Written in Stone?

A funny thing happened on the way to a memorial service. I don’t even remember what we were talking about, but a granddaughter of the deceased said, “well, it’s not written in stone….” In that moment, I made a connection that seemed so obvious I was at once wanting to think more about it and

Stretching Exercises

“Does the Bible say rain used to come up from the ground instead of down from the clouds?” I was asked this morning. The idea rang a bell in my memory, so I did a bit of searching to corroborate the pieces of memory I felt forming. A subset of Christians, and I think it

Not against religion

I just can’t take it anymore. The next time I hear someone say “Christianity is not a religion, it is a relationship,” well, I don’t know what I’ll do, but I won’t remain silent any more. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve said this myself! I’ve said lots of things. only some of them have been

I don’t always agree with me

Tom Wright, I believe, said something like, “I believe I’m right 2/3 of the time. The challenge is that I am never sure exactly which 2/3 that is.” I’m pretty sure I agree with him about this. What I mean by that is that I recognize I am not right about everything. On the other

Is God like this?

When I climb the stairs in our house to check on our kids, I usually don’t announce myself. It’s not that i want to catch them doing something they shouldn’t be doing. I would just as soon catch them doing something they should be doing. In fact, I would prefer the latter. But I still

Who am I to tell you…?

Can I admit to you here how much I hate being treated like I don’t know what I’m doing? Except, of course, when I am admittedly a novice or rookie. But: I’ve been at this pastoring thing for almost 30 years! So when someone approaches me – especially when they condescendingly share that it’s from

Knowing When

as in: Knowing when to say what you’re thinking, and when not to. I called 6 times before an actually person picked up. The message I received the first five times indicated I had called outside of business hours. Business hours began at 8 am. I started calling at 8 am. I cannot tell you

Not aimed at you

Once I noticed the little girl crying, I could not not think about it. Being at an elementary school to meet with a 4th grader I mentor, I was sensitive to the little girl’s privacy and space. Had this happened at the church I pastor, I wouldn’t have felt the same nudge to maintain my

Yes, Caesar, whatever you say, Caesar

Within limits, of course. If you know me at all, you can imagine how confused I was to hear this yesterday at our church’s Veteran’s Day Luncheon: Note the order here: the nation was telling the churches to celebrate this day. I reacted, but controlled it. Someone else had the floor. This gave me time

No Condemnation Here!