A non-scale victory today: I woke up feeling kind of “meh.” I was just a bit off. It could have been easy to rationalize not going to the gym. Instead, I went to the gym and as I worked out the “meh” disappeared. Now, I feel great!
Today’s Advent readings for those of you following along.
Psalm 146:5-10; Ruth 4:13-17; 2 Peter 3:11-18
Heres’s he link BibleGateway if that is helpful:
"When things don't go well it's easy to wonder, "Why me?" It's easy to point fingers. It's easy to wallow in frustration or defeat.But it is also easy to ask, “What is this teaching me?”
You can’t remove the frustrations from life, but you can always try to come out a little wiser on the other side."
This is from James Clear’s weekly email. “What is this teaching me?”
Such a key question.
The new micro.blog mobile update is excellent! Well done @manton and team! 🙌👏
Good morning to you! Here are today’s #Advent2025 readings:
Psalm 146:5-10; Ruth 1:6-18; 2 Peter 3:1-10
The link to Bible Gateway: December 11, 2025
I have played with all the browsers and email clients and calendar clients. I have concluded that the Apple defaults are the best for me. They simply just work.
Every day as I peruse my social feeds, I am confronted by the failure of the church, and us pastors in general.
I know my own complicity in those failures. I work hard to be better.
I still fall short.
I am convinced that there are others out there trying to be better too.
I wish you could see them.
Weigh in Wednesday!
9/22/2025 - 259.9 12/10/2025 - 243.8
Total loss - 16.1 lbs
Need to lose to reach 195: 48.8
A net gain of .6lbs this week. I think it’s due to addition of a supplement. My clothes fit looser in spite of the minimal gain. #195by50
Today’s #Advent2025 readings if you’re following along:
Psalm 21; Genesis 15:1-18; Matthew 12:33-37
Here’s a link to the readings at Bible Gateway.
My workout schedule is lifting M, W, F; cardio T, Th, Sa; rest on Sunday.
Today, I didn’t want to run. I didn’t want to be on a treadmill. I did it anyway. I jogged my three miles and after a brief cool down, walked for 20 minutes a 10.0 incline.
I’m glad it’s over.
Today was pure discipline.
Today’s #Advent2025 readings, if you’re following along…
Psalm 21; Isaiah 41:14-20; Romans 15:14-21
A link to open the readings on Bible Gateway
If you’re in the Ypsilanti/Ann Arbor area, come on out to Tap Room tonight for a special “Ask Me Anything,” at 8 pm.
It is so refreshing to simply listen to music and read some non-fiction after a full Sunday.
Currently reading: The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson 📚
Today’s #Advent2025 readings if you’re following along:
Psalm 21; Isaiah 24:1-16a; 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12
Lives Hidden With Christ - Put on Love
You can listen to this message here: Lives Hidden With Christ - Put on Love
Colossians 3:5–14 is a passage overflowing with challenge, hope, and vision for what it means to live as renewed people in Christ.
Paul writes:
“Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all and is in all. Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” Colossians 3:5-14, NIV
There is enough in this passage to preach on for months. But today I want to focus on what I believe is the heart of the whole section: verse 14 — “Over all these virtues put on love.”
Love is not just one virtue among many. It is the virtue that holds all the others together. It is the defining mark of people whose lives are “hidden with Christ” (v. 3), people who have been transferred from the dominion of darkness into the kingdom of the beloved Son.
Paul’s question is essentially this:
What does a renewed life look like?
His answer: love—love expressed, embodied, practiced.
So how do we put on this love?