For the Christian, there are many ways to approach prayer. Some have a daily time set aside for prayer built into their schedule, perhaps in the morning with a cup of coffee and their Bible and devotional reading, or perhaps it is as you rest your head on the pillow. I tend to pray throughout the day, but do most of my praying as I take walks, with a brief time of prayer as I rest my head for sleep at night.
There are also a number of ways to organize our prayers. I used to use a written prayer list. These days I use the ACTS model. The ACTS model is:
A – Adoration
C – Confession
T – Thanksgiving
S – Supplication Continue reading
THIS & THAT: A Gathering of Favorite Articles and Quotes

- The Life of Telling Your Truth. Rosaria Butterfield writes “Days such as ours call for bold proclamations of the truth in both the church and the public sphere. We must be willing to risk our reputations with our unsaved neighbors for the sake of their souls.”
- 4 Right Responses to Suffering. Randy Alcorn writes “When suffering and evil come our way, they’ll exert a force that either pushes us away from God or pulls us toward Him.”
- Let’s Uncomplicate What Spiritual Formation Looks Like. In this video, Matthew Bingham, author of A Heart Aflame for God, states “I think sometimes we overcomplicate the spiritual formation question. I think some of the literature that’s out there today perhaps does this with good intentions.”
Click on ‘Continue reading’ for:
- More interesting article links
- Favorite Quotes of the Week
FAITH AND WORK: Connecting Sunday to Monday
Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles
- Young Men, Don’t Let AI Steal Your Work Ethic. Seth Troutt writes “How might we disciple young men to embrace their identity as workers at a time when the future of work feels so up in the air?”
- A Leader Worth Following. My new book A Leader Work Following: 40 Key Leadership Attributes and Applications to Masteris available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle editions. Read a sample of the book (found under the book cover in the above link).
- Help! My Coworkers Claim to Be Christians but Don’t Act Like It. Miranda Carls responds to the question “I work as an administrative assistant in a public school system. This has been challenging and often discouraging, but I’ve also been able to share my faith with non-Christian colleagues. My bigger challenge is actually fellow Christian colleagues, some of whom are so liberal I’m not sure what parts of the Bible they believe. Do you have any advice on how to share Christ with people who think they’re already walking with him?”
Click on ‘Continue reading’ for:
- More links to interesting articles
- The Top 10 Faith and Work Quotes of the Week
- Faith and Work Book Review ~ How to Get a Return on Failure: Fail Smarter—Return Stronger by John Maxwell
- Quotes from the book Working for Better: A New Approach to Faith at Work by Elaine Howard Ecklund and Denise Daniels
Values-Driven Leadership: A Better Way to Lead
In his excellent book Lead Like It Matters to God: Values-Driven Leadership in a Success-Driven World, a book I feel should be required reading for Christian leaders, former World Vision President Richard Stearns writes that he believes that God is far more concerned about how a leader leads than he is about the success that leader delivers. The book is about why he believes the values Christian leaders embrace are more important than the success they achieve. He tells us that while our culture rewards success, God’s bottom line is faithfulness.
In the book, Stearns writes about seventeen values and leadership qualities that he believes are essential for a Christian leader to embody: surrender, sacrifice, trust, love, excellence, humility, integrity, vision, courage, generosity, perseverance, forgiveness, self-awareness, balance, humor, encouragement, and listening.
He believes that leaders who embrace these characteristics will lift not only their own performance but also the performance of their teams. Stearns writes with authority, having been a successful CEO at Parker Brothers and then Lenox, before being called to World Vision. Continue reading
MUSIC REVIEWS and NEWS

