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Jeff Randleman

Jeff Randleman is a husband of one, a father of six, a minister and a writer. He spends most of his days working with the church or spending time with his family.

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How Wilderness Uses Solitude To Seek God

One of the foundational spiritual disciplines I practice regularly is the discipline of solitude. Every few weeks, I find a place to get away from the office, away from the phones, and text messages and social media, and just focus on listening to God speak into my life.

Mountains Shrouded in Clouds

I bring my Bible, my journal, a legal pad and a book or two, along with some snack food and drinks, and I just take in what God has to say to me.

Solitude has been one of the biggest impacts for my spiritual life in recent years, as I establish a habit of practicing it regularly. And the biggest and best opportunity for this comes each year when I attend CIY Wilderness.

Wilderness is a retreat designed for ministers, specifically youth ministers, to get away and spend some time caring for their own spiritual nourishment. Ministry tends to be a place where people give and give, but if there is no replenishment, then the giving will soon come to a halt. Wilderness seeks to help with that.

Each year I go, greatly anticipating some incredible solitude, just me and God, in the mountains of Colorado. And each year, I come home renewed and restored, ready to tackle the challenges that ministry brings.

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Book Review – Pilgrim’s Wilderness by Tom Kizzia

Pilgrim's WildernessNever have I been both so fascinated and disturbed by a book as I was by Pilgrim’s Wilderness, by Tom Kizzia.

I’ve categorized it as a biography in my library, but it is less the story of a life than it is the story of a crime.

Pilgrim’s Wilderness is the story of Robert Hale, also known as Papa Pilgrim, and his family as they traveled into the wild reaches of Alaska and settled away from society in the middle of a National Park.

Pilgrim’s past is jumbled. He was raised in Texas, married his teenage sweetheart, but her death just a few weeks later left him devastated, and the world confused. There are several interesting connections to the Kennedy assassination, and Pilgrim continued to have trouble almost everywhere he settled.

Eventually he married again, and began a family. He isolated himself in the Sangre de Cristo mountains of New Mexico, where his family began to grow. By the time of the events in Alaska, he would have 15 children, ranging in age from 29 to 2.

Neighbors began to suspect Pilgrim of several inconsistencies. He claimed to be very religious, but items began to disappear from the neighbors ranches. Fences were cut. The children were bruised and neglected. But he was evasive, and had an answer for everything. However, it soon became clear that it was time to move on.

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Coffee Break – 09.22.2014

Coffee Break Banner

A Coffee Pot And Alarm Clock In One! – Josh Renouf has created an incredible alarm clock. It wakes you up by brewing a fresh cup of coffee for you right at your bedside. The concept is cool, but the style of the Barisieur is simply stunning.

Europe 24 – This is an incredible visualization of air flight over and around Europe. This whole video was compiled from real flight data, and shows just how busy our skies really are.

A Guide To WWI – This is a pretty cool interactive documentary on the first World War. It’s informative and enlightening from a historical perspective, but the format it’s presented in is captivating as well.

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Memorize Scripture: 2 Timothy 4:21-22

Paul wraps up his letter to Timothy with some final greetings and a final word of encouragement. Before he sends the letter, he gives Timothy one final plea to come quickly.

This final passage is found in 2 Timothy 4:21-22:

2 Timothy 4:20-21

In the previous verses, Paul sent a couple of quick greetings, and updates on some coworkers. In this passage, he lists a few final people who send their greetings to Timothy and the church in Ephesus.

First, however, he encourages Timothy to come quickly to him in Rome. Winter is approaching, and Paul’s life is coming to an end, and he would like to see his son in the faith once more.

From late fall to mid spring, November to March, Mediterranean travel came to a halt. That implies that Paul is writing this probably in late spring or early summer, giving time for the letter to travel to Ephesus and Timothy to return before the weather prevented him from doing so. Missing that window of opportunity meant that Timothy wouldn’t make it until the next spring. Paul didn’t expect to make it that long. According to tradition, Paul was executed in AD 68. That places this letter in the year or two before.

Coffee Naps are better than coffee…, and naps!

Vox: Science Of Everyday Life
Posted: September 17, 2014

This idea intrigues me. I frequently feel the need to take a nap, but too often, my naps go too long, either ruining the rest of my day because I slept too much, or by keeping me up all night, again because I slept too much.

I’ve tried several things, like holding my keys in my hand as I sleep in a recliner. When I fall asleep and drop them, the noise is supposed to wake me up. This has never been effective for me. Setting an alarm for 20 to 30 minutes doesn’t work well either, since I don’t feel the rest that’s supposed to come with such a “power nap.”

A coffee nap seems like just the thing to try over a lunch break here and there when my day just seems to keep on dragging along.

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Taking Advantage Of Divine Appointments

Several years ago, I stumbled across the idea of divine appointments. I found the thought intriguing, and have worked it into my spiritual journaling to some extent ever since. But recently, the idea has been on my mind more, and I’m wondering how I can use this concept more effectively in my life.

Airport Waiting Room

The whole concept of a divine appointment is based around the idea that God brings people into my life on a regular basis for a moment, and for a reason.

Let me give you an example.

A few days ago, I visited a local restaurant. My waitress apparently knew that I was a minister, even though I’ve never met her before. In the process of waiting on us, she shared a few struggles she was facing in her life, tearing up as she did so. She was really having a hard time. With problems with her boyfriend, her kids, and her finances, she was facing some tough times.

As we paid our check, she asked if we would pray for her over the coming days. Of course, we said yes.

Most of the time, these kinds of interactions come into our lives for a brief moment and then out again. We normally don’t think much about them beyond the moment itself.