Welcome to the Kingdom Harbor Bookstore! A growing number of my writings are being made available for purchase. Explore and purchase here.
Christmas on Mount Mystic (2022)
This series of Advent reflections contemplates the glory of the Manger in light of the glory and mystery of the Transfiguration story. Join Amanda, tired mother at the end of her rope, as she escapes to her Uncle Eli’s mountain cabin the week before Christmas. Prepare to be blinded by the light, swept up into an ancient Story, enveloped by a mysterious Cloud, and summoned by the Voice. Escape the busyness of the season and recover your own soul through these reflections from Mount Mystic. 153 Pages
Riots and Rest: Daily Illumination (2021-2022)
This collection of blog posts, journal entries, devotional pieces, and cultural commentary sums up the two extremes of the past 18 months for our nation and for my own soul. I offer thoughts on the riotous insurrection of January 6 at the Capitol, the tumult surrounding the Derek Chauvin trial over the killing George Floyd, and the war in Ukraine. On the other extreme, I share reflections on the rest I found during my long-awaited sabbatical the summer of 2022 and the deeper vocational rest I’m experiencing in my new teaching opportunities. 321 Pages
My Secret Hideout: 5-Minute Devotions for Kids (2022)
This 31-day devotional journey is designed especially for children ages 5-11. Scripture and prayer can provide a kind of portal into the presence of our loving God who desires to meet with us in that secret place. Ideal for bedtime or breakfast time devotions, each day provides a scripture, short reflection, and questions to spark further discussion. Let My Secret Hideout bring you and your child together around the truth, promises and wisdom of God. 77 Pages | BUY
In the Footsteps of Jesus & The Apostles (2022)
Travel with me to the lands of the Bible as I share my journal reflections and photo memories from two trips of a lifetime separated by 20 years. The first trip was a three week study tour of Turkey and Greece in college, and the second trip was to Israel with my Northern Seminary doctoral cohort on the eve of the Covid-19 pandemic in February 2020.If a pictures is worth a thousand words, this book of thousands of words and hundreds of pictures is a priceless treasure and best souvenir I can imagine. 285 Pages
Pastoral Letters, Volume 2 (2022)
A fresh collection of letters from the pastor’s study, private correspondences trying to bring pastoral care and spiritual guidance through the heartfelt and personal medium of letters. The bulk of these 59 letters were written between January 2021 and summer of 2022. The volume closes with some “throwback letters” from my college and seminary days when I was grappling with my sense of ministry calling and gifting. God has been faithful! 216 Pages
Dear Philippians: Wisdom from a Prison Cell (2009)
These short reflections on Paul’s Letter to the Philippians launched my Daily Illumination blog a dozen years ago. Each morning I imagined myself sitting in that prison cell with Paul, hearing the words straight from his mouth, and trying to give them fresh application for today. Now I’m inviting you to join me on the journey. Grab a quill, ink, and a scrap of papyrus to take notes. Let’s journey back to AD 58 to a wet, dim lit Roman prison cell. What timeless wisdom does Paul have for us today? 216 Pages | BUY
The Father’s Song: The Divine Symphony of Scripture (2009)
In this creative overview of the Bible, we leave the dissonance of the world behind and enter into the “unforced rhythms of grace” (Matt 11). The story of the Bible sweeps and flows, builds and develops like a musical composition with many movements. From the explosive energy of Creation, to the somber sounds of Sin, the song rises and falls (and rises again!) to a grand crescendo. 206 pages | BUY
Life in King Jesus’ Colony (2021)
In this collection of three essays, Jeremy invites Christians to live as royal disciples and loyal citizens of King Jesus’ colony. This entails being conformed to Jesus’ upside-down Kingdom values and being transformed by his royal presence. Essays include “Discipleship in the King’s Court,” “One Body, Many Ethnic Parts: A Multiethnic Exposition of 1 Corinthians 11-14,” and “Where Thou Dwelleth? A Theology of Presence in the Gospel of John.” 155 pages | BUY
Mystery on the Sea of Galilee (2021)
There’s something fishy going on around the Sea of Galilee. It’s the fishing opener and the fish have been training hard in their schools to out smart the eager anglers above. Strangely, there were no reported catches this opener, and boats and nets were lay abandoned along the shore . The fishermen seem to have vanished. Join Sammie the sardine, Bart the Biny fish, Deborah the Dove, and others at Rock Pile Point as they try to solve this Mystery on the Sea of Galilee. 52 pages
The Tale of the Cursed Fig Tree (2021)
