11When Job’s three friends heard about all this disaster that had happened to him, they came, each one from his home—Eliphaz from Teman, Bildad from Shuah, and Zophar from Naamah. They agreed to come so they could console and comfort him. 12When they looked up from a distance and didn’t recognize him, they wept loudly.... Continue Reading →
Focus…Focus…Focus
One of the things that kind of comes with the odd package that is me, is that I have a hard time focusing on things. I space out a lot of the time, finding it hard to focus on the task at hand. I seem overstimulated, not able to really filter things out. This leads... Continue Reading →
How I Get Autism, Fears and Church Planting in One Post
I am not a good leader.This is not some confession of being guilty of some terrible sin, it's more of a judgement- I'm not a good leader. The people skills that others have, I don't have- at least not naturally. Being someone with Aspergers means having to learn how interact with people, something that is... Continue Reading →
What Does It Mean to Be Prophetic?
I stumbled across a post by Methodist blogger Allan Bevere on the prophetic nature of the church. He ends to post like this:As I continue to say-- when Christians hear the word "politics" they should not think state; they should think church. For Christians, our politic is church. But that clearly is not what it... Continue Reading →
Remember You Are Dust…
Ten years ago during Ash Wednesday of 2002, I was a chaplain at Luther Hall in Minneapolis. Luther Hall was what you would probably call a nursing home, though the people there were at various stages in their lives; some were transitioning from surgery, back to home or to another facility; but some were there... Continue Reading →
Ceasar and the Pill, Continued
I didn't mention this in my previous post, but that post grew from something Methodist Pastor Allan Bevere said about the HHS/birth control decision. He explains why he thinks what the Obama Administration did originally (and in its compromise) was so distrubing: I have to say as a mainline Methodist, I really appreciate the irony of... Continue Reading →
Ceasar and the Pill
So, I'm going to treat into the waters of the birth control vs. religious liberty debate that has been going on for a while. I've been wondering how Christians should handle this issue. Now, I tend think birth control is a good idea. Teenage pregnancy is not a good thing and well, women should be... Continue Reading →
Learning to Love “Bubba”
I was reading an article in the New Yorker today on the white working class in America and how they are falling further and further behind economically and socially. If you haven't read it, I would urge folks to read George Packer's essay, "Poor, White and Republican." Packer gives a good description of these folks... Continue Reading →
Learning to Love "Bubba"
I was reading an article in the New Yorker today on the white working class in America and how they are falling further and further behind economically and socially. If you haven't read it, I would urge folks to read George Packer's essay, "Poor, White and Republican." Packer gives a good description of these folks... Continue Reading →
The Numbers Game
If you're the pastor of a mainline Protestant congregation, one of the things that you do a lot of is obesess over numbers. We are always paying attention to the attendance on Sunday mornings during worship. We wonder how many folks will attend Christmas Eve or Maundy Thursday. We wonder how many will come... Continue Reading →
The Clockwork Pastor 