Over the 18 years I’ve been a pastor, when I ask people what their “next step” in terms of faith is, I usually get one of two answers: Answer 1: I want to pray more/better. Answer 2: I want to read the Bible more/better. Prayer is a great thing to want to do more and/or…
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“The B-I-B-L-E, yes that’s the book for me, I stand alone on the Word of God, the B-I-B-L-E.” Depending on your level Sunday School education, that song might give you flashbacks, or maybe even a little tick, or maybe I’ve just put an earworm into your head for the rest of the day. That earworm…
James Kimmel Jr (not the “Jimmy” of late night fame) spent years researching something that might feel natural to us, revenge. In his study of revenge he found that “grievances,” his umbrella term for things like real or imagined slights, injustices, betrayals, or victimizations, these grievances make our brains respond in a way that is…
This week ends my sabbatical. I’ll be back in the office on Friday, back in the pulpit on Sunday. It has been good. I am very thankful for the time that I have had in this “sabbath” experience, but God’s design for the world was not 7 days of sabbath, but one day of sabbath…
I’m writing this on the 22nd of July – probably about 2 days before you will get it. But the 22nd has been a big day for me for the past 18 years, because for the past 18 years I have been blessed to be called into the office of pastoral ministry. Not only have…
One of the things that Liz and I decided to do while I had some extra time on sabbatical was to go to Disney World, a place where Liz and I had not been ourselves in almost 20 years and our three girls had never been. As you well know, Disney’s way of talking about…
In the past week there was an armadillo carcass at the bottom of the hill. I noticed it walking to the gym, and boy o’ boy, did I notice it. Yuck. I did my best not to retch too badly as I walked past it. On the way back from the gym, I held my…
Happy July everyone. That means there is officially one month left of my sabbatical. It’s been an interesting experience for me as I’m sure its been an interesting experience for you all. During this last month, I am dedicating time to “re-entry” meaning some reflection and planning for when I’m back to ministering full time…
It really shouldn’t be a surprise, we do live in Florida, after all. But, just in case you hadn’t noticed: It’s hot outside. And maybe rainy too, which just means that it’s steamy hot. Again, we do live in Florida. We should expect this. But that doesn’t keep us from complaining about it. It doesn’t…
Grace and peace to you from St. Louis, Missouri. We are up here for some days as we reconnect with family and see some sights. Just yesterday, my girls got to see Concordia Seminary, where I studied to be a pastor. They were sweet about it, but I don’t think they were terrifically impressed –…