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Select a Category A Simple Church Way Hard Conversations Lead A Quiet Life as Resistance Reading in the Trenches Sacred in the Everyday Chaos Series: Advent Series: Bible Study Essentials Series: Four Walls of Gratitude Series: Reading Shelf Series: Sojourn Series: This Is The Lord's Table Series: Year in Review Spiritual Disciplines for Ordinary People The Holy Work of Parenting The Pilgrimage of Jeff McLain Theology in the Wild Uncategorized

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August 2026

August 05, 2026

When Psalm 23 Began Reading Me

I've written before about Psalm 23. Last month, I referred to it on a Lead...

July 2026

July 25, 2026

Introducing the Story of Corrie Ten Boom to a New Generation

Corrie ten Boom once said, “It is not our task to give God instructions. We...

June 2026

June 24, 2026

Owning Things Without Being Owned: The 100 Thing Challenge

It could be argued that the disposability of products produced in this era has made...

April 2026

April 04, 2026

Monitoring the Soul: A Review of Multiplier by Dave Ferguson

At the start of Multiplier, released in 2026 by Zondervan Reflective and Exponential Resources, author...

March 2026

March 21, 2026

Falling in Love Again: 11 Christian Marriage Practices

I once heard someone say that a successful marriage is one in which we fall...

March 11, 2026

Secondhand Smoke: Tri Robinson Discusses Deconstruction

As Tri Robinson writes in Deconstruction/Reconstruction, the generations today are struggling with a reality in...

March 10, 2026

The Stillness Ambition: Living the Lead a Quiet Life Verse

In this season of my life, I have identified a singular and driving focus. I...

March 08, 2026

Hard Conversations: We Accept the Already & Not Yet

Many of us have unfinished projects, unchecked to-do lists, and incomplete tasks. If not, ask...

March 01, 2026

Hard Conversations: We Find Our Identity in Christ

For the past few weeks, I have been blogging through a series called Hard Conversations....

February 2026

February 27, 2026

Framing Your Personal Calling: Finding A Quiet Life

This leads a quiet life, I feel called to from 1 Thessalonians 4:11–12, is more...

February 19, 2026

Guard Your Heart: What’s Shaping the Source?

Lent is a season for examining the heart, leaning into surrender and honest confession. Coming...

February 16, 2026

Hard Conversations: Being Loving Is As Important

Three weeks ago, we began this blog post series on Hard Conversations by acknowledging something...

February 11, 2026

No Sponging: Work With Your Hands. Be Dependent on No One.

When I began the Lead a Quiet Life blog on Patheos in October 2023, it...

February 09, 2026

Hard Conversations: We Don’t Know It All

Last week, we began this blog series by naming something many of us already feel...

February 03, 2026

Hard Conversations: Jesus’ Prayer for a Divided World

It can be hard to have conversations with people who think differently than we do....

January 2026

January 29, 2026

Beyond the Screen: When Outrage Drowns Out Love

We are swimming in a lot of outrage and noise every day on our social...

January 22, 2026

More Than High Fives: 10 Prayers for the Local Church

Back in 2011, my wife Katie and I caught a Phillies series in San Diego...

November 2025

November 18, 2025

Reading Shelf: Six Bible Translations for Meditation & Study

In keeping with this blog's call to lead a quiet life of stillness and faithfulness,...

November 14, 2025

You Are What You Invest: Quiet Work of a Healthy Marriage

“Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are.” “Garbage in,...

November 11, 2025

When God Seems Silent: Naming Values for the Season

“You will hear a voice behind you saying, ‘This is the way. Follow it, whether...

November 10, 2025

Threads of Stillness: Learning to Let Scripture Read Us

Today, on a spiritual direction day, I’m walking, reading, studying, and praying—listening for direction in...

October 2025

October 21, 2025

Sojourn: Becoming Missional (Part Five)

This is Part Five of the Sojourn Series. You might enjoy reading the earlier chapters...

October 20, 2025

Sojourn: Becoming Vineyard & Anabaptist Again (Part Four)

This is Part Four of the Sojourn Series. You might enjoy reading the earlier chapters...

October 15, 2025

Sojourn: Becoming Anabaptist (Part Three)

This is Part Three of the Sojourn Series. You might enjoy reading the first two...

October 10, 2025

Sojourn: Becoming Vineyard (Part Two)

This is Part Two of the Sojourn Series. You might enjoy reading the first Part...

October 09, 2025

Sojourn: Becoming a Spiritual Pilgrim (Part One)

Recently, while watching some old video of me twenty years ago on tour with a...

October 01, 2025

A Dangerous Reminder: Synagogues & the Shape of Shared Faith

Not long ago, I stood inside a re-created first-century synagogue at the Museum of the...

September 2025

September 15, 2025

5 Books That Shaped My Rule of Life and Quiet Life Pursuit

Later this week, I am headed to the beach to celebrate my wife, Katie McLain,...

September 08, 2025

Beaten by the False Gospel of Busyness

One of my favorite quotes comes from Kurt Vonnegut in A Man Without a Country....

September 01, 2025

Shared Learning: Rethinking What Church Can Look Like

This Sunday at River Corner Church, we tried something a little different. We experimented with...