This Weekend – Exploration 2009

This weekend Rachel and I are off to Exploration 2009 in Dallas.  I’m actually in town for a wedding, but will be attending some of the Explration event.
Exploration is designed for individuals under 25 who are interested in or curious about serving in ordained ministry in the United Methodist Church.  We United Methodists have made [...]

More Power than I Though I Had

Watch out for me.  I’m powerful.
While filing some receipts this morning, I noticed these words printed on a Subway receipt:
“Thank you for making Subway the world’s best sandwich.”
I would have given Subway the credit, but, okay, they surely know better than I do.
What they mean, of course, is that Subway’s business is up; people are [...]

I’m Through Waiting

Listening to John Mayer’s “Waiting for the world to change” in a nearby office brought clarity to me on a recent matter of discussion.
If you are old enough to ask for ID, you are too old to be trick-or-treating!
For a coupe of years now I have noticed instances of people clearly old enough to be [...]

Finding Identity-Thinking Ethnically

I have trouble dealing with ethnicity. It isn’t that I have trouble dealing with people who have an ethnicity. No, my problem, like that of very many of us, is that Anglo-Americans have generally grown up without any ethnicity. In fact, I would argue that the American Myth is that the only identity or ethnicity [...]

Hell-Know? Please don’t go.

Someone asked me yesterday what I thought of “Hell House.” I shared then, and I’ll share here.
I suppose most “ministries” that offer Hell Houses are well intentioned. I suspect their motivation is to reach people for Jesus in ways that encourage decisions for Christ to be made.
However, I find these performances/exhibits abhorrent and antithetical to [...]

Latest from Paul Heyduck

Paul Heyduck is my nephew and a film student at TCU.  Check out this video by him and five others:

Endorsed!

I posted Aug. 28th that I was heading for Nashville to interview for Ecclesiastical Endorsement.  I was interviewed by a team of three peers – other clergy who, like myself, serve outside the local church setting.  All three are also chaplains in a variety of settings.
The interview was a very affirming process.  I was asked [...]

Happy Birthday to Me!

I tend not to be interested in blogs that are too self referential, but since today is my birthday, give me this one….
Rachel and I enjoyed getting to see U2 on David Letterman last March.  Then, when the opportunity arose to buy tickets to their Dallas show (this Monday), I passed.
I passed, but Rachel didn’t. [...]

Becoming a Father (again)

Rachel and I announced in worship yesterday that she is pregnant.  I announced via facebook and twitter just after that.
It is very exciting and a bit intimidating to think about becoming a father again.  I have a daughter, Robbie, who will turn 21 before this child is born in May.
On one hand, I’ve covered a [...]

The Power of Rock and Roll

The Heart of Rock and Roll is still beating.
Do you think Lynyrd Skynyrd had this in mind when they came out with “Sweet Home Alabama” in 1974?