Peaceable And Kind

In this special Christmas episode of Peaceable and Kind, Derek Vreeland celebrates the joy of the season and welcomes back the very first return guest in the podcast’s history: author, pastor, and Bible teacher Tim Wildsmith. Tim joins the podcast to talk about his brand-new book, Daily Scripture Guidebook: A 52-Week Journey Through the Bible. 

Derek begins by reminding listeners that Christmas is a season—not just a single day. The twelve days of Christmas stretch all the way to Epiphany on January 6, and this is a time for feasting, joy, and gratitude. So grab your Christmas cookies and keep celebrating! 

From there, Derek introduces Tim Wildsmith, well known for his popular YouTube Bible-review channel (now with over 266,000 subscribers), but also a gifted pastor, professor, musician, and thoughtful communicator. Tim currently serves as the Interim Pastor at Crievewood Baptist Church in Nashville, where he lives with his wife, Becca. 

Tim first appeared back in Episode 45 to discuss his debut book Bible Translations for Everyone. Today he returns to share the heart, structure, and vision behind his new year-long guidebook for reading Scripture with depth, clarity, and joy. 

Throughout the conversation, Derek and Tim explore how the Daily Scripture Guidebook helps readers move through the Bible at a sustainable pace, with weekly overviews, word studies, and space for journaling. They also talk about the emotional and spiritual challenges many people face when attempting to read the Bible consistently—and how Tim’s book (and companion podcast) aims to make daily Scripture engagement more meaningful and accessible. 

Key Topics in This Episode 

How a yearlong rhythm fosters consistency, formation, and daily time with Jesus 

Helping readers overcome common Bible-reading struggles 

Navigating both Old and New Testaments 

Building a habit of reflection and journaling 

Introducing the companion podcast: “Daily Scripture with Tim Wildsmith” 
 

Books Mentioned in This Episode 

Daily Scripture Guidebook: A 52-Week Journey Through the Bible by Tim Wildsmith 

Bible Translations for Everyone by Tim Wildsmith 

The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language by Eugene Peterson 

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In this episode of Peaceable and Kind, Derek Vreeland invites listeners to recover the awe, imagination, and wonder of Christmas by stepping through the wardrobe into the world of Narnia. As we approach the fourth Sunday of Advent and draw near to Christmas, Derek reflects on how C. S. Lewis helps us see the Christmas story with fresh eyes, through imagination, metaphor, and childlike faith. 

Drawing from Lewis’s works, Derek explains why imagination is essential for understanding the deeper meaning of Christmas. “Reason is the organ of truth,” Lewis wrote, “but imagination is the organ of meaning.” Before truth can be grasped, it must mean something and meaning is carried through images, metaphors, and stories. 

Through Lucy’s first steps into Narnia, Derek explores our shared longing for another world, one marked by beauty and mystery. This longing, Lewis argues, is a signpost pointing us toward God. And in Jesus’ incarnation, God has given us a doorway, a “wardrobe,” into that greater world. Jesus is the gate, the portal through which we enter the life of God. 

Advent is the season where wonder can be reborn in us. Aslan is on the move. Winter will not last forever. And Christmas is the invitation to step inside. 

Key Takeaways 

Imagination is essential for meaning. Lewis teaches that before truth can be recognized, it must be imagined.  

Christmas awakens our longing for another world. Our desire for is itself a clue that we were made for more. 

Jesus is our wardrobe. In his incarnation, Jesus becomes the doorway into God’s life: “I am the gate… whoever enters by me will be saved” (John 10:7–9). 

Narnia mirrors our world under winter’s spell. Seasons of spiritual coldness, absence, and longing echo Narnia’s “always winter and never Christmas.” But Aslan’s arrival (like the arrival of Jesus on Christmas Day) signals restoration and joy. 

Childlike faith opens us to the kingdom. Curiosity, wonder, and openness are not childish. They are the way Jesus teaches us to enter God’s world. 

