Today is New Years Day 2018. It’s 10:30 am and I’m sitting in my pajamas drinking coffee. And no, I don’t plan to get out of these pajamas any time soon. They are my warm and cozy home for the rest of the day, after quite a wild night out.
But it wasn't exactly the kind…
Some people say, "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 a new year, one of the main things we need to embrace is not just the "…
So I just survived a vampire attack. Yeah, who would have thought it?
Let’s call her “Helen”. She had met with me once before. It was one of those meetings where the person shows up at a worship service and demands to see the pastor immediately.
She doesn’t stop to think he might already have responsibilities that…
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I originally wrote this article a couple of years ago, but did not include the name of the inmate because he was still at trial. Finally last week, a judge pronounced sentence against Mesac Damas as punishment for the murder of his wife and children. Since those legal proceedings are over, I'm including…
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…