Where's the Good Stuff this week?

Friday 12/12/25 roundup of what I've discovered on Substack

Dec 12, 2025

‘Good Stuff’ = blog posts I’ve read this week that inspired, educated, entertained, or moved me.

Which for a Free Range Priest, means reading more amazing, inspiring things about God, the church, the universe, and running.

Here’s this week’s roundup:

God stuff

‘My Christmas Bicycle’ by Jim Wildeman. The Messiah does not come as we expect…
‘Advent Day 12: God cannot give what’s not there’ by Kate Bowler. Peace is God with us. Nothing else. It’s that simple.

Church stuff

‘The Church Needs Yoga’ by Jim Keat. I am on record as completely agreeing with spiritual stretching. And I like this concept - where is the church rigid? Where is it stretching? I have some different answers, but I think this is a great tool for insight.
‘December 6 is a favorite feast day’ by Tripp Hudgins. ‘Advent is not a season of sentimentality. It is resistance disguised as candlelight.’

Other stuff

‘When Anxiety Has a Floor Plan’ by Chris Hoff. I’m a huge fan of Systems Theory, and its application to church. Hoff uses it with therapy to talk about the ‘architecture’ of the system. I have many of the same thoughts about ministry: what is changing, how it needs to be changed, and what our part in it is.
‘The Geography of Belonging’ by Br. Andrew-Thomas OSB. It’s not the particular person or place, it’s what we allow to unfold. As with the ‘architecture’ of anxiety, I love the ‘geography’ of belonging.

What I wrote this week:

‘Stop the world, I want to get off!’ was the sermon I didn’t even preach this week because I’m dealing with the winter crud.
‘4. He forgave the unforgivable after hearing my sermon’. Counting down my top 5 blogs of the year.

And finally…

I’ve just added ‘Type 2 fun’ to my vocabulary…