Looking Over Life

James and Shawn look on the bright side. We flip the coin and talk about what excites us for the future.

Shawn again took a more narrow, personal view of the future and got choked up thinking about it. James was again more focused on the broad view of society and the church and where trends may take us. Did you know there are good and hopeful things coming out of Millennials?!

We'd love to hear what makes you optimistic for the future. Do you see something on the horizon that buoys your spirits? Send us an email.

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Shawn and James pretend to be grumpy old men. We talk about some of the things we see in the future that give us concern.

James focused mainly on big-picture societal issues that make him worried about the future of the church, the country, and the world. Shawn was more focused on his circumstances as they relate to the church and community in Peru and what the next five to ten years may bring.

What are the things that worry you about the future? What would you say are the top three things you're pessimistic about? Send us an email.

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James and Shawn have a Q&A for themselves with questions intended to stump each other.

This was a fun episode for us to do, and we may do it again, but we would like your help. Do you have a question or several that you would like to hear talked about? Please send us an email!

And don't forget to answer the bonus question.

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Bonus Question:

Shawn and James talk about their plan for better Bible reading. We discuss what we've tried over the years and what we've found works for us. James brought a number of downloadable resources for easy Bible plans while Shawn tried to humblebrag without seeming to.

What is your plan for Bible reading this year? Do you have a favorite or most effective method? Please let us know. Send us an email.

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There are some simple things you can do in the upcoming new year to read your Bible more consistently.

James and Shawn go over their yearly themes. We do a quick review of our themes for 2022 before we dig into what we want 2023 to look like.

If you have a yearly theme, please let us know what you'll be doing. We would love to hear from you and gain some inspiration from your story.

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Ink & Volt Yearly Planning Tool

YouTube - Cal Newport - Four Life Buckets

The 3 Big Questions for a Frantic Family by Patrick Lencioni

Atomic Habits by James Clear

Reset by David Murray

Habits of the Household by Justin Whitmel Early

Shawn and James wrestle with the difference between needs and wants—Black Friday and Christmas aren't helping here.

We ask for your input. How do you define these terms in practical ways? What are your applications or values? Did James make the right choice to buy that home wifi thingy? Send us an email.

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Artemis mission - NASA

Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist by John Piper

James and Shawn welcome Christopher Slabaugh to the podcast. The subject was ostensibly to talk about history, which we did! But we may have taken a few different bunny trails along the way, such as discussing how best to prepare for the apocalypse.

Do you like history? What is your favorite time period? If you had to leave this time period for another, which would you choose? Let us know by sending us an email. We look forward to hearing from you.

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Shawn and James discuss the idea of living churches, comparing to the church of Sardis found in the Book of Revelation. Of course, James had to make a science lesson out of it! So, we drew parallels between the definition of physical life that biologists use and the definition of spiritual life that the Bible uses.

We wrapped it up with an answer from Shawn: You—on your own!—can infuse life into your church. Are you up to the task?

We're looking forward to your feedback. What did we miss or get wrong? What is your experience? Send us an email.

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James and Shawn do a bit of crossover work by bringing some of their FWIW content to the LOL podcast. We look at the fourth habit "Think Win/Win" from Stephen Covey's popular 7 Habits book, giving everyone a peek at what we talk about in the FWIW podcast for our Patrons.

What is your relationship paradigm? How can you make your interactions at work, at church, at home Win/Win scenarios? Is that even possible? We talk about some of what has worked for us as we look at Covey's direction.

Do you have any stories about how you made a Lose situation a Win/Win? We'd love to hear about it. Send us an email.

If you'd like to hear the previous chapters of this discussion or the continuation of the series, join us on Patreon.

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The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey

The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman

The Love Dare by Alex Kendrick

Shawn and James talk about Cal Newport's method for organizing life using four buckets. You all know that James is a fan of Cal Newport's, so it is no surprise that James schools Shawn on this method for thinking about life and self-improvement. 

We discuss Cal's classic four of Craft, Community, Contemplation, and Constitution as well as some ideas of our own. It's a simple way of looking at the various categories of life and giving each one focus for a time to improve who you are.

Do you have a system for self-improvement or planning? Maybe you use Cal Newport's method or a version of your own. We'd love to hear about it. Please send us an email.

Also, you'll find James's foray into Not-Space-Science interesting: Biomimicry.

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