Rob Yackley
@robyackley.bsky.social
Creator and director of Thresholds, co-author of Thin Places, and co-leader of a neighborhood community trying our best to live in the way of Jesus while helping others do the same.
I don’t know why this would be a logical inevitability, but practically and experientially, gathering and serving crowds has proven to be an opiate of the ego and the kryptonite of deep discipleship.
November 11, 2025 at 8:55 PM
I don’t know why this would be a logical inevitability, but practically and experientially, gathering and serving crowds has proven to be an opiate of the ego and the kryptonite of deep discipleship.
Tyrants exploit us by dividing us into friends and enemies. Leaders inspire us by uniting us around our common humanity. So choose wisely who you align yourself with.
September 18, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Tyrants exploit us by dividing us into friends and enemies. Leaders inspire us by uniting us around our common humanity. So choose wisely who you align yourself with.
Having and expressing a different perspective is not divisive. Healthy communities actually grow stronger when a variety of voices are welcomed. What is truly divisive is when dissent is voiced with contempt or when people who see things differently are cast as enemies to be vilified and silenced.
September 15, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Having and expressing a different perspective is not divisive. Healthy communities actually grow stronger when a variety of voices are welcomed. What is truly divisive is when dissent is voiced with contempt or when people who see things differently are cast as enemies to be vilified and silenced.
Values bind a community together. When competing values surface, (and they will), unhealthy communities will ignore them and allow them to slowly erode and weaken the community. But healthy communities will name the competing values, lean into them, and realign themselves around their core values.
September 11, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Values bind a community together. When competing values surface, (and they will), unhealthy communities will ignore them and allow them to slowly erode and weaken the community. But healthy communities will name the competing values, lean into them, and realign themselves around their core values.
As people leap from camp to camp and shift from belief to belief with increasing speed, I see a rarely traveled road for people of faith— the way of patient ferment that shaped the early church (what Alan Kreider called its primal value), and Revelation’s central summons to patient endurance.
September 2, 2025 at 5:24 PM
As people leap from camp to camp and shift from belief to belief with increasing speed, I see a rarely traveled road for people of faith— the way of patient ferment that shaped the early church (what Alan Kreider called its primal value), and Revelation’s central summons to patient endurance.
Whenever I hear good-hearted people say “I stand with Israel”, I find myself wondering: Did God stand with Israel when they defied their calling to faithfully obey God and bless their neighbors? Could it be that we’ve bound ourselves to an unconditional allegiance that not even God is bound to?
August 14, 2025 at 5:33 PM
Whenever I hear good-hearted people say “I stand with Israel”, I find myself wondering: Did God stand with Israel when they defied their calling to faithfully obey God and bless their neighbors? Could it be that we’ve bound ourselves to an unconditional allegiance that not even God is bound to?
Simon Sinek once said that “scale creates distance.” The bigger you get the more distance there will be between the people engaged in the venture. Unfortunately it seems like “distance” is an acceptable consequence for most leaders who are seeking to scale-up their empires… or their churches.
August 6, 2025 at 3:14 AM
Simon Sinek once said that “scale creates distance.” The bigger you get the more distance there will be between the people engaged in the venture. Unfortunately it seems like “distance” is an acceptable consequence for most leaders who are seeking to scale-up their empires… or their churches.
This is an outstanding—and hopeful—11 minute perspective on the divisions in our country viewed through the lens of our country’s history. youtu.be/BULhU6qarfQ?...
Historian compares America's current divisions to the past and how we can overcome them
YouTube video by PBS NewsHour
youtu.be
August 6, 2025 at 1:25 AM
This is an outstanding—and hopeful—11 minute perspective on the divisions in our country viewed through the lens of our country’s history. youtu.be/BULhU6qarfQ?...
In my experience, trustworthy leaders welcome the truth and utilize it to liberate and empower others. Deceitful leaders create their own truth and use it to coerce and manipulate others.
July 18, 2025 at 8:13 PM
In my experience, trustworthy leaders welcome the truth and utilize it to liberate and empower others. Deceitful leaders create their own truth and use it to coerce and manipulate others.
Time-tested, fire-forged character is something like a lighthouse in a storm. People might lose sight of it for awhile in their pursuit of control, but as the waves of that illusion start to slam up against the rocks of reality, people once again are drawn to the trustworthiness of that lighthouse.
July 17, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Time-tested, fire-forged character is something like a lighthouse in a storm. People might lose sight of it for awhile in their pursuit of control, but as the waves of that illusion start to slam up against the rocks of reality, people once again are drawn to the trustworthiness of that lighthouse.
Trustworthy people love deeply. They see what others are experiencing and can be counted on to show up—physically, emotionally, and spiritually—to contribute to another’s well-being. They don’t easily quit on people and are quick to forgive and offer a generative pathway forward.
July 2, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Trustworthy people love deeply. They see what others are experiencing and can be counted on to show up—physically, emotionally, and spiritually—to contribute to another’s well-being. They don’t easily quit on people and are quick to forgive and offer a generative pathway forward.
Trustworthy people are beacons of integrity. The rock solid congruence between the way they present themselves and how they actually live fuels confidence and credibility. You can trust what they say because they live out of an integrated wholeness and they consistently do what they say.
June 30, 2025 at 2:44 PM
Trustworthy people are beacons of integrity. The rock solid congruence between the way they present themselves and how they actually live fuels confidence and credibility. You can trust what they say because they live out of an integrated wholeness and they consistently do what they say.
