Wayfarer

Do good, receive presents. Be naughty, reap coal. It's the "Santa Clause." We feed it to our children, and it sticks with us as adults. A chapter-a-day podcast from Job 4. The text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

When Job finally speaks, the first thing he does is curse his birthday. A chapter-a-day podcast from Job 3. The text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

Despite his agony, Job refuses to do abandon God or curse him. He asks his wife another one of the big questions that resonate throughout the entire story, and that resonates with me in my own life: “Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” A chapter-a-day podcast from Job 2. The text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

My previous journeys through Job reveal it to be a story that asks big, challenging life questions that test the human limitations of understanding. A chapter-a-day podcast from Job 1. The text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

I know, contentment isn't as inspiring as moving mountains, but to my mind it might be more difficult. A chapter-a-day podcast from Philippians 4. The text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

All of my earthbound blessings, achievements, status, and possessions are eternally worthless in God's economy. A chapter-a-day podcast from Philippians 3. The text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

I have an app with a list of things I need to accomplish for our home maintenance and improvements. What about a list of things I need to do in my spiritual maintenance and improvements? A chapter-a-day podcast from Philippians 2. The text version can be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

Believing in Jesus does not result in immediate transformation into righteousness. Rather, believing in Jesus launches a long-term, top-to-bottom, spiritual DIY renovation project. A chapter-a-day podcast from Philippians 1. The text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

Of late, the reality of corruption has been seeping out the cracks of the closed doors and smoke-filled rooms across the political spectrum. I'm not convinced that it will amount to anything. A chapter-a-day podcast from Joel 3. The text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

The further I get in my spiritual journey, the more I have come to embrace the understanding that the gifts and callings of God's Spirit are not discriminatory in any way. A chapter-a-day podcast from Joel 2. The text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

Tragedy sometimes befalls the best of us, while blessing sometimes rains down on the worst of us. I have observed along my life journey that in either circumstance, Jesus' question remains essentially the same. A chapter-a-day podcast from Joel 1. The text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

The spiritual journey as a follower of Jesus is fraught with waiting. Spiritual growth is an organic process that requires time. A chapter-a-day podcast from Malachi 4. The text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

The story of my spiritual journey is inextricably woven with the story of my financial journey. My progress in the former is predicated on my progress in the latter. A chapter-a-day podcast from Malachi 3. The text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

The text of the prophets expects something different from me in the way I read, study, and think. One of those expectations is for me to see the connections; To see the thread of consistent message running through them. A chapter-a-day podcast from Malachi 2. The text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

If I take my family's precious and priceless fine china and antique silver spoons and use them to feed a stray dog on the back patio, I'm profaning it. A chapter-a-day podcast from Malachi 1. The text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

In a world that seems to only value power and triumph, I'm reminded that God's ways always flow in the opposite direction of raw humanity. Eternal power is found in the surrender. A chapter-a-day podcast from Jeremiah 52. The text version can be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

Babylon occupies a deep historical and metaphorical presence throughout the Great Story. From the erection of the Tower of Babel in the opening chapters of Genesis, to the angelic destruction of a metaphorical Babylon in the final chapters of John's end-times Revelations, Babylon is synonymous with humanity's hubris, pride, and spiritual antagonism. A chapter-a-day podcast from Jeremiah 51...

Empires rise, they fall, and other empires emerge on this earth. Personally, I want to be part of a Kingdom that's not of this world. A chapter-a-day podcast from Jeremiah 50. The text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

"Blood is thicker than water" is the idiom we use to express the importance of family over everything else in life. But I've equally observed that bad blood runs deep. A chapter-a-day podcast from Jeremiah 49. The text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

Jeremiah proclaims the defeat and exile of Moabites with a metaphorical end to the flow of their wine. A chapter-a-day podcast from Jeremiah 48. The text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

Along this life journey I have observed that sometimes troubles rise like floodwaters, and I am helpless to avoid them or prevent them. A chapter-a-day podcast from Jeremiah 47. The text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

As I've progressed in my spiritual journey, I've learned to increasingly embrace the understanding that God is at work in every person's story. A chapter-a-day podcast from Jeremiah 46. The text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

I can focus on obediently and faithfully fulfilling that to which I've been called, or I can waste a lot of time pining away in envy for what others have been called to do. A chapter-a-day podcast from Jeremiah 45. The text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

How ironic. These Hebrews have come full circle. The former slaves return to the land of their slave master. A chapter-a-day podcast from Jeremiah 44. The text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

I have found on my spiritual journey that there is a certain humility required of me as a disciple of Jesus. The humility comes from acknowledging that there are certain spiritual mysteries that lie beyond my earthly, human comprehension. A chapter-a-day podcast from Jeremiah 43. The text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .