holiday Run, Al shares why this season feels heavier than any other and how to find a healthier pace in the middle of the rush. With stories from his time in Alaska, where winters were so deep that neighbors carved snow corridors between their homes, this episode explores the gift of slowing down, stayin...

Life feels heavier this time of year — expectations, exhaustion, and the quiet pressure to keep pushing even when your soul is worn thin. In this episode of Grace, Grit & Grounds, Al explores what Jesus meant when He said, “My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” We talk about emotional fatigue, spiritual rest, and the difference between holy grit and destructive grind. Through stories from...