NEWSLETTERS

Throughout the year, John sends out newsletters about his recent thoughts and the ministry's recent history. 
October 02, 2024
I had a bad dream last night. I won’t go into the details, but it essentially involved chaos all around me—in the world around me.
I woke up before dawn because I needed to pray; Jesus prompted me to check a text from a friend overseas. She had... READ MORE
June 26, 2024
Summer is in full swing here in the Northern Hemisphere! The BBQs are out, flowers are blooming, vegetable gardens growing, crickets chirping, and the hummingbirds are zipping around the feeders. I looooove summer!
This summer, I’ve been enjoying... READ MORE
May 16, 2024
I had nearly written off summer.
Stasi and I have a lot of obligations this year, some good, some simply necessary. But when I began to look at our calendar, it was so full of commitments I shrugged my shoulders and said in my heart, Oh well. Which... READ MORE
March 20, 2024
You, the followers of this newsletter, our podcasts, books, and events, know that it is our deep desire to give you tools for these challenging days. Sometimes those tools are for soul care, others for intimacy with God or for shutting down the... READ MORE
February 19, 2024
I’ve been thinking a lot about refuge.
Across the British Isles, particularly on Scotland and Ireland’s rugged coastlines, stand the remains of ancient stone towers, some of them thousands of years old. They fascinate me. Most are on the wild and... READ MORE
January 02, 2024
A very Merry Christmas season to you!
I’m betting that the flurry of the holidays has everyone quite busy, so I’ll just share a few thoughts.
First and foremost, a big, sincere “thank you!” from Stasi and me and our team for the outpouring of love... READ MORE
October 17, 2023
Friends, Comrades, Allies,
Here at the end of September/beginning of October, I want to share this lovely passage with you:
Oh, the joys of those who do not
    follow the advice of the wicked,
    or stand around with sinners,
    or join in with... READ MORE
June 26, 2023
A very happy summer to each of you! 
I really hope you have something on the calendar by way of rest and joy this summer. Even if it’s “only” evenings on the balcony or your back deck, summer can be so lovely and restorative. Let the beauty in!
If... READ MORE
May 15, 2023
Spring has finally come to Colorado. Last evening, Stasi and I took a lovely after-dinner walk through the neighborhood. The sun is setting later each day, and it was one of those wonderful evenings where the deer were out and browsing, a few... READ MORE
April 10, 2023
This is a letter on how to pray for the people you love—especially those who do not yet love Jesus or see the Truth in him.
I’m moved to share this for two reasons.
First, because it’s where many of my own heart-cries have been focused recently. And... READ MORE
February 28, 2023
Well…2023 is out of the gates and down the track––even though my soul didn’t really get on board until late January! (Friends of ours still have their Christmas decorations up; their souls haven’t been able to make the transition yet!) Ready or not... READ MORE
January 23, 2023
Dear Friends,
A very merry Christmastide to you…wherever and whenever this letter finds you!
I don’t need to say much this month; the holidays for most people are typically full enough. 
I do want to say, before anything else, that our entire team... READ MORE
January 23, 2023
Dear Friends,
 
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
    his love endures forever.
Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story—
    those he redeemed from the hand of the foe,
those he gathered from the lands,
    from east and west, from... READ MORE
October 17, 2022
Many years ago, someone shared this quote with me, and it stayed with me because it names something so deeply true to the human predicament:
“The way through the world is more difficult to find than the way beyond it.” – Wallace Stevens
Right?... READ MORE
June 27, 2022
Our podcast the weeks of June 20th and 27th offers a conversation with several members of our team about how everybody’s doing these days, especially with regard to our reserve tanks. I’ve been polling a number of mature people lately—inside the... READ MORE
May 23, 2022
Over the years, what I’ve tried to do with these letters is to share with you what I’m hearing from Jesus, and what I’m seeing unfold in the world, so that we all might walk more closely with him and strengthen ourselves with his strength in this... READ MORE
May 23, 2022
I want to begin this letter with a big, resounding Thank You!
We finished our ministry year in December right where our donations needed to be! You helped us out of the red and into the black with an outpouring of generosity, and I just want to say... READ MORE
January 06, 2022
Dear Friends,
A most heartfelt Merry Christmas and Christmastide to you and yours! If you receive this by post I’m not sure when it will reach you, but wherever you are in the holiday season may joy be yours in abundance!
After year two of the... READ MORE
November 01, 2021
October has been a brilliant month for us, for so many reasons. We held our first live Captivating retreat in over two years this month, and it was...breathtaking!
We honestly weren’t sure what it would be like, after these hard pandemic years and... READ MORE
September 29, 2021
The early stages of fall are upon us. Children (of all ages) are back to school, churches are gearing up for their fall programming, small groups are reconvening, work is getting busier, and summer vacations are in the rearview mirror. A season of... READ MORE

