About

Welcome to the Trim the Wick Community! We are so excited to get to know you. First, let us give you the short version of who we are, then you can jump in and join us as we trim away the burnt, frayed parts of ourselves, fill up on who God is, and walk lives burning with His purpose!

The short version:

• Dan and Becky James met in a high-school band in Florida, were engaged while Dan was serving in the U.S. Army, married after he returned from Operations Desert Shield & Desert Storm, and were called out of military life into full-time vocational ministry in 1992. Dan pursued ministry training, completing a Bachelor’s degree in Religious Studies (specializing in Youth Ministry) at Liberty University. While at Liberty, their first son was born. In 1997, they moved to Texas to continue their studies at Southwestern Seminary and Dallas Baptist University, and took positions as Youth/Worship Pastor and Children’s Ministry Director. Their time in Texas saw them serve in two communities for 10 years, also giving them the joy of adding two more sons and a daughter to their family. In 2008, they returned to Florida and walked through a season of joblessness, bankruptcy, and spiritual struggle. But God. As always, He was faithful to restore them, providing a home, renewed purpose, and a greater understanding of the depth of His love and trustworthiness. Now, celebrating 34 years of marriage and having graduated all of their children into adulthood, Dan and Becky are experiencing the joy of God leading them into new areas of ministry. Becky now owns a seasonal business providing swimming instruction for students with special needs. Over the last 7 years, the Lord has opened the doors for them to travel the world - sometimes separately, sometimes together - preaching the Good News of the Kingdom of God. These travels have given them a love for the beauty of the many members of the Body of Christ.  A deep compassion has grown for the places where the Bride of Christ is frayed, burned out, and struggling to keep the flame alive. With over 25 years in ministry, over 30 years of marriage, and having parented 4 kids to adulthood, Dan and Becky have personal experience with the struggles of keeping that flame glowing brightly through everyday life. Their walk has uniquely equipped them to help others not only be reconciled to God, but to walk daily in abundant life, full of the oil of the Spirit and the fire of His love. Their heart is to, as the wise virgins in Matthew 25:7, prepare the spotless bride of Christ, helping her to trim away all that would dim her flame or cause it to sputter and smoke, allowing the oil of the Spirit to burn bright and clear.

In the Trim the Wick community, our weekly podcasts, biweekly blogs, video shorts and monthly longform offerings will be discussing all the things: personal identity and giftings, marriage and family dynamics, parenting, workplace issues, what church is, common stressors, making life decisions, coping with out-of-control circumstances…all the things. Why? Because when God created us, He created us as whole beings. Spiritual. Physical. Emotional. The day-to-day life that we live IS our spiritual life. The question is which part of our whole gets to make the decisions for how we act?

When we determine that the power of the Holy Spirit living in us gets to be in charge of how we think, how we feel, and what we do, then we find ourselves in possession of all that He offers. We are able to be kind, loving, generous, patient, peaceful, wise, collaborative rather than competitive, self-disciplined, enduring, stable, fearless…the kind of people that are able to stand no matter what kind of storms are raging around us. Together, through study of the Bible and prayer, we will discover how to hear the Spirit and learn to access His power in our lives to live in the everyday things.

The more that we learn who we are and are empowered through the Holy Spirit, the more we begin to understand how we fit together and what our purpose in the world is. Each one of us has a God-given place in the body of Christ and a purpose in us to build up the Kingdom of God on earth. The Trim the Wick community exists not only to discuss all the things, but also to learn to practically live out a life of burning purpose. We have partnerships with two practical works in Kenya - one in the slums of Nairobi, and one in the Eldoret/Greater Mt. Elgon region. Each of these works provide feeding programs in slum areas, educational opportunities, jobs training, and Biblical teaching. Our community members are given opportunities to support these works through specific prayer, financial sponsorship of these programs, and even travel with us!

Does this sound like a life you’d like to live? Would you like to spend time with people who live this way, or who are aspiring to? Are you tired of walking alone in the dark and need a group of people who will share their light with you? Join us!

Community Guidelines

Above all, remember that this is meant to be a place of light in the darkness. We all know how dark the internet can be. Let’s be a shining example in the middle of that!

• Keep conversation respectful, without personal attacks.
• Use your words to build up and encourage, not to debate. Not every point of disagreement requires your correction.
• Don’t blow up other members’ feeds. If someone isn’t responding to you, let it be.
• No pornography.
• Keep out behavior that could be seen as trolling/spamming.
• Relax, be yourself, and enjoy.