Signpost Inn

People are Complicated

Dear friends, as Liv and I get closer to finishing our new book (we have a hard deadline of July 31st to send it to our copy editor!) I thought it would be fun to do a few posts revisiting my previous book: Changing the Conversation, How to dance instead of fight in everyday conversation. The book was an “apologetics” book, written to support an audience who was excited about doing social and cultural battle, but with a twist. The premise of the book is this: if you argue to win, you’ll lose every time. In other words, if we do social and cultural battle in all our relationships, we’ll end up with a scorched earth. There has to be a different way. A way of clear-headed and deep-hearted compassion. The way of Jesus. That’s what I tried to unpack in the book: a practical way to make real progress in conversations with difficult people about difficult issues. Today I want to share an excerpt with you. It’s from the chapter titled: “People are Complicated.”

Brandon Booth

June 24, 2024

This Isn’t How It’s Supposed to Be!

We both walked in the room—hearts heavy with unspoken words, problems with no answers. We tried to lighten the load by revisiting past hurts and talking about solutions. The weight remained. Emotions stirred. We were fragile.

Joy Hoot

May 28, 2024

Jesus is for me: The key to paying attention

My Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) was one of the most formative experiences of my seminary training. It taught me how to pay attention to what's truly important. Let me explain…

Peter Gammell

May 21, 2024

Be a Stranger

When I travel in unfamiliar circumstances, as a stranger, it can feel awkward, lonely, even a little scary, but there’s also wonder and the opening of new worlds. When I embrace that I’m a stranger, I find it easier to live in the present: it’s ok to be ignorant, curious, ready to be wow-ed. Like a tourist expecting good things on their journey.

Liv Booth

April 9, 2024

Faith for fiery days: emotional resilience in a burning world

Just the other morning I brought my lovely wife a cup of coffee in bed. As she sat up to receive the warm mug of joe, I looked lovingly into her eyes, smiled, and said, “Do NOT look at the news!” Here 3 suggestions to improve your emotional resilience around this (or any) morning’s news:

Brandon Booth

February 27, 2024

Attention: A Hostage Situation

I am an “intermittent” hostage. Let me explain: The great tyrant of our day, Urgency, keeps violently stealing my attention and holding it at a kind of gun point. \Here I sit at my desk, content to work on my tasks for the day and, “BAM!” an overheard conversation plunges me into fear and worry over the world’s tragedies and heartache.

Peter Gammell

February 6, 2024

I am but a stranger here... comfort in a crazy world

I do not belong here—in this modern world I mean. I really don’t fit in. Sometimes, I feel like I’m the one who is crazy, but most of the time I’m certain it’s the world not me. Do you feel the same?

Brandon Booth

January 23, 2024

Becoming or believing? Transcending the self-improvement obsession.

It’s the time for resolutions. Time to evaluate our progress over the last year and fix our wills on some S.M.A.R.T goals for the next year. Which is all well and good. May you find success in your goals! Here, however, I invite you to pause with me and consider a few deep questions: “how am I evaluating progress in life? What final goal am I seeking to achieve?”

Brandon Booth

January 1, 2024