Trustworthy people are generously self-sacrificing people. They embody a sense of abundance and readily give of themselves and their resources for the good of others. Self-sacrificing people are the world’s merchants of goodness and grace.
June 29, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Trustworthy people are generously self-sacrificing people. They embody a sense of abundance and readily give of themselves and their resources for the good of others. Self-sacrificing people are the world’s merchants of goodness and grace.
Trustworthy people are self-aware people. They’re aware of what animates them and what trips them up. They know what they bring into any space and what they need from others. Self-aware people are surprisingly graceful because they know deep in their bones that we all reflect both light and shadow.
June 28, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Trustworthy people are self-aware people. They’re aware of what animates them and what trips them up. They know what they bring into any space and what they need from others. Self-aware people are surprisingly graceful because they know deep in their bones that we all reflect both light and shadow.
Trustworthy people are genuinely humble people. Their vulnerability is palpable and couragous. They own their limitations and mistakes and make no pretense of perfection. And when they shine, they share the applause with others because they instinctively know they live within a web of connections.
June 27, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Trustworthy people are genuinely humble people. Their vulnerability is palpable and couragous. They own their limitations and mistakes and make no pretense of perfection. And when they shine, they share the applause with others because they instinctively know they live within a web of connections.
Trustworthy people are genuinely honest people. They’re honest with themselves. They’re honest with others. They’re honest with the reality that unfolds around them and they are emotionally sturdy enough to trust others to join them in uncovering what is real and true.
June 26, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Trustworthy people are genuinely honest people. They’re honest with themselves. They’re honest with others. They’re honest with the reality that unfolds around them and they are emotionally sturdy enough to trust others to join them in uncovering what is real and true.
Father Greg Boyle said something the other day that I keep thinking about. He said:
“We stand with the demonized in hopes that demonization will someday end.” Oh, may it be so.
“We stand with the demonized in hopes that demonization will someday end.” Oh, may it be so.
June 18, 2025 at 9:15 PM
Father Greg Boyle said something the other day that I keep thinking about. He said:
“We stand with the demonized in hopes that demonization will someday end.” Oh, may it be so.
“We stand with the demonized in hopes that demonization will someday end.” Oh, may it be so.
Calling out despotic behavior is not hateful; it’s courageous. Submitting to cruelty and corruption is not faithfulness; it’s complicity. Thank you to all of you who have chosen to stand up and speak out. I know it’s costly.
June 17, 2025 at 7:51 PM
Calling out despotic behavior is not hateful; it’s courageous. Submitting to cruelty and corruption is not faithfulness; it’s complicity. Thank you to all of you who have chosen to stand up and speak out. I know it’s costly.
“Like a roaring lion and a rushing bear, is a wicked ruler over a poor people.” – Proverbs 28:15
June 13, 2025 at 2:01 PM
“Like a roaring lion and a rushing bear, is a wicked ruler over a poor people.” – Proverbs 28:15
I’ve been thinking about who Jesus aligned himself with, and as far as I can tell, he always aligned himself with the oppressed, never with the oppressor. That ought to give his followers a path to navigate in these troubling times.
June 10, 2025 at 7:39 PM
I’ve been thinking about who Jesus aligned himself with, and as far as I can tell, he always aligned himself with the oppressed, never with the oppressor. That ought to give his followers a path to navigate in these troubling times.
Universal imperfection ≠ moral equivalency. Or put more simply, just because no one is perfect does not mean that everyone is equally virtuous or trustworthy.
June 6, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Universal imperfection ≠ moral equivalency. Or put more simply, just because no one is perfect does not mean that everyone is equally virtuous or trustworthy.
I am deeply grateful for the words and works of Walter Brueggemann. His book on Sabbath as a means of resistance to cultural captivity has profoundly shaped my life and ministry. Rest in peace and rise in glory Mr. Brueggeman!
June 6, 2025 at 4:21 PM
I am deeply grateful for the words and works of Walter Brueggemann. His book on Sabbath as a means of resistance to cultural captivity has profoundly shaped my life and ministry. Rest in peace and rise in glory Mr. Brueggeman!
It breaks my heart to watch the withering of honor and decency in our country and the church's complicity with corruption. But I remain hopeful that the bride of Christ will someday soon rise to its call to align herself with the Prince of Peace rather than with Principalities and Powers.
May 27, 2025 at 9:13 PM
It breaks my heart to watch the withering of honor and decency in our country and the church's complicity with corruption. But I remain hopeful that the bride of Christ will someday soon rise to its call to align herself with the Prince of Peace rather than with Principalities and Powers.
Seems like religious folks are always trying to put boundaries on who is deserving of compassion and care. Jesus pretty much said, “To hell with that,” and showed us that divine love won’t be limited by our social tribalism or our bounded imaginations. And that’s really good news!
May 24, 2025 at 4:45 AM
Seems like religious folks are always trying to put boundaries on who is deserving of compassion and care. Jesus pretty much said, “To hell with that,” and showed us that divine love won’t be limited by our social tribalism or our bounded imaginations. And that’s really good news!
“Liberal” and “conservative” are labels people use so universally and recklessly here in the US that it has rendered them almost meaningless, if not flat out dangerous. And when overlayed on scripture, they are little more than a misguided blunt instrument when used as a theological hermeneutic.
May 18, 2025 at 4:10 PM
“Liberal” and “conservative” are labels people use so universally and recklessly here in the US that it has rendered them almost meaningless, if not flat out dangerous. And when overlayed on scripture, they are little more than a misguided blunt instrument when used as a theological hermeneutic.