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A Word to the Wise: You Are Not Finished

Sometimes At the Table is meant to inspire. It is always meant to invite us more deeply into Scripture and into conversations that matter. But every so often, we also need to be challenged—called to account. Today’s “word to the wise” is one of those moments.

Rich, a mentor of mine when I moved from parish ministry to campus ministry, taught me this lesson well. Only a year or two older than I, he retired before I did—but he did so with an attitude. He helped me reimagine this stage of life not as retirement, but as re-deployment.

At the time of my own re-deployment, I assumed I’d be asked to serve on boards or teach classes on campus—or something like that. Truth be told, I didn’t know what. But one of the best questions a mentor can ask is short and piercing: “What’s next?” It sparks anticipation, stirs curiosity, and invites us to wonder about the season ahead.

In my case, the message was clear: I wasn’t finished. In the Kingdom of God, retirement is never the end of our calling.  Read More

CategoriesEncouraging, Spiritual Conversation by

Interlude Questions Matter

In a recent blog, Rob (Loane) talked to us about connecting the “answers” with questions. For many years, my work put a grant in our hands that allowed us to develop campus ministry leaders in two ways: leadership practices and spirituality. As a group, we loved times for “shop talk,” when we opened the floor for new ideas, innovations, and methods for spiritual formation on college campuses. The ideas would flow, copious notes would be taken, and many of us returned home with a “plug and play” mentality about what we heard from our peers.  

 

Over time, however, we needed to remember that best practices are “answers” or “responses” to questions that emerged out of local issues, contextual problems, or partial “solutions” in vivo, that is, in life lived on a campus in Indiana, upstate New York, urban LA or Minneapolis, small town Kentucky or metropolitan Dallas. We discovered that “answers” in the form of new programs or practices are not universal but specific to place, setting, staffing, ecclesial identity, and practical movements in the story of the ministry itself.  

 

A new campus pastor might bring something new to the table that a long-time pastor might have tried years before. A large staff team might initiate multiple complex plans that a campus pastor with a part-time assistant could not. Once again, questions matter.

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Peace Like a River

Wendy and I found ourselves in a VRBO on Penn Cove in the middle of Whidbey Island. We were wrestling with our future: Where shall we go? Should we make a move back to Washington State? There was uncertainty, sprinkled with more than a little anxiety. 

One evening, as we listened to music, a sea otter showed off its athletic prowess just north of our deck. A song began to play: “It Is Well,” sung by Kristene DiMarco. A version based on a hymn written in 1873. 

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CategoriesEncouraging, Mentoring Matters by

Embracing Hospitality, Listening, and Mentoring

In a world teeming with noise and distractions, the teachings of Jesus offer a roadmap to cultivate deeper connections with God and others through hospitality, listening, and mentoring. These three practices are not isolated acts but integral threads woven into the fabric of a life lived in faith. By embodying these principles, we participate in the spiritual formation of ourselves and others, creating a ripple effect of transformation.

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David: A Walking Contradiction

Though this reflection speaks directly to men, David’s story offers insight for all of us who wrestle with forgiveness, calling, failure, and grace. 

A Call to Men

David was called a man after God’s own heart. That wasn’t a title; it was a name whispered by God—a way of saying, ‘I know this man, flaws and all, and I still choose him.’ David’s identity was forged not in the noise of battle but in the quiet hours under the stars, where only sheep and sky kept him company. Out there, he came to know God as a companion, friend, and coach. He learned to trust that “my times are in your hands.” Read More

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Jesus Saved a Life: We Were There

I was a young pastor in a university town, newly baptized into the fierce faith of campus ministry. Soon after, a group of Christian students—bold, bright-eyed, unashamed—welcomed me into their company. They carried the gospel like wildfire, unafraid to bring the name of Jesus into the thick of frat house bravado.

 

“Will you join us,” they asked, “as we go into the fraternity houses to speak the name of Jesus?”

I said yes. Braver in word than in spirit, I nodded—though inside, I trembled.

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How I Fight My Battles: 

It was the late ’80s. A guest was coming to Chapel—an international musician, a name known across the Christian world, and more importantly, my daughter Keri’s favorite: Michael W. Smith. She skipped school that day, rode with me to the airport, and sat behind us with quiet anticipation. Only later did I discover she had tucked a tape recorder under the seat, capturing every word, as if to hold onto a memory of a fleeting morning. She knew something special was unfolding. Years later, one of his songs—simple, pulsing like a heartbeat—brought me back. “This is how I fight my battles.” A repeated phrase, a cry, a creed. Not through sword or shield, but through praise. Through presence. Through faith. It summoned in me the vision of Isaiah 61—an epic chapter of beauty and protest, lament and renewal.

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I can sing anytime

Outside Chris’s bakery, Oak Harbor, WA, he carried a box of a dozen of the most colorful doughnuts in the bakery. He was parked next to us. I heard him singing as he prepared to climb into his truck. I said with a smile, “You haven’t had a doughnut yet; how can you be singing?”  He smiled back and replied with joy on his face and delight within, “I have Jesus. I can sing anytime.”

 

Wendy and I both felt his joyful conviction. I started my morning by taking our dog, Mackenzie, out to the backyard. My daily morning prayer is a greeting of adoration, an old Jewish prayer: “Blessed are you, Lord God, King of the universe.” And “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Just moments later, we experienced this man’s testimony of praise.  Yes, he testified, first in song and then in naming Jesus as the reason for his joy.

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CategoriesEncouraging, Mentoring Matters by

Blessing is waiting

When it comes to mentoring or spiritual direction, blessing is waiting. But why bother? What’s the point of it anyway?

Those are fair enough questions, but let’s be honest: We have other questions that might be quietly paused within your spirit. Let’s try two:

  1. What are you looking for? It’s another way of asking about your level of contentment, I suppose. What makes you curious? When do you feel most at rest within your spirit? When was the last time you would say you knew yourself to be heard, deeply listened to, and highly valued?
  2. What are you longing for?  It’s been said, “Stay close to your longing…” This refers to yearnings, craving, hungering, or just plain desiring. It’s another way to look within to assess your level of interior contentment.

Mentoring gives sacred access to one’s life, heart, interior self, and, yes, soul.

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Managing or Receiving?

 My favorite Bible character is Mary, the mother of Jesus. Though she has many admirable qualities, the one I find myself drawn to the most is the way this ordinary, Jewish young woman responded to the angel Gabriel’s news that she was going to be the mother of the Messiah. 

She was initially confused and disturbed and asked some good questions about how this was all going to work out for her, which I appreciate. However, without knowing all the answers, she said, “Here I am, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” 

It’s worth noting that within just a few days of receiving the news from the angel Gabriel, Mary left to go find her relative and friend, Elizabeth, who was also pregnant. She did not work out her situation alone. She found support and seemed to gain strength for her call. Rather quickly, Scripture reveals (Luke 1:46–55) that she began to earnestly praise God for what he was doing in and through her.  Read More