Why did Jesus curse a fig tree for not bearing fruit — especially when it wasn’t the season for figs? What if the fig tree that Jesus cursed could tell his side of the story? In this imaginative retelling of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem to shouts of “Hosanna,” we see how Jesus’ fate was strangely intertwined with the fate of an old fig tree standing watch over the Temple all these years. 74 pages
The Lucky Tale of Eutychus (2021)
In a seaside village on the Aegean Sea, a local physician announces that the great miracle-working apostle is coming to visit. Eutychus, an inquisitive teenager, is skeptical of the wild stories circulating about Paul and his message about a crucified Jew. Curious, he goes to hear Paul speak, but ends up dozing off and falling out of the window to his death. This is an imaginative firsthand account of a boy named ‘Lucky’ who was lucky enough to live (again) to tell his tale. 66 pages
Wise Church: Forming a Wisdom Culture in Your Local Church (2021)
This is the book my doctoral cohort wrote together. Wise Church is about rethinking church cultures so they become more of a wisdom culture. The topics vary as widely as church life itself: the work life of congregants, evangelism, music, church economics, spiritual formation, racial justice, marriage, learning how to teach like Jesus, gospeling like the apostles, and the wise use of social media. My chapter invites pastors to recover the art of letter writing for shepherding souls today. 286 pages | BUY
Sage, Shepherd & Letter Writing Pastor (2021)
In our digital age of distance learning, disembodied teaching, and impersonal sermons on a screen, pastors need to return to more personal and embodied forms of wisdom for forming souls. In this doctoral thesis, Jeremy explores sages and students in the ancient world, urging pastors to reclaim the roles of sage, shepherd, and spiritual guide, and offering letter writing as a powerful means of embodying wisdom in a culture desperately in need of it. 293 pages | BUY
Midlife Revision (2021)
This is an account of my vocational struggle and journey of reimagining ministry at MainStreet Covenant Church. The revisioning process coincided with my 40th birthday, a symbolic number that added weight to the struggle. Despite many nights in the valley of the shadow of self-doubt and confusion, God faithfully met me there. He dropped down a ladder from Heaven, and has been ascending and descending with a daily doses of grace and vision for a new season of ministry. 280 pages
Pastoral Letters: Soul to Soul Sermons (2021)
Despite all the ways to stay connected these days, we are more lonely and isolated than ever. Likewise, pastors can preach sermons to the crowd each week, and hardly know the names and stories of the people in the pew. My doctoral thesis explored recovering the lost art of pastoral letter writing as a powerful and more personal tool for shepherding souls. This is a collection of some of my letters, or what I call “soul to soul sermons.” 317 pages
The Beatitudes of Bethlehem (2020)
An upside-down Kingdom was born in Bethlehem that first Christmas that would flip the script on who is really blessed and who is not. The babe in a manger would someday announce his Kingdom with a series of pronouncements we call the Beatitudes. But the truth of this upside-down Kingdom was already on display in the unlikely characters surrounding his birth. Enjoy this Advent series written in the midst of a global pandemic and political mayhem. 125 pages
In the Shadow of His Wings (2020)
In a year that brought a global pandemic, race riots and protests, and a politically charged election, these writings reveal a heart seeking refuge in the shadow of Christ’s wings Closer to home, our church moved locations and stepped into a new vision in 2020. I traveled to Israel before the world shut down, struggled to lead a church in quarantine, and became a chicken farmer in the suburbs. An insane year! 329 pages
Treasures New & Old (2019)
Turning 40 this year brought with it a fresh awareness of the grand march of time. These pages give a window into my recent journey into the contemplative tradition I’ve dubbed my “pilgrimage of the soul.” I also dip my toe into spicy topics such as abortion, immigration, gun violence, American liberty, Trumpism, and many chapters on Jesus-shaped politics. Also included are sermons and weekly lectionary reflections. 253 pages
CrossEyed: Sermons & Sentiments (2019)
This collection features many sermons, personal journal reflections, letters, and other miscellaneous writings from Advent 2018 through Lent 2019. A recurring theme is the call to see the world and our Christian walk through the lenses of the cross—a CrossEyed vision for life and faith and conduct. 330 pages
MainStreet Beginnings | 2010-2016
Every church had a beginning. This is MainStreet’s story told in a hodgepodge of journal entries, articles, church documents, photos and more. Shining through it all, you’ll see ordinary people caught up in a story of an extraordinary God “who calls into existence things that do not yet exist” (Rom. 4:17). In this case, MainStreet Covenant Church. 407 pages
