The Friday Five (3.20.26)
A Few Things for My Friends
Hey! Every week, I share five things to encourage and equip in life with God.
This week:
My First Book Turns 3!
A New George Herbert Collection
The Speed of Your Soul | Carmen Joy Imes
The Good Shepherd | TVCFM
Carry Me Home
Enjoy!
MK
1. My First Book Turns 3!
A Short Guide to Spiritual Disciplines: How to Become a Healthy Christian turned three this month!
This blue book serves as an introduction to what spiritual formation is, how we should consider life with God, and what it means to offer Him all of our lives. It focuses on three dimensions of life: attention, emotions, and limits. These dimensions won’t change - but how we act as we age in them will. I need different disciplines to focus my attention in my forties than I did at 14, and different considerations of my limits than I could have heard at 20. Discipleship isn’t a process you complete; it’s one you surrender to over the course of your life.
In the last three years, I’ve been able to give retreats, deliver sermons, do interviews, and engage in countless conversations about these truths. Then, at a certain point, you think people are tired of hearing about it because you’ve been talking about it a lot. I realize now that’s just part of the process, and I’m eager to press deeper into the conversation. Who you are becoming matters.
If you haven’t read the book, grab one! It’s got discussion questions at the end of each chapter. If you have read it, leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads - they go a long way to people finding the work. Lastly, if I can serve your organization or church by teaching on these topics, let me know!
2. A New George Herbert Collection
A friend sent me the link to this book, and I was thrilled to see Herbert coming to new eyes and ears. I found George Herbert in my late twenties, and I have read his poetry nearly weekly since then. They are hidden treasures waiting to be found, graces ripe for the plucking. Witmer has given a great gift by picking 40 poems and then reflecting on them with you as you sit with the old Welsh priest.
Grab a copy, take them in, and let these words rearrange the furniture of your heart.
I keep this edition with me, it’s one of my favorite things.
3. The Speed of Your Soul
I met Dr. Carmen Joy Imes a few years ago in Philadelphia, and she is a delight. Recently, she wrote a piece entitled "The Speed of Your Soul," which helped me process some of the reasons I’ve been slow to write amid a busy season. There is something we all need to hear about not outpacing the soul.
Dr. Imes writes:
I’m a high-capacity person. I don’t mind having a lot on my plate, but like anyone, I have my limits. As a professor, writer, and speaker, I have a constant slate of invitations to consider—most of which sound wonderful. If I’m not careful, I end up outpacing my soul. I can tell I’ve exceeded my capacity when I find myself just staring at my desk, immobilized. I have so much to do that I cannot do anything at all. When I reach this point, I realize that it’s time to step back and reevaluate my commitments.
You can read her four filters for commitment evaluation here.
4. The Good Shepherd
Last weekend, I preached on Luke 15 and the parable of the lost sheep.
Luke 15:10 had been rattling around in my head and my heart for a few weeks: Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” (ESV)
I kept wondering, “Do I have the joy of heaven over a sinner that repents?” When I repent, am I loved like they are? Do you hear the question - Does God rejoice over me when I repent? Jesus came to seek and save the lost.
The quicker you admit that you are sick and need help, the quicker you admit that you cannot depend upon yourself. Then you get to hear the Savior say, “I came for them. I came for you. You are mine.”
Listen below, I hope it encourages you.
5. Carry Me Home
I keep listening to five songs off Taya’s 2023 album over and over: Canticle, Mercy, Jesus > Everything, Carry Me Home, and Narrow Road. It helps that they follow each other - I get to the end of the run and circle back. Writing last week on the parable of the lost sheep, and knowing the shepherd put the lost sheep across his shoulders, I felt the lyrics differently about depending on my Good Shepherd: Hold me close, I don’t want to get cynical. Oh, won’t You carry me home?
Start my day and I’m feeling like a failure
Losing faith
God, I know I need a savior
Oh, won’t You carry me home?Days get long
When you’re waiting for a miracle
Hold me close, I don’t wanna get cynical
Oh, won’t You carry me home?You won’t go back on what You promised
You’ve never given up on anyone before
Oh, won’t You carry me home?
Here I got nothing left to lean on
Got faith in nothing but Your faithfulness to me
Oh, won’t You carry me home?Fake laugh, fake smile
Like counterfeit currency
Fake can’t buy what You’re giving to me freely
Oh, won’t You carry me home?No matter how far Your love is gonna find me
Heaven and Earth
Ain’t big enough to hide me
Oh, You’re gonna carry me homeYou won’t go back on what You promised
You’ve never given up on anyone before
Oh, won’t You carry me home?
Here I got nothing left to lean on
Got faith in nothing but Your faithfulness to me
Oh, won’t You carry me home?Oh, won’t You carry me?
Oh, won’t You carry me?
Oh, won’t You carry me home?When the music dies down
I hear your voice calling me
Quiet my heart, where You are is where I want to be
All this time You were always right beside me.
Thanks for Reading
If someone forwarded this to you, I write two kinds of emails: one on select Tuesdays about life with God and the other every Friday, where I share things I’ve found during the week. If you want to subscribe but can’t afford it, email me, and I’ll take care of it—no questions asked.
I pastor, teach, and lead at The Village Church, serving as an Elder and the Executive Director of Discipleship. In my spare time (ha!), I’m working on a Ph.D. in Church History, studying Jonathan Edwards and character formation. Also, I’ve written A Short Guide to Spiritual Disciplines: How to Become a Healthy Christian.
Thank you for reading and supporting my work as I seek to shepherd with compassion and wisdom, equipping people to embody God’s truth for all of life.
Talk soon,
Mason
Thanks for the shout out! I'm glad you liked my post.
Fun fact: last fall I spoke at Rockharbor (which is now our church) and Taya led worship that Sunday because it's her church, too!