Wayfarer

What would it take to make me bow? A chapter-a-day podcast from Esther 3. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com.

Esther isn't Jasmine on a magic carpet singing A Whole New World. Esther is more Destiny's Child roaring out a gritty I'm a Survivor. A chapter-a-day podcast from Esther 2. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com.

A poster in my high school classroom caught my eye. It changed my life. A chapter-a-day podcast from Esther 1. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com.

Intellectual pride and control of others is as destructive an appetite as pleasures of the flesh. A chapter-a-day podcast from Jude. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com.

No matter how far I get in the journey, it's always a good day to grow. A chapter-a-day podcast from 2 Peter 3. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com.

Along my spiritual journey, Jesus has continuously asked me to set fire to my personal ladders. A chapter-a-day podcast from 2 Peter 2. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com.

God has His own Quality Assessment process — not one of condemnation, but of cultivation. A chapter-a-day podcast from 2 Peter 1. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com.

If I'm going to trust the Story. I have to trust His timing. A chapter-a-day podcast from 1 Peter 5. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com.

What I am observing — and at times personally experiencing — in our current social landscape is a return of social ostracism as a form of punishment. None of this is new. It is as old as human empire itself. If Peter were to pay us a visit, he would say, “Welcome to the club."A chapter-a-day podcast from 1 Peter 4. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com.

In my upcoming book I share the story of how as a young man I believed with certainty that I was supposed to become a pastor, and how God made clear that He had purposed for me a quirky career analyzing business phone calls (a la “This Call May Be Monitored”). My mother was greatly disappointed by the abrupt change in my vocational trajectory.A chapter-a-day podcast from 1 Peter 3. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com.

I have for many years had a recurring brainstorm that returns every four years or so like the spring rains on the fields of Iowa. A chapter-a-day podcast from 1 Peter 2. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com.

Peter urges his fellow believers to embrace the very words Jesus spoke to him: Consider your investment strategy. A chapter-a-day podcast from 1 Peter 1. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com.

James' final pleas feel far more poignant when I place my feet in the sandals of one of the letters' original recipients. A chapter-a-day podcast from James 5. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com.

As I did some spiritual cardio evaluation yesterday, I had to come clean with the fact that I sometimes allow my self-righteous desires and pride free rein when it comes to my attitudes towards certain individuals. A chapter-a-day podcast from James 4. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com.

As I meditated on the tongue this morning I likened it to a living cardiogram — my words revealing symptoms of heart trouble. A chapter-a-day podcast from James 3. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com.

Monday was one of my favorite days. Wendy made fresh, homemade Italian bread. A chapter-a-day podcast from James 2. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com.

As I read through the chapter in the quiet this morning, I couldn't help but pick up on a strong undercurrent in James' encouragement: His ways are not our ways. A chapter-a-day podcast from James 1. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com.

In the quiet this morning, I find myself meditating on what I can learn from Moses in the end. A chapter-a-day podcast from Deuteronomy 34. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com.

In the quiet this morning, I find the chapter inviting me to do something wildly countercultural: Receive blessing without scrambling to deserve it. A chapter-a-day podcast from Deuteronomy 33. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.comMessage referenced in today's podcast:https://youtu.be/JSbSbJMNHX0?si=Btvfw90BjlvhTUiJ

The prophesied rebellion of God's people does not happen out of suffering, trial, or condemnation. It happens when things go well. A chapter-a-day podcast from Deuteronomy 32. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com.

In all of creation, God infused music with a secret super power. A chapter-a-day podcast from Deuteronomy 31. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com.

When it comes to what my young adult children do, the only thing I really control is my response. A chapter-a-day podcast from Deuteronomy 30. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com.

Mystery stays veiled. Responsibility does not. A chapter-a-day podcast from Deuteronomy 29. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com.

Today's chapter is arguably as tough as it gets when it comes to harsh Old Testament language. It's the kind of chapter that causes modern readers to close the book and walk away. There's so much going on beneath the surface of this chapter that I could write an entire book unpacking it—but let me try to explain it succinctly.A chapter-a-day podcast from Deuteronomy 28. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com.

The further I get in my earthly journey, the more I've realized my ignorance regarding creation's role in the Great Story. It plays a central role in today's chapter.A chapter-a-day podcast from Deuteronomy 27. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com.

Very rarely has anyone recited back to me the content of a training session or message I've delivered. It is very common for people to tell me, “I remember that story you told." A chapter-a-day podcast from Deuteronomy 26. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com.

God through Moses doesn't flirt with abstractions when it comes to the justice of every day life and business. It rolls up its sleeves, plants its feet in the dust, and whispers: "Justice is not an idea. It's how you treat the body in front of you…every one….every day.”A chapter-a-day podcast from Deuteronomy 25. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com.

