Wayfarer

Bullying doesn’t end as we grow older. It just gets more insidious and protected by larger systems both legal and illegal. A chapter-a-day podcast from Acts 5. The text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

I gave a message yesterday to our local gathering of Jesus’ followers. As I got up to deliver the message I realized that the page with the message I had prepared and all my notes was still back in my home office sitting on my desk. A chapter-a-day podcast from Acts 4. The text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

The further I get in my journey, the more I have come to realize and embrace that my “witness” as a disciple of Jesus is how I interact with the regulars in my life. A chapter-a-day podcast from Acts 3. The text version can be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

The purpose and timing happening in today's chapter can easily go unnoticed by the modern and casual reader. A chapter-a-day podcast from Acts 2. The text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

There was a whole host of unknown, unmentioned followers who had their own personal Jesus story and were a crucial part of participating in and carrying out Jesus' mission. A chapter-a-day podcast from Acts 1. The text version can be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

Once again, as a reader, John leaves me to decide if I believe his testimony and what verdict I will personally render regarding the question "Who is Jesus?" A chapter-a-day podcast from John 21. The text version can be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

This morning I glanced back on over forty years of believing in and following Jesus. Time and life have not diminished my belief. They have honed it. A chapter-a-day podcast from John 20. The text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

I have observed along my journey that certain historical events become so ubiquitous, that the actual events are lost or muddled in the pervasive contemporary and cultural understanding. A chapter-a-day podcast from John 19. The text version can be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

Jesus freely and willingly submitted to a set of trials that were both illegal and illicit. He submitted precisely because His kingdom is not like the kingdoms of this world, especially the human empires that are currently judging Him. A chapter-a-day podcast from John 18. The text version can be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

I can't be the light of the world if I'm hiding the light under a box. I can't be the salt of the earth if I'm still inside the salt shaker in the cupboard. I don't need protection from the evil one if I'm never a threat to him or his dominion. A chapter-a-day podcast from John 17. The text version can be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

God provides shalom, not by power but by suffering, not by force but by surrender, not through the suppression of resistance but through love, forgiveness, and freedom from sin and death. A chapter-a-day podcast from John 16. The text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

When I invited Jesus into my life and asked Him to be the Lord of my life, I suddenly experienced something new: His indwelling. A chapter-a-day podcast from John 15. The text version can be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

In my lifetime, I've observed that the world's promise of peace has gotten more insidious with its intangible paths to peace. A chapter-a-day podcast from John 14. The text version can be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

I’ve discovered along life's road that there are times when it is only in retrospect that I can see how God was at work in me, directing my path and guiding my steps. A chapter-a-day podcast from John 13. The text version can be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

In the subtext of today's chapter is a question that I believe motivated John to write his account of the Jesus Story in the first place. A chapter-a-day podcast from John 12. The text version can be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com.

Along my own earthly journey as a disciple of Jesus, I have been able to look back on my journey and see how certain watershed moments in my own story were instrumental in driving the action. A chapter-a-day podcast from John 11. The text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

He has been a Good Shepherd to this dumb sheep, and I can trust Him to continue being so. A chapter-a-day podcast from John 10. The text version can be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

Today's chapter is a reminder that staunch, educated religious people can be spiritually blind while humble, uneducated, and irreligious individuals can have spiritual sight which is 20/20. A chapter-a-day podcast from John 9. The text version can be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

Along my spiritual journey, I have observed that any human religious institution can become a perpetrator of evil. A chapter-a-day podcast from John 8. The text version can be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

Our current political landscape in America came to mind in the quiet this morning simply because in today's chapter John focuses on how incredibly divisive Jesus was at the peak of His public ministry. A chapter-a-day podcast from John 7. The text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

The further I've progressed in my spiritual journey the more I have come to believe that today's chapter contains among the most critical messages that Jesus uttered in His earthly ministry. A chapter-a-day podcast from John 6. The text version can be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

I find the question, "Who am I living to please?" worth pondering. A chapter-a-day podcast from John 5. The text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

If Jesus was playing poker with the cultural rules of His day, His conversation with the Samaritan woman was Him going "all in." A chapter-a-day podcast from John 4. The text version can be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

Along my life journey, I’ve observed that people build up a sense of loyalty to voices that resonate with them. There’s a certain trust that is built, which can often result in mistrust of any other voices. A chapter-a-day podcast from John 3. The text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

Along my spiritual journey, I've observed that God often provides signs along life's road. I may not realize it in the moment, but I will later look back and realize that the sign was there all along. A chapter-a-day podcast from John 2. The text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .