Jared Brock's Blog

“Carve your name on hearts, not tombstones. ― Shannon Alder

My grandfather, Clarence Black, died this morning.

After six years with dementia, he had a massive stroke last week. There was a Do Not Resuscitate in place. Death has ten thousand doors through which men make their exits — my grandfather’s was terminal dehydration. It’s how one of my favorite authors, Scott Nearing, chose to die at age 100:

“I wish to cast off my body by fasting. Animals often leave life in this way — creeping away out of sight and...

 

I had the immense pleasure of interviewing Mark Sayers last week. Here’s the audio, along with the written version below. If you like what you hear, please support Mark and share this interview far and wide. -J.B.

 

Transcript

Jared Brock: Welcome, brothers and sisters. My name is Jared Brock. I am the author of A Year of Living Prayerfully, Bearded Gospel Men, and The Road to Dawn. Today I’ll be sitting down with one of the most crucial voices in Christianity right now, Mark Sayers...

This is not me. This is a baby.

On September 13th, sixteen years ago, my little youth group attended an event at Compass Point Church in Burlington, Ontario. I was seventeen at the time. The preacher was a radio guy named James MacDonald. He was at the height of his celebrity and the place was packed. We had great seats near the front right. I was there because my parents made me do church stuff. That’s what Christians do, after all. They do church stuff.

But I wasn’t a Christian. My life was...

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He entered Yale at age 12.

He served as a missionary to the Mohicans.

He was the President of Princeton University.

One of his sermons, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, is considered the most famous sermon ever preached.

His grandson became the Vice President of the Unites States under Thomas Jefferson.

His biography of David Brainerd inspired thousands of people to become missionaries, including William Carey, Adoniram Judson, John Wesley, and Jim Elliot.

His preaching sparked the Firs...

He entered Yale at age 12.

He served as a missionary to the Mohicans.

He was the President of Princeton University.

One of his sermons, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, is considered the most famous sermon ever preached.

His grandson became the Vice President of the Unites States under Thomas Jefferson.

His biography of David Brainerd inspired thousands of people to become missionaries, including William Carey, Adoniram Judson, John Wesley, and Jim Elliot.

His preaching sparked the Firs...

In addition to the official book trailer, I wanted to make a short video that looked ‘inside’ the book. Thus, this second teaser. It took about two days to round up all the items, and about 8 hours to shoot this beast. It’ll definitely make a lot more sense after you read the book!

My wife and I have spent the past year on a 37,000 mile prayer pilgrimage around the world. We recently traveled to London, England, where we visited the home of John Wesley.

Wesley was one of 19 children born to Samuel and Susanna Wesley. Standing just 5 foot 4 inches tall, Wesley was a man God used to fight the slave trade, grow the First Great Awakening, and spark Pentecostalism and the Holiness Movement. While technically an Anglican clergyman, Wesley was the leader of the Methodist move...

TodayI’m happy to release our newest video in the #LivingPrayerfully promo series. Basically, we wanted an excuse to make a bunch of fun videos, and the celebration of the launch of A Year of Living Prayerfully was a great reason to do so.

For the record: This particular video will only makes sense to people who’ve ever attended, or been part of, a seeker-sensitive church!

Enjoy!

A few years ago, my wife and I asked some friends to help us move. We packed our bags, rented a moving van, and assumed we’d be doneby lunch.

It lasted all day.

It was exhausting and embarrassing – we had so much stuff. As I watched my friends sweat and struggle to haul out my possessions, I realized that my possessions had come to possess me. Right then and there, I promised myself that I would never put my friends through anything like that again.

We started by donating most of our wedding pre...

On March 2nd, 2015,A Year of Living Prayerfullyhit bookstands around the world. It was the culmination of 2 years of hard work, and the fulfillment of a dream almost a decade in the making.To celebrate, I’m giving away 7 bonuses worth $297 to everyone who buys a copy. I’ll share the details in a moment.

I won’t spend time in this post telling you about the book. I’ve madea fancy landing page for that reason,complete with an endorsement from Moses himself. But seriously, Ihope that this book...