Four Simple Ways to Step Through the Wardrobe This Advent 

Slow down enough to notice beauty. Wonder needs space; beauty is everywhere if we have eyes to see. 

Read aloud. Hearing awakens imagination in a way silent reading doesn’t. 

Welcome small acts of delight.  Do little things during Advent and Christmas that bring you joy. 

Sit with mystery. Resist the urge to explain everything. Let some things remain holy and hidden. 

Scriptures Mentioned in This Episode: 

John 10:7–9 

Books and Essays Mentioned in This Episode 

C. S. Lewis, “Bluspels and Flalansferes: A Semantic Nightmare” 
Selected Literary Essays (1969) 

Read this essay online here: https://ourendgame.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/BluspelsAndFlalansferes.pdf 

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis 

Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis 

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Order Derek's new book, Incarnation: 8 Lessons on How God Meets Us, here: https://amzn.to/42jSZAs 

Did you find this episode helpful on your spiritual journey? Consider helping us out! 

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In this episode of Peaceable and Kind, Derek Vreeland steps away from his usual deep dives into Scripture, theology, and cultural reflection to share something a little different and very close to his heart: books. Derek counts reading and writing among his deepest joys, and today he offers his top five favorite books he read in 2025. Some are newly published, some are older classics, but all have shaped him this year.

Before jumping in, Derek reflects on his lifelong journey as a reader and writer, how his calling as a pastor, teacher, and ultimately a writer grew slowly through mentors, quiet spiritual practices, early encouragement, and the rediscovery of a love for reading after meeting Jesus.

Writing, Derek notes, is simply an extension of his pastoral work, much like the life and ministry of Eugene Peterson. Drawing from Winn Collier’s biography A Burning in My Bones, he shares how Peterson modeled a life of faithful pastoral presence shaped through reading, prayer, and writing.

Along with his top reads from this year, Derek also shares what he’s currently reading: The Heart of Philosophy by Jacob Needleman—a book recommended to him years ago by his high school track coach. Needleman’s search for meaning across philosophy and religion echoes the very kind of reading life that formed Derek: a life shaped by curiosity, openness, truth-seeking, and wonder.

Finally, Derek reveals his Top Five Books of 2025, a list filled with theology, philosophy, classic fiction, and spiritual reflection—books that expanded his imagination, nourished his faith, and reminded him why reading still matters.

Key Takeaways

• Writing grows out of vocation. Derek’s passion for writing is inseparable from his calling as a pastor and teacher.

• Reading forms the soul. From quiet morning Bible readings as a teenager to deep philosophical works today, reading has been one of Derek’s primary pathways of spiritual growth.

• Mentors matter. Encouragement from his high school coach and the example of Eugene Peterson helped shape Derek’s identity as a writer.

• Books connect us across time and tradition. Whether classic works or recent releases, good books invite us into deeper wisdom, beauty, and truth.

• Your reading life will ebb and flow. The joy of reading returns when we let curiosity lead the way.

Derek’s Top Five Books of 2025

1. A Strange and Gracious Light by Andrew Arndt

2. The Great Divorce by C. S. Lewis

3. Answering God by Eugene Peterson

4. From Aristotle to Christ by Louis Markos

5. Jesus Changes Everything by Stanley Hauerwas & Charles Moore

Other Books Mentioned in This Episode

• A Burning in My Bones by Winn Collier

• Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry

• The Heart of Philosophy by Jacob Needleman

Has Peaceable and Kind been meaningful to you?

Support the show by:

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Learn more about Derek’s work as a pastor and author: https://derekvreeland.com

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Episode 79: The Transformative Power of the Christian Calendar

In this rich and reflective episode of Peaceable and Kind, Derek Vreeland explores how the Christian calendar offers a sacred rhythm that forms our lives around Jesus. As we enter the first week of Advent, Derek invites listeners to recover ancient practices that slow us down, reorient our attention, and root us in the ongoing story of Christ.