Pages

 
 
  2016 December Merry Christmas
  2016 November We need you
  2016 October Hope
  2016 September Soul Care
  2016 August We Live Forever
  2016 July Spirit of the age
  2016 May Disappointment in Prayer
  2016 March Story
  2016 February Consecration
  2016 January Attention to Prayer
     
  2015 December Renewal of Creation
  2015 November Give the Message Away
  2015 October Transformation
  2015 September We are Branches
  2015 July Invitation Only
  2015 June What am I Doing with the Void?
  2015 May Thank you
  2015 April Healing for the Soul
  2015 Feb/March What are you looking at?
  2015 January Will you come with me?
     
  2014 December The Availability of the Kingdom
  2014 November Taking This Message Throughout the World
  2014 October Free to Be Me
  2014 September Killing Lions... Marriage
  2014 August Identity
  2014 July Is the Bible important?
  2014 June Share Your Discovery
  2014 May Enforcing the Kingdom
  2014 April Pursuing Wholeness
  2014 March What You Do with Disappointment
  2014 February It Would Transfom Your Daily Life...
  2014 January  Find Me
     
  2013 December Restoring Hope
  2013 November Pressing in
  2013 October Connect, Pray, Give
  2013 September Embracing Ourselves
  2013 August Beauty Forged Through Suffering
  2013 July Becoming Myself
  2013 June This Beautiful Mission
  2013 May Deeper Refuge in Christ
  2013 March/April We Need Love
  2013 February Strengthen Your Heart
  2013 January An Absolute Utter Relief
  2012 December Eagerly Awaiting
  2012 November Radical Generosity
  2012 October Hope
  2012 September Church
  2012 August Shaping Your Perception
  2012 July Trust the Larger Story
  2012 June Apart from Me You Can Do Nothing
  2012 May Hope
  2012 April Look at Me
  2012 March The Rush to New
 

2012 January

 Thoughts and Questions for a New Year
     
  2011 December Advent
  2011 November OutlawCast
  2011 October Finally, Jesus
  2011 September Beautiful Outlaw
  2011 August The Son of God Becomes a Son of Man
  2011 July We Are Desperate for Jesus
  2011 June Cunning
  2011 May What Are You Doing for Groundedness?
  2011 April Fierce Intentionality
  2011 March Suffering
  2011 February Jesus Offers...
  2011 January The Playfulness of Jesus
     
  2010 December Let's Stop, and Find Jesus
  2010 November And So We Give Thanks
  2010 October How Do You Relate?
  2010 September Joy Is Opposed
  2010 August Union with Me
  2010 July The Sabbath
  2010 May My Heart
  2010 April Do What Makes You Strong in Christ
  2010 March Knowing the True Jesus
  2010 February Romance Requires Freedom
     
  2009 December The End of the Great Battle
  2009 November Love and War—Agreements
  2009 October Love and War... and Sex
  2009 September Love and War
  2009 August Epic and Intimate
  2009 June Hard Work and Sabbath
  2009 April Fathered by God
  2009 March The Personality of Jesus
  2009 February Church
     
  2008 December God Is with Us
  2008 November Economy, Politics, and Walking with God
  2008 September Sonship and Following
  2008 August Desire
  2008 June Build a Bigger Fire
  2008 March Walking with God
  2008 February Feedback Request and Mission
     
  2007 December My Love
  2007 November Make a Right Judgment
  2007 October The Battle for Joy
  2007 September Happy Little Life
  2007 August Looking Under the Hood
  2007 July The Utter Relief of Holiness
  2007 June We Need You
  2007 May What He IS Giving
  2007 April Learning to Hear God's Voice
  2007 March Forgetting
     
  2006 December Advent
  2006 October Disrupted
  2006 July Stepping out of the Battle
  2006 May Renewal
  2006 March New Directions
     
  2005 December Christmas
  2005 September The Kingdom of God
  2005 June Desperately Wicked?
  2005 March Suffering and Breakthrough
     
  2004 December Thanks
  2004 September All That I Have Spoken to You Remains True
  2004 June Beauty
  2004 April Need for Life
  2004 February Know Who He Is
     
  2003 December Remember
  2003 October The Path of Life and the Wild Goose
  2003 August Major and Minor Themes
  2003 May Fellowship
  2003 February The Thief
     
  2002 December The Mighty One
  2002 September Things Are Not as They Seem
  2002 June Your Heart Is Good
  2002 March Impact on Lives