“Remember” is a word Moses uses three times in today's chapter. He returns to what Jewish teachers called zakhor, memories that help build moral muscle. A chapter-a-day podcast from Deuteronomy 24. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com.

Who was in our home last weekend mattered deeply to us. And that reality informed our thoughts, our decisions, and our behavior that day. A chapter-a-day podcast from Deuteronomy 23. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com.

As I lace ‘em up for this another day on this earthly journey, I'm not so much thinking about what's out there. I'm thinking about what's in me. A chapter-a-day podcast from Deuteronomy 22. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com.

God in today's chapter is not cold—He is careful with blood, with power, with people. A chapter-a-day podcast from Deuteronomy 21. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com.

There is something innately human—and perhaps especially American—that equates big numbers with success, status, and safety. A chapter-a-day podcast from Deuteronomy 20. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com.

Mercy has an address. A chapter-a-day podcast from Deuteronomy 19. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com.

Faith is not the absence of uncertainty — it is the refusal to worship false certainty. A chapter-a-day podcast from Deuteronomy 18. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com.

In today's chapter, Moses prescribes the most astonishing of tasks for every person appointed to the throne: Handwrite a copy of the Torah onto a single scroll - the entirety of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Why?A chapter-a-day podcast from Deuteronomy 17. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com.

God does not dwell just in places. He inhabits moments. A chapter-a-day podcast from Deuteronomy 16. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com.

At Christmas, God provides an eternal object lesson of what Deuteronomy 15 is all about. A chapter-a-day podcast from Deuteronomy 15. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com.

Today's chapter whispers to me of God's heart: generous, selfless, and servant-hearted. From the beginning God's prescription for Life flowed from His Spirit of intimacy, community, and generosity in the simple acts of gathering, celebrating, and eating. A chapter-a-day podcast from Deuteronomy 14. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com.

Today's chapter is jarring, especially at the beginning of the week of Christmas as I hum O Little Town of Bethlehem. Yet one of the things that I've discovered about this Great Story is that everything connects. A chapter-a-day podcast from Deuteronomy 13. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com.

For eleven chapters Moses has been teaching Israel how to remember. Today, he teaches them how to desire. A chapter-a-day podcast from Deuteronomy 12. The text version may always be found at tomvanderwell.com.

The message I found flowing through the chapter in the quiet this morning was that the danger is not rebellion or disobedience. The danger is forgetting. A chapter-a-day podcast from Deuteronomy 11. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com.

As I meditated on these things in the quiet this morning, I was amazed at how much it resonated with our current culture and headlines. A chapter-a-day podcast from Deuteronomy 10. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com.

In the quiet this morning, sentimental twinkle-light memories get balanced with the sobriety of zakhor memories. Moral memory isn't shame, it's schooling. It's not reproach, it's reinforcement of reality. A chapter-a-day podcast from Deuteronomy 9. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com.

Many years ago I memorized Deuteronomy 8:10. I began quietly quoting Deuteronomy 8:10 to myself as a post meal blessing. I didn't know it, but I had stumbled upon what Jewish tradition calls Birkat HaMazon. A chapter-a-day podcast from Deuteronomy 8. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com.

God promises protection, fruitfulness, and flourishing—not as wages earned, but as the natural overflow of covenant intimacy. Obedience here is not stiff-backed compliance; it's trust leaning its full weight into the arms of a faithful Lover. A chapter-a-day podcast from Deuteronomy 7. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com.

In my Bible there is a photograph. I don't even remember putting it there. I think it randomly surfaced and I just shoved it inside the cover of my bible because it was convenient in the moment. It's still there years later. A chapter-a-day podcast from Deuteronomy 6. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com.

Suddenly, my life-long perception of ten black-and-white “commands” is laid bare for the hollow and meager interpretive shell it has always been. A chapter-a-day podcast from Deuteronomy 5. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com.

Deuteronomy is Moses taking the face of his people lovingly in his withered hands and looking them in the eye one last time. These are the words of his deathbed. A chapter-a-day podcast from Deuteronomy 4. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com.

Before there was Goliath there was Og, King of Bashan. There are moments for all of us when we're facing our own giants. Sometimes they are just rumors. Sometimes they are very, very real. In either case, God's message never changes. A chapter-a-day podcast from Deuteronomy 3. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com.

Today's chapter is about restraint, timing, and finally stepping into what God has purposed, planned, and prepared. A chapter-a-day podcast from Deuteronomy 2. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com.

What could and should have been an eleven day trip has taken them 40 years to bring them to this place in this moment — because they were afraid to follow God into the Promised Land. Forty years in the wilderness was not so much punishment as it was spiritual formation.A chapter-a-day podcast from Deuteronomy 1. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com.