Wayfarer

I have an issue with church membership. Let me explain. A chapter-a-day podcast from Galatians 1. The text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

I have learned along life's road that when interruptions occur, my immediate emotional reactions aren't very healthy or productive. A chapter-a-day podcast from Acts 28. The text version can be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

Paul had lived and conducted himself as a prisoner in such a way that a Roman centurion twice risked his own neck for him. A chapter-a-day podcast from Acts 27. The text version can be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

Paul had been spiritually freed from the system. Now he wants his old friends and comrades to experience the same freedom. A chapter-a-day podcast from Acts 26. The text version can be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

Life is a bit like the Waverunner we have at the lake. If you don’t have your finger on the accelerator and propelling yourself forward, you can’t steer the thing. A chapter-a-day podcast from Acts 25. The text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

Do my life and my actions reflect a person who is living for this world and the things of this world, or do they reflect a person living to bring God’s Kingdom to earth? A chapter-a-day podcast from Acts 24. The text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

If my personal faith in Jesus and my focus on daily living as His disciple transforms into being just another member of an earthly, collective religious system then my faith withers on the Vine. A chapter-a-day podcast from Acts 23. The text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

When Jesus interrupted Paul’s life, he was required to learn to love and embrace the very people he’d been systemically taught to ignore and even despise. Jesus asks the same of me. A chapter-a-day podcast from Acts 22. The text version can be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

I’ve never “chosen” a friend by looking at a person across the room and saying “I want that person to be a key relationship in my life!” A chapter-a-day podcast from Acts 18. The text version can be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

On this Wayfarer Weekend (WW) podcast, my interview with artist Heather Holdsworth , author of the stunning book Landscape of Hope . Heather resides in Scotland where she suffered through a debilitating bout with Long Covid. Channeling her struggles into her artwork, she has an amazing story to tell and beautiful artwork to share. You're going to love getting to know her.

The great German theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him ‘Come and die.’” A chapter-a-day podcast from Acts 21. The text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

Sometimes God works through miracles and prophecy. But, not always. A chapter-a-day podcast from Acts 20. The text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com.

I saw a meme on social media over the weekend that caught my eye. It was a quote from Albert Einstein who said, “Three great forces rule the world...." A chapter-a-day podcast from Acts 19. The text version can be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

I’ve always embraced the notion that I want my earthly journey to experience a little bit of heaven described in Revelation , in which I experience worship and unity with all believers not just the ones in my silo. A chapter-a-day podcast from Acts 17. The text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

When life interrupts our lives with any kind of unexpected difficulty or tragedy, Wendy and I announce it to one another by saying, “Honey? We have a Chain Reaction of Praise moment.” A chapter-a-day podcast from Acts 16. The text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

In division, people may sometimes learn that they can function independently of one another while both contribute to Jesus' Movement and its mission. A chapter-a-day podcast from Acts 15. The text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

Like Paul and Barnabas, and like Jesus' parable, I am the sower. The yield is dependent on the heart-soil of each one who reads or listens. A chapter-a-day podcast from Acts 14. The text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

As a disciple of Jesus, I've had to understand that things change and the spiritual journey is one of constantly managing those changes. A chapter-a-day podcast from Acts 13. The text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

Along my life journey, I’ve observed that religion can be as much a Kingdom of this World as any civic or commercial authority. A chapter-a-day podcast from Acts 12. The text version can be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com.

In the book of Acts , a man named Barnabas repeatedly shows up in the story. He doesn’t get top billing. His actions primarily happen “backstage” in the larger story that Luke is reporting, but he’s a crucial piece of that story. A chapter-a-day podcast from Acts 11. The text version can be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

How many people do I have the opportunity to engage, but choose not to because it's uncomfortable breaking out of the normal, daily, cultural routine? A chapter-a-day podcast from Acts 10. The text version can be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

God uses so many different people with different gifts in different ways to accomplish His purposes on a grand scale that is hard for me to even fathom. A chapter-a-day podcast from Acts 9. The text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

Along my own life journey, I’ve learned that God sometimes uses difficult circumstances to propel me to the place I’m supposed to be, where God has purposes for me I could never have known or expected. A chapter-a-day podcast from Acts 8. The text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

One of the things that I love most about Jesus was that He moved God’s presence out of buildings with walls made with human hands to the table where “two or three are gathered” over a good meal and conversation. A chapter-a-day podcast from Acts 7. The text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

How I handle the change is, I believe, a barometer of my spiritual health. A chapter-a-day podcast from Acts 6. The text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .