I'll never forget the day when after a nearly 9-month interview process, after answering the world’s longest questionnaire, after having the specter of a possible move over my head while trying to go on at my church like nothing’s happening, I got word I would not be called as the new pastor of First Baptist,…
NOTE: I wrote this article on Easter Sunday, 2017. I've waited until now to publish it.
I remember driving past an ugly little country church one Easter. The sign out front said simply “He is not here”. From some churches I’ve been in, I knew that sign was probably a great example of truth-in-advertising…
Well, it’s…
So just over three months after we left Florida, Hurricane Irma hit our old town of Naples dead on.
And they say in comedy “timing’s everything”. Add hurricanes to that too, I guess.
I watched on tv this week as my favorite street in downtown Naples got pummeled. Fifth Avenue had been where I’d hang out, drink…
This is soup. My awesome wife Dawn made some for supper tonight.
Author's note: I did not force her to cook this meal in any patrician/male-dominating sort of way. I'm pretty sure she did not feel coerced to do it and it did not betray her femininity to take on such a traditional conservative role…
It's weird, that moment when you suddenly realize how others perceive you. It's as if a window opens and you no longer see yourself subjectively - you can now see yourself through the eyes of others.
When spiritual issues come up in conversation, I can tell how alien I seem. It's like I'm talking about…
I’m afraid I may have just triggered someone.
First, let me explain. I watched over the weekend as the March for Science took place in Washington D.C. (Earth Day - April 22, 2017). The organizers had made it clear they didn’t want their event to become a partisan political forum:
We unite as a diverse, nonpartisan group…
Growing up in a southern Baptist church, every Easter there were two hymns you had to sing…or you probably weren’t really Baptist.
One was “Low in the Grave He Lay”. Most people don’t remember it by that title, but by the bouncy chorus that interrupts the sad, mournful verse. After lamenting the crucified Jesus, suddenly…
This is soup. My awesome wife Dawn made some for supper tonight.
Author's note: I did not force her to cook this meal in any patrician/male-dominating sort of way. I'm pretty sure she did not feel coerced to do it and it did not betray her femininity to take on such a traditional conservative…
During a magazine contest in 1892, the words to what we now know as our Pledge of Allegiance were first published. In 1942, the Pledge was officially adopted into our flag code. At the time, it read as follows:
“I pledge allegiance to my flag and the republic for which it stands; one nation…
When I took vocal classes, my first time singing a song was the toughest. I’d spent the week working on it, but now the nerves kick in. At the end of my struggling rendition, the professor would smile and say:
“OK. Once more, with feeling…”
Sometimes you have to get past the first…
I've heard it said, "If you love something, set it free. If it returns, then it's truly yours. But if it doesn't return....hunt it down and kill it!
Just kidding...sort of. ;0)
But as we face the blank palette of each new day, one of the main things we need to embrace is not just the…
The clerk at my grocery store handed me my receipt and said, "Merry Christmas".
"Merry Christmas to you too," I replied. "So happy to hear you celebrating the season!"
"Some of the others just say 'Happy Holidays', ya know." She looked back over her shoulder quickly. "But I'm a Christian, and I figure I…