Sing! From Generation to Generation (Live at the Getty Music Worship Conference) – Keith & Kristyn Getty and Friends
****
A live album is released after each of the Sing! Getty Music Worship Conferences held in Nashville. The album from the 2025 conference, which had a theme of From Generation to Generation. Artists included on the album are Keith and Kristyn Getty, CityAlight, Fernando Ortega, Matt Boswell, Matt Papa, Cochren & Co, Sandra McCracken, Dwan Hill and the late Jubilant Sykes.
Sing! From Generation to Generation holds many of the finest musical moments from the 2025 Sing! Conference. Thousands of voices, young and old, were gathered from 27 countries celebrating God’s faithfulness across 20 centuries and teaching the coming generations through song.
Click on ‘Continue reading’ for:
- More of this review and a review of Long, Long Road by Ringo Starr
- Music News
- Song of the Week Lyrics ~ Absolution by Switchfoot
BOOK REVIEWS and NEWS
Things Unseen: One Year of Reflections on the Christian Life by Sinclair Ferguson. Ligonier Ministries. 570 pages. 2024
****
This book is based on the popular Things Unseen daily devotional podcast that respected theologian Sinclair Ferguson produced with Ligonier in 2023 (and is still available today). The book contains all 260 episodes edited from the spoken to the written form. The book has 52 topics, one for every week of the year, and follows each theme through from Monday to Friday. Each of the short readings can be completed in just a few minutes each weekday. I used this book as a part of my daily devotional readings in 2025.
Here are 30 helpful quotes from the book:
Click on ‘Continue reading’ for:
BOOK REVIEWS ~ More of this review…
BOOK NEWS ~ Links to Interesting Articles
BOOK CLUB ~What Is Wrong with the World? The Surprising, Hopeful Answer to the Question We Cannot Avoid by Tim Keller
I’M CURRENTLY READING…. Continue reading
Go-Go, Slow-Go or No-Go? What Stage are You in Now?
Aging is an important aspect of finishing well. It doesn’t matter what our age is, we all tend to age differently. When I retired, I went out with a large group of co-workers. A financial planner that the organization brought in to speak to us told us something that I remember clearly, even though it has been more than eight years ago as I write this.
He said that as we were leaving the organization we were still relatively young, had a lot of time, money, and were probably pretty healthy. He called those the “Go Go Years”. During those years, we would be active. He told us that we might be playing sports such as golf, pickleball, and tennis. We would most likely be in a good position financially, and so we would probably also do some traveling. He stated that as we continue to age, and run into some health problems, we will inevitably slow down. It will become more difficult to travel and we won’t play as many sports. He called those the “Slow Go Years”. Finally, as get even older, we will be more limited. Health problems may make it difficult to do things such as play golf or travel. He called this stage the “No Go Years”.
If you are married, you and your spouse may be in different stages. For example, your wife may be in excellent health and still in the “Go Go Years”. You, on the other hand, may be facing a knee or hip replacement, and find yourself in the “Slow Go Years”, or even the “No Go Years”.
How can we finish well whether we are in the “Go Go”, “Slow Go” or “No Go” Years?
I am considering this question as I write my next book, tentatively titled Use Us Up Lord: Finishing Well for Our Good and God’s Glory.
THIS & THAT: A Gathering of Favorite Articles and Quotes

- The Root of Anxiety and How to Fight It. John Piper writes “If anxiety could be conquered, a mortal blow would be struck to many other sins.”
- Stop Believing Your Best Years Are Behind You. Daryl Dash writes “As you get older, expect physical decline. Try to hold it off as long as possible, but be realistic: you’ll never be able to keep up with those who are young. But refuse to believe that your best years are behind you.”

- Is Morality Just a Matter of Opinion? Jason Thacker answers in this episode of Honest Answers.
- What Encouragement Would You Give to Suffering Christians? In this video, Derek Thomas provides encouragement to Christians who are enduring suffering.
- What Is the Most Common Misconception that Christians Have About God? In this video, Sinclair Ferguson explains a crucial aspect of who God is that Christians often miss.
Click on ‘Continue reading’ for:
- More interesting article links
- Favorite Quotes of the Week
FAITH AND WORK: Connecting Sunday to Monday
Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles
- Voices From the Workplace: Why Making Things Still Matters with Ben Dunn. On this episode of the Faith and Work podcast, Ben Dunn, CEO of Blueprint Advanced Manufacturing, shares his unique journey from healthcare to leading a manufacturing company.
- A Leader Worth Following. My new book A Leader Work Following: 40 Key Leadership Attributes and Applications to Masteris available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle editions. Read a sample of the book (found under the book cover in the above link).
- Tim Keller’s Advice for Choosing (or Sticking with) a Career. Matt Smethurst writes “God deploys people into all kinds of jobs for the good of the world. Whether you’re thriving or struggling in a vocation—or trying to choose one—know that God is infinitely sovereign and wise.”
Click on ‘Continue reading’ for:
- More links to interesting articles
- The Top 10 Faith and Work Quotes of the Week
- Faith and Work Book Review ~ The Clay Pot Conspiracy: God’s Plan to Use Weakness in Leaders by Dave Harvey
- Quotes from the book Working for Better: A New Approach to Faith at Workby Elaine Howard Ecklund and Denise Daniels
Leadership Attributes: Leaders are Trustworthy and Build Trust
In our ongoing series of leadership attributes, we now look at trust and leadership. In their excellent book Simple Truths of Leadership: 52 Ways to Be a Servant Leader and Build Trust, Ken Blanchard and Randy Conley clearly show the connection between being a servant leader and trust. Here’s my review of that book.
Trust is an interesting attribute in that it can take a lifetime to build it, and yet it can be lost in an instant. Everyone approaches trust in a different manner. For example, I had a long-time, respected member of my team who had been hurt in the past. Her approach was that if someone lost her trust, they could never get it back. Continue reading




