Uncategorized – Page 2

When God Wants You Unhappy

UncategorizedJuly 7, 2018120Views 0Likes 0Comments

I recently got a Facebook message from a well-meaning Christian friend: "God has seen everything you've been going through, and He told me to tell you 'IT'S OVER'! Your trial has ended, and now God's about to open up the windows of heaven to bless you beyond your wildest dreams!!!!!" (Full disclosure: I may have…

Your pain

UncategorizedJune 27, 201878Views 0Likes 0Comments

I am so sincerely sorry for your pain. But... Your pain is not the only pain in the world Your pain does not make you right. It doesn’t justify your lashing out Your pain does not necessarily make you noble or brave Your pain may indeed destroy you, if you let it Your pain is a curse...or…

When Worship Doesn’t Work

UncategorizedMay 31, 201889Views 0Likes 0Comments

I watched a worship service on the internet recently. I was pretty familiar with the church I was watching. It had been known for powerful worship, and a big joyful choir. Clearly God had worked in this church in a dynamic way for many years. But since moves of God are hard to sustain, over the…

Bitter / Better

UncategorizedMay 3, 20187Views 0Likes 0Comments

Once there was a man on our street who I knew was watching our house, every single day. And even worse, he was constantly leering at our children. Anywhere else this occurred, they'd call the cops on him. But in Florida, they elect him to the Neighborhood Association. Anytime my teenage kids parked their cars…

Blinding Them With Science

UncategorizedApril 26, 201861Views 0Likes 0Comments

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…

I’m Unfollowing You on Facebook, Bless Your Heart

UncategorizedApril 23, 201868Views 0Likes 0Comments

I’m unfollowing you on Facebook, bless your heart. Not unfriending, but I won't be seeing your posts, at least for now. And as I've mentioned before, "bless your heart" is a pastor's code word... ...it's code for "what an idiot". I know that's something as a pastor I'm not supposed to say. But I'm afraid…

My TRADING SPACES Saga

UncategorizedApril 9, 2018136Views 0Likes 1Comment

Recently, the former TLC show TRADING SPACES was rebooted with the broadcasting of brand new episodes. In the show, neighbors rehab one room of the other’s house in just a couple of days, on a strict budget. The original run began about the year 2000 and continued in one incarnation or another until 2008. Though…

#thoughtsandprayers

UncategorizedMarch 24, 201849Views 0Likes 0Comments

So when a tragedy strikes, people feel helpless. It’s something I get to see a little too often as a pastor. There are times I feel completely useless praying for a patient’s healing in the hospital, when all indications are they are going to pass away. I visited a pastor in the hospital just a few weeks…

Mr Hawking’s Wild Ride

UncategorizedMarch 14, 2018160Views 0Likes 4Comments

Theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking passed away at the age of 76. His fascinating life story and battle with a rare form of motor neuron disease is told in the film The Theory of Everything. He was without argument a brilliant scientist, and the world is less fortunate for his passing. But unfortunately, like many scientists, he…

Yes, Jesus Loves Me

UncategorizedFebruary 13, 201882Views 0Likes 0Comments

It's been a good day…a Sunday. I got to preach on Jesus this morning. I love doing that because every time I preach on Him I feel we become more intimately acquainted. The closer I get to Him, the more I want to be like Him and shed all these devices I use (we all use) to…

Lover of Lost Causes

UncategorizedJanuary 18, 201875Views 0Likes 0Comments

I think it's so odd that most of us would agree that the sacrificed life - a life lived for helping others - is the best way to live. Only few of us ever decide to live that way. Sure, there are those few foster parents who take in children, let themselves fall in love with them,…

“Once more, with feeling…”

UncategorizedJanuary 6, 201872Views 0Likes 0Comments

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…