A Garden in My Heart

I have a love–hate relationship with my garden and flowerbeds. ​On one hand, I love when they are clean, planted, and blooming at all the right times each season.

On the other, because of the rains that are present throughout every season in Tacoma, where Tina and I have our family home, I have a non-stop battle to fight with weeds that remain the fastest growing and most robust plants I have. They even grow full speed ahead during the winter, when everything else is either dead or taking a break.

I was working on my garden out in front of my house one sunny afternoon, (yes, we do get sun in the Pacific Northwest too!), and as I pulled weeds and replaced them with bright, colorful flowers, something started to shift in me. My heart softened as my nails became caked with rich, black soil. I started feeling as if I was involved in a much grander project or purpose. It was as if I was connecting to the overarching restoration of all things that God has promised to do in our world.

Is my front garden a part of that?

In that moment, it sure seemed like it. The Spirit reminded me that this is how he works within me too, pulling one weed at a time and replacing it with something beautiful. I started to think of all the people I know with weeds and thorny, spiky parts of their personality and life. Maybe I was to be patient and willing to get my hands a little dirty helping to “beautify the garden” of their lives too?

One by one, people from the neighborhood started to notice what I was up to. “Wow! That is looking really beautiful. I just love petunias!” “I was wondering if you were ever going to get around to this project.”

Not the feedback I hoped for, but I’ll take it.

One of the workers from the Salvation Army next door who loves to give me gardening advice, ambled over and said, “This is looking really good. I think I’ll start taking my breaks over here in front of your house from now on.” My flowerbeds were becoming his own little Garden of Eden in the neighborhood. A simple hour or two of gardening had refreshed and re-created my attitude in some pretty profound ways.

Maybe everything we work at has a Kingdom perspective if we take the time to notice.

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Maybe everything we work at is like this if we have that perspective and take the time to notice. There is possibility for redemption all around us.

So, if you’ve been putting off some actual weeding you need to do outside in your garden, or in the garden of your heart or others, the next best time to get started is now.

Stop Confusing Justice With Payback & Revenge

Most of us carry a definition of justice we picked up somewhere along the way — and it usually looks like payback. Someone wrongs you, someone wrongs others, and justice means they get what’s coming to them. But what if that version of justice has almost nothing to do with what God actually means by the word?

In this episode of the Everyday Disciple Podcast, we’re going to dig into what the Bible actually means by mercy and justice — and why they’re not opposites. You’ll discover how God’s justice is really about restoration, and what it looks like to participate in that restorative work in the lives of people around you.

In This Episode You’ll Learn: 

  • The biblical definitions of mercy and justice that will change how you see both
  • What actually produces a love of mercy in your own heart
  • How God’s restorative justice is bigger than any weekend service project
  • Where to start engaging real injustice — locally and globally

Get started here…

A man sits alone on a prison bunk behind metal bars, illustrating themes of justice, punishment, forgiveness, and the difference between justice and revenge.

Please check out this new episode.

7 Reasons Gossip Is Poison 3 Ways To Crush It

Gossip is everywhere — in our friendships, our workplaces, even our churches. We’ve all been on both ends of it. And most of us have drifted into it without realizing until after. It’s so normal it barely registers anymore. But it’s doing real damage to the people around us and to us.

In this episode of the Everyday Disciple Podcast, we’re going to unpack what gossip actually is — and the definition will probably surprise you. You’ll discover why it’s genuinely dangerous, how to recognize it in the moment, and three ways to crush it before it spreads. This one could change how you listen to every conversation.

In This Episode You’ll Learn:

  • A definition of gossip that instantly changes how you hear conversations
  • Seven real reasons gossip is more destructive than you’ve been told
  • Three practical moves to crush gossip before it takes hold
  • How sticking up for the absent person builds surprising, lasting trust

Get started here…

A close-up of a man cupping his ear as if listening carefully, illustrating the dangers of gossip

Please check out this new episode.

Surprise! You Are the Missionary In Your Neighborhood

There are all kinds of people with varying beliefs living around us. Some of them we notice and some of them we never see. But I can guarantee you one thing for sure. There is a missionary living in your neighborhood.

Growing up as part of the church, there was huge map in the lobby where we worshipped on Sundays–a map of the world with pins all over it. Each pin corresponding to an 8×10 picture next to the map. (more…)

What Gospel Fluency Sounds Like

Most of us grew up with a gospel that was mainly about the afterlife. Avoid hell. Get to heaven. Manage sin in the meantime. But quietly, you start to wonder — is this it? Is this all Jesus came to give us? It’s a fair question, and the answer might surprise you.

In this episode of the Everyday Disciple Podcast, we’re going to unpack what it looks like to live with a bigger gospel — one that has something real to say about your marriage, your money, your identity, and your Tuesday afternoon. We call this Gospel Fluency. And it changes everything.

In This Episode You’ll Learn: 

  • Why the gospel is good news for right now — not just the afterlife
  • A simple 4-question process for applying the gospel to any situation
  • How what you believe about God shapes how you see yourself
  • What it looks like when discipleship becomes naturally good news

Get started here…

Four men gather in a home kitchen, sharing conversation and laughter, illustrating Christian fellowship, gospel-centered conversations, and discipleship in everyday life.

Please check out this new episode.

Who Broke the Missional Movement?

About a decade ago, the “missional movement” promised to transform the Church and make loads of new disciples. It was supposed to break down barriers in our culture, stopping the decline of church attendance nationwide. So who broke the missional movement?

Unfortunately, the answer may be closer than we think.  (more…)

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