Month: September 2014

Our Story, Carved of Grace and Glory: What It Means To Glorify God, The Most Important Purpose of our Lives


Hello beloved wonderful friends!

This message is titled: Our Story, Carved of Grace and Glory: What It Means To Glorify God, The Most Important Purpose of our Lives.

It’s about the very Christianese phrase “glorifying God” or “bringing God the glory,” and why this is perhaps the most important thing we could learn about the emptiness and fulfillment of our lives.

Stream here or download directly here!


Some things I talk about are: Our Christianese church-language that we never question, when you walk into a crowded room and you suddenly hear the desperate clawing fight for validation, the Main Character Syndrome when we treat everyone like supporting props for the Movie of Me, the insane frothing monster we become in rush hour traffic, the overarching meta-narrative of the Bible in one rushing swoop, how to anonymously donate a kidney, and when Jesus finally returns with 100 million angels at the final conclusion of the universe.

Be blessed and love y’all!

— J.S.





Hello Friends: A Big Prayer Request

Dear fellow travelers,

A couple months ago, I decided to resign from my church. Yesterday was my final worship service. I’ve been serving here for the last year.

There was nothing shady about it: I had a calling about six months ago to enter into non-profit charity work to serve the poor and homeless, which also meant that I would be leaving behind the mainstream evangelical church body. After wrestling with this in prayer, I finally got a green light when I went on a mission trip in the Philippines. I told my head pastor the day I returned, and though he was sad to see me go, he was very gracious about my new vision.

I absolutely do love my church. I’m torn up about moving on from my youth group, the children, and the young adult group, whom I had the honor of serving these past thirteen months. I also served with great leaders and we were relatively free of drama, and that’s the best you can ask for in a church culture. Fortunately, I still have great relations with the head pastor and the members, so I’ll be visiting when I can.

My prayer request is that I find a stable job for income and a consistent place to serve the poor of the Tampa Bay area. I’m pretty terrified, to be honest, and with my wedding in four months and with shopping for a home, this is a crazy complicated time to make such big life decisions. None of this will be easy, but I trust that God is calling me into His better story, and I’m confident in His grace.

Love y’all and thank you for your prayers and encouragement. You guys are the best.

— J.S.