November 11th is not only Veterans Day, but it is also the commemoration of Martin of Tours. Martin of Tours was the guy that Martin Luther was named after. Martin Luther was born on November 10th and baptized the next day on the 11th (Martin of Tours Day). Because Martin was baptized on this day…

Have you ever had a moment when someone gave you some responsibility or walked you into some experience, but you felt like you were unworthy of it? Did they make things worse then, by saying “I trust you with this“? Sometimes I wish God didn’t trust me with what He does. We are careful when…

It used to be that I would buy a new Bible every year. This was partially because I tend to write notes and such in my Bibles, and partially because it feels good to start off the new year with a new “preachin’” Bible. But for the last three years, I haven’t bought a new…

Last night, I was outside meeting with my neighbors via Zoom when I heard “SCREEEeeeech, ka….crunch….hhhooooonnnnk.” The telltale sounds told me that someone had blown through the four way stop in front of my house, but instead of saving themselves a couple of seconds in doing so, they hit another car. The problem? Failure to…

You don’t have to look far into Martin Luther’s story to see that he was considered an “outlaw” in his day, often literally. He was wanted for arrest He lived under an assumed name. He wrote scandalous things about the ruling authorities. He was an outlaw. That shouldn’t surprise us much. Moses was an outlaw.…

I’m going to say something that is probably going to make me unpopular with some people. That’s fine. Here’s the thing that I’m going to say: You shall have no other gods before me. What does this mean? We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things.  By the way, that “all things”…

My friend Rev. Timothy J. Hartner, a prince of a pastor who is now retired from his labors at St. Paul’s Weston, FL, shared his work on “lament” recently with me, what follows is my take on what he shared. We have much to lament over in 2020: deaths, illness, racial discord, political discord, loss…

If you’ve ever done any coaching with me, especially around something that it seems like you just can’t get yourself to get done, it’s likely that I have told you about the CANE model of motivation (that stands for Commitment And Necessary Effort model). The CANE model starts with the assumption that if you are…

Parables are one of the eccentricities of Jesus. He told them seemingly all the time and we love them. The word “parable” literally means “thrown alongside” (para = alongside + ballein = thrown). It’s a story or an image that is “thrown alongside” a heavenly truth that helps us to see the contours of the…