Every minister hears these words. And in that moment, when grief is raw and a family looks to you for guidance, what do you say? In Eulogy: Remembering a Life through God’s Good Word, I draw on more than 40 years…
What it means for the church to live toward ‘one’
The world continues to change — but it didn’t used to seem like it did. Back “in the day,” it seemed to me that there was a great deal of consistency in the life of the church. Growing up in…
Transferring from Anxiety University to Gratitude College
From the front desk of the YMCA where I work during the early morning hours, I notice a lot of interesting T-shirt designs. On Monday of Thanksgiving week, a woman approaching the check-in scanner was wearing one that read, “Anxiety…
Stronger than yesterday
From my post at the front desk of our local YMCA, I notice a lot of interesting slogans on T-shirts as members scan in to work out. Recently a man came through wearing a T-shirt, the arms of which were…
Monday
Monday catches a lot of grief! Just the other day, at the YMCA where I work, a member came in carrying his workout bag and his clothes for work. As he scanned in, with a bit of dread, he made…
Tony Campolo was a master storyteller
It was in Seeger Chapel on the campus of Milligan College where I first heard the preaching of Tony Campolo. Like many of my classmates, I was taken by the way his style drew me into a new realization of…
‘Same Old Stuff’: Focusing our attention on God’s good word
I am thankful for the interesting people I meet working the early-morning shift at the front desk of our local YMCA. These interactions are pleasant and encouraging as we all try to wake up and get the day underway. One…
One more day: Resetting the smile on our faces
A friend at the YMCA where I work has some struggles with his hip. Even so, he is regularly in the gym building muscle, the pain notwithstanding. He smiles on the way into the gym even though he is hurting….
A response to Mark Wingfield: Moltmann offers a third way
A couple of weeks ago, Mark Wingfield wrote to challenge his readers in his article, “The Strict Father Model is Killing Us.” After describing the differences between the Strict Father and the Nurturant Parent worldview models, which attempts to explain…
‘It ought to be like church’: Working out some lessons for congregational life
I once heard a pastor say, as he was getting into the sermon, “Now, hang with me, I’m working it out.” And, sure enough, there’s many a biblical text over which we have to labor and work out our understandings…