I’ve been working on some material for Father’s Day this week. Perhaps a little early, but it’s had me thinking about the many great dads I’ve seen in the world. And I’ve seen plenty. My friend Paul Young (who wrote The Shack) has an unbelievable family of terrific kids. My dear friend John MacMurray back in Oregon is one of the greatest dads I’ve seen.

But I’ve also noticed some kids who are really messed up. Often, these kids come from great families with lots of money, and even families with parents who are Christian leaders.

Secretly (until now), I’ve noticed a common theme amongst well-adjusted kids [...]

I’ve always been fascinated by that verse in the book of James that says our lives pass like a vapor. That’s a realization hard to internalize. I believe life is eternal, but I don’t believe we have a whole lot of time in this phase, the walk around on earth phase. I wish I could spend less time feeling the urgency of things that aren’t actually urgent and more time exchanging meaning with those people and causes that matter.

The Bible also speaks of the wisdom of numbering our days.

I’m just back from a beautiful wedding in Southern California. What I love about weddings and funerals is they remind us, in very different ways, about [...]

Just started reading Susan Cain’s book Quiet, for which I am thankful. Cain is a terrific writer and her book is already gaining acclaim for explaining to about 60% of the world how the other 40% live. That is, Cain explains to extroverts what these quiet, I don’t want to go out tonight, introverts are really thinking.

I’m an introvert. I can spend a month alone in a cabin (and have, many times) and never even dream of getting lonely. In fact, I recharge by being alone. That said, being alone for long periods of time isn’t healthy for me and when I do it I get a little strange. When I reenter civilization I have trouble engaging in conversations without beginning to daydream and it takes practice to get my mind to cooperate with the unspoken rules of society [...]

Oh, I know, I’m an ageist. But I don’t mean it that way. I fact, I firmly believe people in their twenties, officially one generation behind me, are better than my generation. What I mean by this is they are more altruistic, more international, more objective and less fearful than any generation I can remember.

And yet, they are also delusional. And here’s why [...]

Occasionally I get criticized for being less public about my faith than others. This criticism always strikes me as odd because I’ve written six or seven books largely about faith, but nevertheless I understand where it’s coming from.

Many are willing to take public stands on issues, tweet daily scriptures, chime in on wide church arguments and so forth. I normally don’t, and that can at times seem as though I’m not willing to publicly identify my faith as loudly.

But nothing can be further from the truth…

Yesterday I had lunch with a new friend and the conversation came around to faith, to how my beliefs have changed since I wrote the book Blue Like Jazz. I thought perhaps I’d blog about it and turn it into a recurring series. My faith has indeed changed. In ways, it’s become more clear, and in other ways, much more indefinable.

Here are a few ways my faith has changed…

At Storyline, we’re pretty even keeled. We don’t get too excited or worried and things pretty much get handled ahead of schedule. How that happened with a group of artists, I don’t know, but everybody who works with us seems to appreciate our flow of business. Essentially, if we are rushing, we know we’ve done something wrong.

Of course there are plenty of great reasons in life to rush. If you’re an ER doctor or a professional ping-pong player, rushing seems appropriate. But in most endeavors, feeling a constant sense of urgency and panic means somebody hasn’t done their job. And that somebody is…

If you try to become the “it” writer, speaker, leader of the moment, you might be guilty of trying to become a fashionable leader. Don’t fall for it. If you become the fashionable leader of the moment, you’ll be gone as fast as bell bottoms. The same people who praise you today will be distancing themselves from you tomorrow.

Instead, try to peak when you’re 65.

What I mean by this is…