Dispatches From the Desert (2018)
This collection of writings from a dry and disillusioned season of ministry show me doing my best to “run with perseverance the race marked out for me, fixing my eyes on Jesus” (Heb. 12:1-2). These writings show me sometimes running, often stumbling and occasionally crawling on all four – but always forward and never alone. “And a man shall be as a hiding place from the wind, and a refuge from the tempest” (Isaiah 32:2). That man is Jesus. 219 pages
Wisdom Shouts: Private Thoughts in the Public Square (2018)
In this collection from December 2017 to April 2018, I try to parade Lady Wisdom’s beauty across the busy intersections of Facebook where we find pedestrians casually scrolling about, passing the time . . . tripping over the political trash littering the streets of the social media landscape. I hope some hear her cry above the clatter, stop to read, and get a refreshing whiff of a Way of life that is “right and just and fair” (Prov 2:9). 302 pages
Soul Artisan: Musings on Faith & Life (2017)
This is a collection of my Daily Illumination writings from 2017. Most were published previously on my blog, but many are only available here. I hope these “rapid-fire thoughts from the hip” can help others navigate the busy and often confusing intersection of faith and everyday life. 264 pages
Fixed to the Rock: My Formative Years Vol. 1
As I close the chapter on my formative years (age 19-35) I have compiled my personal writings on my faith, family and ministry development into two volumes. They include old college & seminary journals, accounts of my first dates with Keri, original songs/poems, birthday reflections, and insights into my “Tumultuous Twenties.” 304 pages
Fixed to the Rock: My Formative Years Vol. 2
Volume Two continues giving a window into my growth as a young husband, new father, emerging leader and pastor, and a growing follower of Christ. It includes letters to my kids at their births on the significance of their names, and many essays about my journey into vocational ministry and ordination, and beyond. 300 pages
Scraps From the Master’s Table
A random collection of scraps that may be described as “leftover thoughts, reheated wisdom, stale sermons and microwaved movie reflections.” Consider it a late night spiritual snack for the hungry (or insomniac) soul. Even the scraps from the Master’s Table are worth more than a full meal from the world’s junk food buffets. Included in here are several “Faith & Film” movie reviews from my youth pastor days. 243 pages
Everyday Parables: Extraordinary Truths in Ordinary Places
This collection of modern parables or “sacred analogies” finds extraordinary truths in very ordinary things. From a youth backpacking trip in the mountains to pulling weeds in the garden, from learning how to drive a car to playing a round of golf, or getting lost in the rhythms of your favorite album; each of these chapters is an attempt to answer Jesus’ question: “To what shall I compare the Kingdom of God?” 224 pages
Thinking Out Loud: On Theology, Culture & Faith
This is a collection of thought experiments from a mind early in its theological development including miscellaneous musings on Heaven and Hell, sex and politics, teens and technology, suffering and salvation, culture and the church, the perils of preaching, and more. It also includes several academic essays from my graduate studies. 386 pages
Daily Illumination: Thoughts from the Intersection of Faith & Everyday Life
This is a collection of 69 pieces published on my Daily Illumination blog from about 2009-2017. I hope you find here evidence not of a brilliant thinker or seasoned writer, but a devoted follower of Jesus with an undying thirst for God-reality. I have done my best to share the light I have received with others, hoping to provide some daily illumination for fellow pilgrims making their way through an often dark and dreary landscape. 292 pages
The Word is Alive: Scriptural Reflections on New Life in Christ
This is part of a two volume collection of Bible expositions which includes incomplete series on Ephesians and 1 Peter, as well as reflections on the Jonah and a favorite text from 1 Corinthians. We begin by exploring some different ways The Bible Speaks to us. These were written while church planting and learning how to pastor my first church. I’m certain this background and personal context will surface many times throughout. 204 pages
The Word is Active: Scriptural Reflections on Missional Living
This volume includes reflections on the Gospels and the action-packed narratives of Joshua and Nehemiah who both live lives of active faith and obedience. Undergirding all these expositions is a sense of adventure and a call to join God in His mission. They were written from the front lines of church planting, where I had the chance to leave comfort behind and join Joshua, Jonah, Jesus and others in a life of mission and adventure. 202 pages
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