Two words: College Football. More specifically, University of Hawaiʻi football. I’ve been attending games since elementary school—my parents had season tickets, my mom worked at UH, and some of my fondest memories are sitting in the stands with them and my Uncle Dwight. I can still picture the old days: the Coke in red wax cups covered with saran wrap, sold by the stadium drink guy with the carrier slung around his neck. I even have faint memories of the old Honolulu Stadium (yes, I’m showing my age).
College football is back, and I love it. But if I’m honest, it can also be a distraction. Just this week, after reading from my Spiritual Formation Bible, I found myself caught up looking for the latest injury update on Hawaiʻi’s starting quarterback. That quick check turned into a rabbit hole. Perhaps you can relate—how easily we can get distracted by the things that capture our interest.
And yet, here’s the good news: there’s no condemnation for being human in our distractions. We bring them to Jesus. We let Him reorder our priorities.
Paul writes in Colossians 1:22–23 (NIV):
“But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel.”
Faith is what anchors us. It is through Jesus’ sacrifice, not through our perfection or even our spiritual disciplines, that we are free from accusation. The practices matter because they orient us toward Christ—but they are not what save us. Faith in Jesus alone is our hope, our freedom, and our confidence.
So yes, I may get distracted by football (and you may have your own distractions), but we keep returning to Jesus. That’s the invitation. To keep faith at the center. To keep hope alive in Him. And to remember that He, not our works, holds us blameless before God.
The Beauty in God’s Design
Each morning, before I reach for my phone, I look up at the sky from my yard. Some days it’s filled with wisps of stratus clouds, other days with great billows of cumulus, each one different, each one a reminder of God’s creativity. Just watching the clouds drift by stirs my imagination. God could have made the sky the same every day, but He didn’t. And in the same way, He could have made us all the same—but He didn’t. Psalm 139 reminds us that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14, NIV), and Genesis declares that we are “made in His image”(Genesis 1:27, NIV). If we carry such variety and beauty in who we are, how much more must God Himself embody a depth and diversity beyond what we can fathom?
This past Thursday evening, we wrapped up our Leadership Cohort on Identity & Calling with about twenty participants from four different churches. Sitting together, I was struck by the richness of our differences—unique voices, varied experiences, and distinct callings—all united by our love for Jesus. That is the beauty of the body of Christ: we are not cut from the same mold, but woven together into one family by the Spirit.
How beautiful it is that God delights in diversity, and that His Church reflects that diversity in love and unity.
The Beauty of Diverse Callings
This week while practicing Lectio Divina in Colossians, what shimmered off the page to me in chapter 4 were the many names Paul mentions: Tychicus, Onesimus, Aristarchus, Mark, Justus, Epaphras, Nympha, and Archippus. Each name carries a story, a calling, and a role in the life of the early church.
Tychicus was the trusted letter carrier who delivered Colossians, and possibly Ephesians and Philemon, encouraging the church and sharing updates while Paul was imprisoned. Onesimus, a former slave, was embraced as a brother in Christ, showing the radical inclusivity of the gospel. Aristarchus suffered alongside Paul in prison. Mark—John Mark—assisted Paul and is believed to have authored the Gospel of Mark, preserving Peter’s eyewitness testimony. Justus faithfully worked alongside Paul. Epaphras labored in prayer as an intercessor for the church. Nympha, likely a woman of hospitality, opened her home as a gathering place for believers. Archippus was exhorted to persevere in his specific calling.
What a vivid picture of God’s design for His Church—different people, different gifts, different seasons of life, yet all essential to God’s mission. It makes me wonder: what would Formation Church look like if we embraced this same diversity of callings, each of us taking our part in the story?
This Sabbath, I also found myself deeply immersed in my reading. I pulled out my Sabbath “library bag” and read across ten different books—sometimes a chapter or two, sometimes more, depending on where the Spirit led. The list included The Spiritual Formation Study Bible, Renovation of the Heart by Dallas Willard, Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools by Tyler Staton, Flourishing in Ministry by Matt Bloom, Understanding Spiritual Gifts by Sam Storms, The Unseen Realm by Michael Heiser, Strong and Weak by Andy Crouch, and others.
What always amazes me is how themes begin to connect across different authors and books. Insights reinforce one another, Scripture rises to the surface, and I sense the Spirit weaving a common thread. It felt as though Jesus Himself was sitting with me, guiding me, teaching me, and drawing me closer.
This is the gift of slowing down, soaking in Scripture and Spirit-led wisdom: we begin to see the variety of ways God works—in the early church, in our community, and in our own hearts. What a joy to know we’re on this journey together.