Rather than fighting culture wars over “Merry Christmas” vs. “Happy Holidays,” Derek reminds us that followers of Jesus are called not to win culture but to make disciples, to become peacemaking servants in a world obsessed with power and control. From Advent to Pentecost to Ordinary Time, the Christian calendar tells and retells the story of Jesus, helping us live our own stories with purpose, hope, and joy.

Derek also shares how practicing the Christian year has transformed his own spiritual life, teaching him humility through tradition, attentiveness through rhythm, and joy through remembrance.

Conversation Themes

Living by a Different Story
How the Christian calendar offers an alternative to the frantic pace of modern life and invites us into the life of Jesus.

Advent and Anticipation
Why waiting, longing, and hope are essential practices for following Jesus in a distracted world.

Tradition and Transformation
Understanding tradition not as lifeless ritual but as the “democracy of the dead,” a way to learn from the wisdom of those who’ve gone before us.

Seasons of Formation
Walking through the seasons of the Christian year—from Advent to Christ the King—and how each one shapes our hearts around the gospel.

Practices for Everyday Life
Simple, meaningful ways to begin observing the Christian year, especially during Advent.

Key Takeaways

The Christian calendar invites us to live by the story of Jesus rather than the story of consumerism or productivity.

Advent is a time of hopeful waiting. A four-week season of looking at the brokenness of our world and longing for Jesus to come.

Tradition is not the enemy of faith but a means of wisdom, a way to learn from the saints who came before us.

The Christian calendar has transformative power because it:

Forms us through rhythm

Redirects our attention

Roots us in ancient community

Makes the ordinary holy

Keeps Jesus at the center

Books Mentioned in This Episode

Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton

Living the Christian Year by Bobby Gross

Scriptures Mentioned in This Episode

John 18:36

Proverbs 15:1

2 Thessalonians 2:15

Mark 7:8

John 1:14

Hebrews 12:2

John 3:17

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Episode 78: Waiting for Jesus: A Conversation with Rich Villodas

In this special Advent episode of Peaceable and Kind, Derek Vreeland welcomes pastor and author Rich Villodas for a conversation about his new devotional book, Waiting for Jesus.

As we enter the season of Advent, Derek and Rich reflect on the countercultural practice of waiting, learning to slow down, be still, and become more attentive to the presence of God. Together they explore how spiritual practices like silence, reflection, and wonder shape our formation and deepen our life with Christ.

Conversation Highlights

The Practice of Silence: Why silence remains central to spiritual formation and how to begin when the quiet feels uncomfortable.

Four Movements of Advent: Waiting, peacemaking, rejoicing, and beholding. These themes help us slow down and prepare for Christmas.

Guides Along the Way: Wisdom from Henri Nouwen, Barbara Brown Taylor, Bonhoeffer, Hauerwas, Willard, and Eugene Peterson on the joy that comes through obedience.

The Tyranny of the Urgent: How individuals and congregations can recover rhythms of waiting in a culture of hurry and distraction.

Hope in Jesus: Rich hopes readers will walk away from reading Waiting for Jesus with a renewed hope in Jesus to come and set right a world gone wrong.

Key Takeaways

Advent is not about frantic preparation but faithful waiting.

Silence and stillness are not empty—they make space for God’s presence.

Joy is not a requirement for discipleship; it’s the fruit of obedience.

Practicing attentiveness helps us resist distraction and rediscover wonder.

Books mentioned in this episode:

Waiting for Jesus by Rich Villodas

A Long Obedience in the Same Direction by Eugene Peterson

The Deeply Formed Life by Rich Villodas

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In this episode of Peaceable and Kind, Derek Vreeland explores gratitude not as a fleeting emotion or polite social gesture, but as a way of being in the world that opens us to the presence and goodness of God.

As Thanksgiving approaches, Derek invites listeners to move beyond a once-a-year holiday mindset and cultivate an ongoing “attitude of gratitude.” Drawing from Scripture, church history, and his own life, including a story about running his first half marathon, he shows how gratitude changes not our circumstances, but changes how we see God in the midst of our circumstances.

Derek reflects on the wisdom of writers like Ann Voskamp, Henri Nouwen, and Brother Lawrence, alongside the biblical stories of the ten lepers in Luke 17 and Paul’s exhortation to “give thanks in all circumstances.” Through these voices, he reveals how gratitude shifts our focus from scarcity to abundance, from anxiety to trust, and from performance to presence.

At the heart of Christian worship is thanksgiving, the rhythm of receiving grace, giving thanks, and sharing the gift. We see this in the practice of holy communion.

Key Takeaways

Gratitude is more than good manners. It’s a spiritual posture that shapes how we see the world.

We give thanks in all circumstances, not for all circumstances.

Gratitude is the surest way to spiritual life, grounding us in the present moment where God is always at work.

Holy Communion (or Eucharist) reminds us that thanksgiving stands at the center of Christian worship.

Practicing gratitude transforms complaint into wonder and scarcity into abundance.

Four Simple Ways to Practice Gratitude

Look for small gifts: Notice the simple, daily graces: breath, light, presence.

Begin your prayers with thanksgiving: Gratitude opens your heart before you ask for anything.

Express gratitude aloud: Tell someone, “I’m thankful for you.” Spoken gratitude multiplies joy.

End your day with reflection: Ask, “Where did I experience God’s grace today?” Let thanksgiving close your day.

Scriptures mentioned in this episode:
Luke 17:11–19
Colossians 4:2 (MSG)
1 Thessalonians 5:18

Books mentioned in this episode:One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp
The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence

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In this episode of Peaceable and Kind, Derek Vreeland reflects on one of the most beloved phrases from The Message by Eugene Peterson: “Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.”

Derek shares how Eugene Peterson, whom he affectionately calls “Eugene the Wise,” has profoundly shaped his identity as both pastor and writer. Drawing from Answering God: The Psalms as Tools for Prayer and The Message translation of Matthew 11:28–30, Derek explores how Eugene captured not only the meaning of Jesus’ words but their texture—their emotional and spiritual feel.

Through stories from his own life including running track in high school, finding rhythm on the dance floor, and learning to live less from his head and more from his heart, Derek unpacks what it means to live in sync with the grace of God.

This episode invites listeners to slow down, notice the presence of God in the ordinary, and rediscover the gentle, freeing pace of life with Jesus. Grace, like rhythm, cannot be forced. It must be felt, received, and lived.

Key Takeaways

Grace has a rhythm that can’t be forced; it must be received.

The “unforced rhythms of grace” describe life lived in sync with Jesus, free, light, and unhurried.

Faith isn’t a performance of religion but an invitation to relationship.

The spiritual life is less about control and more about alignment, moving at the pace of Jesus.

The incarnation means grace is already near, woven into the grit and glory of ordinary life.

Questions for Reflection

Are you aware of God’s presence with you?

Have you been burned out by religion or striving?

What would it look like to walk freely and lightly with Jesus this week?

Scriptures mentioned in this episode:
Matthew 11:28–30 (The Message)
John 1:14

Books mentioned in this episode:Answering God: The Psalms as Tools for Prayer by Eugene Peterson
Incarnation: 8 Lessons on How God Meets Us by Derek Vreeland

Has Peaceable and Kind been meaningful to you? Support the show by:

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In this powerful and sobering episode of Peaceable and Kind, Derek Vreeland reflects on the tragic assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and explores how the ideologies of Christian nationalism and the prosperity gospel distort the way of Jesus.

While rejecting all forms of political violence, Derek uses this moment to examine the growing fusion of political power and religious language within American Christianity. He argues that Christian nationalism—like the prosperity gospel—offers a counterfeit version of the gospel that trades discipleship for dominance, humility for triumphalism, and the cross for control.

Derek outlines how Christian nationalism seeks to advance the kingdom of God through governmental action, while the prosperity gospel attempts to advance it through material success. Both, he contends, miss the heart of the gospel of King Jesus.

Conversation Themes

Lament and Clarity: Responding to political violence with grief, prayer, and a renewed commitment to peace.

What Is Christian Nationalism? Exploring definitions and distinctions between patriotism and nationalism.

The Turning Point USA Connection: How religious rhetoric and political activism blur the lines between church and state.

Five Shared Misconceptions: How Christian nationalism and the prosperity gospel both misunderstand the nature of God’s kingdom.

Following Jesus in a Culture of Power: What it means to reject triumphalism and embrace cruciform discipleship.

Key Takeaways

Christian nationalism and the prosperity gospel both mistake American values for Christian virtues—one exalting power, the other wealth.

Both misunderstand the purpose of the church, seeing it as a tool for influence rather than a community of witness.

Both redirect faith away from the triune God toward national or personal interests.

Both promise what Jesus never promised—national dominance or financial success.

Both trade discipleship for triumphalism, denying the weakness and humility of the cross.4

Books/articles mentioned in this episode:

What Is Christian Nationalism, Actually? by Glenn Packiam (Substack, October 9)

Taking America Back for God: Christian Nationalism in the United States by Andrew Whitehead and Samuel Perry

Jesus and the Powers by N.T. Wright and Michael F. Bird

Jesus Changes Everything by Stanley Hauerwas

Read a written form of this episode here: https://www.missioalliance.org/how-christian-nationalism-and-the-prosperity-gospel-distort-the-way-of-jesus/

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What if the gospel is both more strange and more gracious than we’ve dared to imagine?

In this episode of Peaceable and Kind, Derek Vreeland sits down with pastor and author Andrew Arndt to talk about his latest book, A Strange and Gracious Light: How the Story of Jesus Changes the Way We See Everything. From the poetry of R.S. Thomas to the wisdom of Athanasius, Eugene Peterson, and Pope John Paul II, Andrew explores how the gospel disrupts our assumptions and invites us into a richer way of life.

Key Takeaways

Why the gospel is both gracious and strange—and why holding the tension matters.

How the church calendar helps us live inside the story of Jesus year-round.

What it means to be people of the incarnation—finding God’s presence in ordinary life.

Why the church is called to propose the way of Jesus, not impose it.

A fresh vision of the Holy Spirit’s work—in both extraordinary miracles and the quiet, ordinary moments of life.

Scriptures mentioned in this episode:

Romans 5:8

John 1:14

Matthew 27:54

Mark 15:39

Books mentioned in this podcast:

A Strange and Gracious Light: How the Story of Jesus Changes the Way We See Everything, Andrew Arndt

Streams in the Wasteland, Andrew Arndt

All Flame, Andrew Arndt

The Chapel, R.S. Thomas

On the Incarnation, St. Athanasius

Spiritual Theology and Liturgical Theology, Simon Chan

Order Derek's new book, Incarnation: 8 Lessons on How God Meets Us here: https://amzn.to/42jSZAs

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Episode Website

In this episode of Peaceable & Kind, Derek Vreeland reflects on the prophetic vision of Isaiah 2:1–5 and what it means for Christians to “play war no more.” Through scripture, personal reflection, and current events, Derek explores the way of Jesus as a call to nonviolence, patience, and peacemaking in a world marked by conflict and division.
Key Takeaways

War is impatience. Fighting often stems from restless, hurried lives that resist waiting on God.

Jesus is the answer. He embodies God’s covenant faithfulness and calls us to love our enemies.

Nonviolence is a habit. Like fighting, it can shape us—this time into the image of Christ.

We can start now. The vision of peace in Isaiah is not only for the future; it begins with us today.

Scriptures mentioned in this episode:

Books mentioned in this podcast:

Order Derek's new book, Incarnation: 8 Lessons on How God Meets Us, here: https://amzn.to/42jSZAs

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