One of my long-term church friends and I have friendly banter about my use of words and phrases that are probably more complicated than they need to be. Regularly, Lane and I have friendly conversations about the use of complex…
Surprised by a God moment when Jason walked down the aisle
We received our annual Christmas card from Carol. It is always a delight to catch up with her family. Typically, it is our only contact with them during the year. They were members of the congregation where I was pastor…
Immigrants and other neighbors God told me to love, Part 1
In past months, I have received invitations to attend meetings on the issue of immigration. I have expressed myself both publicly and privately to my lawmakers about what I think about the issue and have written about the matter. It…
Did Jesus really have a wife?
What you are looking at above is a 1,600-year-old piece of papyrus that was written in Coptic. A New York Times’ article on it set off speculation on whether or not Jesus was married: A historian of early Christianity at…
On the edge
Not long ago I received two e-mails on the same day. One was from a colleague who copied me and other pastors in his reply to a message from Michelle Obama just before she spoke at the Democratic National Convention….
Following Jesus in a politicized world
Have you noticed some of your Facebook friends taking a sabbatical from social media during the remainder of the 2012 election cycle? The number seems to be growing. For the most part, they do so because they’re tired of the…
Three questions
Following Jesus — while dealing with family, friends, work, school, the larger world and one’s self — gets complicated. Throw in background noise from political campaigns, product advertising and advocates of all sorts, and it is little wonder we lose…