Wayfarer

Music plays such a fascinating role in the human experience. A chapter-a-day podcast from Psalm 118. Text version can always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

Along my life journey, I have observed that we humans like to reduce very complex questions into simple binary boxes and choices. A chapter-a-day podcast from Psalm 117. Text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

Brood is actually an interesting word because the most common definition in the English language means "to sit on" and "incubate" as a mother hen sits on her eggs. What an apt word picture for what I can do with a conflict or crisis. A chapter-a-day podcast from Psalm 116. Text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

Along my life journey, I've seen tremendous change. A chapter-a-day podcast from Psalm 115. Text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

Along my journey, I have experienced discord and division among any number of groups to which I belonged. This includes family, churches, community organizations, and most recently, a nation. A chapter-a-day podcast from Psalm 114. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

There are two themes in the Great Story that I have repeatedly mentioned across the 15 years I've been writing these chapter-a-day posts, and they are beautifully present in today's chapter, Psalm 113. They are, however, easily missed by the casual reader. A chapter-a-day podcast from Psalm 113. Text version can be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com

Many years ago, as my life was emerging from the ash heap I had made of it, I happened upon today's chapter, Psalm 112. I remember reading the lyrics to this ancient Hebrew song and realizing that it described the person I want to become and to be on this earthly journey. A chapter-a-day podcast from Psalm 112. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

The further I get in my journey the more I appreciate the fact that the most important and profound of spiritual truth is found not in seminary classes but in the simple instructional songs of children. A chapter-a-day podcast from Psalm 111. Text version can be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

In the mystery of Melchizedek, I'm reminded that faith requires of me the humility to accept that there are truths that lie in mystery. They are deeper, older, and unfathomable this side of eternity. A chapter-a-day podcast from Psalm 110. Text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

I thought he was my friend, and I continue to believe that he truly was at one time. I’m not sure when the smile became a lie. I’m not sure when our conversations became reconnaissance for his operational purposes to hurt me. A chapter-a-day podcast from Psalm 109. The text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

In my life, I have found change to be really difficult for people in almost any circle of life. When you mix in both change and religious tradition it can take on an added layer of emotion. A chapter-a-day podcast from Psalm 108. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

In the quiet this morning, I'm seeing the pattern. Out of darkness into the light. Up from the valley to the mountaintop. Return from exilic adversity to the blessing of finding myself safe at home. This is the Great Story. It's life's story. It's my story, too. A chapter-a-day podcast from Psalm 107. Text version may always found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

In the quiet this morning I find myself thinking about my own journey which includes holy moments that occurred both on spiritual mountain tops and sinful, dark valleys. A chapter-a-day podcast from Psalm 106. Text version can be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

I'm publishing this podcast on my 20,000th birthday. I'm 20,000 days old today. When I was a young man my mentor encouraged me to "number my days." Years later he asked me if I'd be willing to speak at his funeral and share about the things I learned in doing so. I'm sorry to say I didn't have the opportunity to do that, but I'm sharing it with you in this podcast.

As I've been meditating on how technology is forming us, I've thought about the difference between information and knowledge, between data and understanding. A chapter-a-day podcast from Psalm 105. Text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

Among our local gathering of Jesus' followers, we've been asking ourselves a lot of questions about distractions and attachments. A chapter-a-day podcast on Psalm 104. Text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

In a few weeks, I will mark a milestone in my spiritual journey. It was a frigidly cold February night in 1981 when I decided to become a follower of Jesus. It's been forty years. A chapter-a-day podcast from Psalm 103. Text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

One of the oft-forgotten themes of the Great Story is that of descendence. A chapter-a-day podcast from Psalm 102. The text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

To the ancient Hebrews, the heart and the eyes were of primary importance in determining one’s ultimate actions.  A chapter-a-day podcast from Psalm 101. Text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

The return from COVID quarantine!! On this Wayfarer Weekend, we attempt to get back into spiritual rhythm with a discussion of "The Way of a Disciple." 

Wendy and I have noticed as we worship that there’s often what feels like a spiritual lid on the room. You can feel people waiting for an excuse, or for someone to give permission to shout, cheer, and let out some God-given, human emotion. A chapter-a-day podcast from Psalm 100. Text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

I confess that “holy” is a word, and a spiritual concept, that I failed to fully understand, or flat out got wrong, for most of my journey. A chapter-a-day podcast from Psalm 99. The text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

Concentric circles. God’s Spirit, God’s creation, God’s love, God’s praise are always pressing outward, reaching out, embracing, pulling in, and sending out. As I follow Jesus, that’s where I’m constantly led in my spiritual journey. A chapter-a-day podcast from Psalm 98. Text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

In the quiet this morning, I hear God’s Spirit whispering to my spirit. The Spirit gently reminds me that, in both the macro and the micro, “I’ve got this.” A chapter-a-day podcast from Psalm 97. The text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

Throughout the Great Story, "new" is a repetitive theme. In fact, if you step back and look at the Great Story from a macro level, doing something "new" is a part of who God is. A chapter-a-day podcast from Psalm 96. Text version can be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .