Ancient Christian Wisdom
for Everyday Life
Wisdom for those with the wild ambition of getting as close to Jesus as they can on earth and living the kind of life that God desires every single day
Welcome to the Daily Monastic. I’m Barnabas the Monastic.
I have a wild ambition in life: get as close to the Lord Jesus Christ as I can while on earth. I attempt to do that by learning to become a modern monastic. I explore and integrate ancient Christian monk wisdom in my modern everyday life. I write about it here. Feel free to write to me about your own journey. I currently reside in the “Great White North.”
Caring for Yourself Holistically
In this blog, I write a lot about taking care of the soul. I do this for good reason: our souls are the part of us that will be joining our God in heaven one day. Jesus declared, "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?" (Matt. 16:26 ESV). Cultivating the soul…
Slow Down and Savor
When I was young, my brother and I would sometimes have a friendly match of "speed reading" before bedtime. We would race to see which of us could read a passage of the Bible the fastest. Honestly, I don't ever recall any clear winners or losers in this game. But…
Take Responsibility for Your Spirituality
Here's a key insight that I repeat to myself on a regular basis: I am ultimately responsible for my own relationship with Christ. Nobody else is responsible for my spiritual growth and development—not a pastor or a spouse or a friend. I am personally responsible for this. And if…
Adjusting when Sick
Being sick isn't fun. At least, that's what my wife likes to say. As I'm going through an illness right now, I must say that I have to agree with her. It's not fun being sick. A few days ago, we contracted COVID-19. It's our first time…
Praying the “Lord’s Prayer”
Sometimes, I find it hard to pray. That's normal, right? Many people struggle to pray. In fact, I don't know a single person who has never struggled with prayer at some point in their life. But my struggle with prayer these days isn't about…
Showing Up with Your Best Godly Self
I want to show up to anything in life with my best godly self. I want to show up like this to my family. I want to show up like this to my job. I want to show up like this to every meeting. I want to show up like this when things aren't going my way. I want to…
Managing Our Time Well
Anything that is worth doing will inevitably consume this precious resource that we have so little of: time. Painting a masterpiece requires time. Building a world-changing organization will take time. Raising a close and tight-knit family will need time. Anything you want to do in life that…
“Those who honor me, I will honor.”
The other day, I came home from a speaking event that took place out-of-town. When I got home, I was quite tired. However, I had one more thing I needed to do before I retired for the night: I had to finish preparing a sermon. And this was a sermon that…
Aiming to Please the Lord
I want to please my Lord and Savior Jesus every single day. It's not because I think this will grant me salvation. I believe that eternal life has been gifted to me by the grace of God and through my faith in Christ alone (see Eph. 2:8-9). Jesus has already saved me through His death on the cross. I need not add anything to the precious work that He has done. But as a person who…
Try “Activity Bundling”
Time is tight. I know it and feel it almost every single day. I'm pursuing becoming a modern monastic. This means I embrace living in the modern world and I have modern responsibilities and a modern family to look after. At the same time, I pursue…