How can Good Friday be good? Good Friday is the day that Christians all around the world remember the suffering of Jesus Christ on a cross. Depictions of Jesus Christ’s suffering are immortalized within our cultural framework because of such…
Pastors grieve too
In the last three years, I have conducted funerals for almost 40% of the active participants in my congregation. I have also officiated more than a dozen funerals for non- and inactive members. These numbers might seem staggering, but for…
Learning to suffer
I find it extremely ironic that the Church, which claims to be the embodiment the lamb that was slain, has such a difficult time ministering to those who are suffering. When tragedy strikes us, many congregants, deacons, and even some…
Praying for death
A year ago we took my mother home on hospice care. She died three days later, mercifully freed from a series of chronic health problems that were cascading out of control. But getting her out of the hospital—her sixth time…
Forever Changed #11: How do you comfort the wounded?
This week I really do not have a message to send home to you. Instead, I just need to grieve a little bit. This column is so healing for me because I get to share with you information that 1….
Where is God when bad stuff happens?
Where is God when bad things happen? Across the ages, this question has perplexed and frustrated those afflicted with suffering, grief, and pain. Theologians and philosophers have wrestled with scriptural texts and rational thought striving to make sense of the…
Forever Changed #2: giving life and those who have given theirs
I have been wondering all week what God was going to give to me to share with you all and now I know. I have been in country 7 whole days now, and we have had more mortar attacks than…
It floats (or what it’s like being on Satan’s payroll)
Whenever I’m asked to describe my job as a professional Christian, I usually stammer something along the lines of: “I talk about God for a living.” Or, if I’m feeling especially cynical: “It’s mostly marketing, some plagiarism, and a bit…
Between the lullaby and the requiem
The hospital waiting room on the fourth floor at Northeast Alabama Regional Medical Center in Anniston was empty and quiet. The only sounds were the dinging of the elevator in the distance and the clanging of the food cart as…
Grieving summer: a Havdalah
For many people, summer is a type of Sabbath: a slower pace; vacation; more interaction with neighbors as the warm weather invites people outside; a deliberate pause between academic years. Even people whose lives do not operate solely on an…
Graces I have experienced when grieving
This list began after my Dad died in 1991. I chose not to preach at his funeral, but several weeks later, in a sermon, I listed some of the graces I had experienced since his death. They are included in…
Angle of repose
Death is bigger than us. All of us. And when we brush up against it, we leave wounded—especially when we lose the ones we love (i.e. friends, family, etc). We leave hurt. Over two years ago my wife’s uncle died…