The question I get more than any other—more than “What’s the meaning of life?”, or “Why do people suffer?”, or “Why are the New England Patriots so . . . them?”—is “Can I learn to be funny?”
Live the Stories: Noah’s Ark
July 23, 2019 by Leave a Comment
Remind the children of how Adam and Eve made a mistake in last week’s story. That mistake caused the world to be an unhappy place where people didn’t treat God or each other the right way. Begin by asking the children if they know what an ark is. They may respond by stating that an ark is a boat or something that Noah built.
Strangers: A Meditation for Teachers
July 17, 2019 by Leave a Comment
They walk, run, tumble, and drag into your room on the first day of school—complete strangers. At the beginning of the year they all seem to look alike.
Justice, Kindness, Humility
June 25, 2019 by Leave a Comment
One morning in my eighth grade social studies class, the teacher said, “The world is one-third Christian, twenty percent Muslim, and thirteen percent Hindu.” We thought that was the goofiest thing we had ever heard. Where I grew up in Mississippi, there were four religions—Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, and heathen.
The Struggle to Cope with Time
June 4, 2019 by Leave a Comment
The prayer, “So teach us to count our days that we may gain a wise heart,” serves as the turning point in the larger prayer of Psalm 90. The human experience of time is a major theme of the psalm as a whole.
Of Course, You’ll Have the Good Taste Not to Mention that I Spoke to You
May 22, 2019 by Leave a Comment
You may have already recognized that the sermon title is taken from one of the greatest, most socially relevant, and downright funniest movies ever made: Mel Brooks’s Blazing Saddles.
Souvenirs: A Meditation for Teachers
May 8, 2019 by
We collect souvenirs so that we will not forget special people and places. Sometimes the memories that return when we see or touch a momento are more wondrous and inspiring than the actual experience. Often our favorite souvenirs are the simplest ones: a Christmas tree ornament, a shell, or a postcard.
Who Blesses Whom
April 24, 2019 by
Isaac was a unique, funny, lovable guy, albeit frustrating at times. He had a way of wiggling his endearing, stubborn soul into your heart like I imagine a little brother would. He was a man of few words, but he could always communicate what he wanted in any given moment.
Death and Life
April 3, 2019 by
We lose so many good people. When Jesus finally arrives at his friends’ home, Lazarus has been dead for four days.
¿Qué Quieres?
February 26, 2019 by
¿Qué quieres, Lorena? ¿Qué quieres? I repeated it to myself as I stared at my reflection in the window of an almost thousand-year-old church. What do you want?
Soul: Fire in Preaching
February 20, 2019 by
In my experience, eighty percent of the fuel for preaching comes from sources outside the study. I do not mean scouring the countryside or the urbanside for sermon illustrations.
Faith Postures: Noticing Our (God-repaired) Selves
February 6, 2019 by
Sometimes I mistakenly read the Bible like a Jane Austen book. Life seems so simple in Pride and Prejudice or in Sense and Sensibility; the good people are good, the bad people are bad, and everyone knows who is who.
A Bit of Hell
January 22, 2019 by
“I’m a fake,” she said.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“I mean that I get up and I teach my Sunday school class when I don’t even know if I believe what I’m teaching anymore.”
Guilt: A Meditation for Teachers
January 9, 2019 by
One unfortunate thing we often learn as small children is how to fling guilt at other people. We find that guilt is a sticky substance that seems to attach better to some than to others.
Cancer Is Not Evil
January 8, 2019 by
The most significant source of strength I draw from as I deal with cancer is not some coping mechanism that comes naturally to me. I don’t have three keys for stress-free living to offer my readers. Instead, the most important, most helpful sources of inspiration and strength for me have been my beliefs about God.
Seeking, a Prayer for Epiphany
January 1, 2019 by
God of all times and places, we move into this new year as travelers seeking the shelter of your presence in all our comings and goings. Like the magi we move from familiar surroundings, crossing borders to enter unknown times and places.
In Community
October 16, 2018 by
We are in all kinds of communities, and we should be grateful for each of them. There are of course the neighborhood we live in, the one we work in, our city or town. Our churches are communities of faith but also communities of friendship.
Spiritual but Not Religious
August 29, 2018 by
Many would say, to use a modern phrase, that Lincoln was “spiritual but not religious.” Such a posture should be celebrated as an expression of heartfelt belief and longing, but it should also be considered with a word of caution.
When We Have to Choose: The Indecisiveness Roadblock
August 22, 2018 by
God’s word is packed with informative insights for Christians who want to move around the roadblock of indecisiveness. In addition, many characters introduced to us in Scripture flesh out these insights in their lives.
Choose Discipline, Not Disease
August 7, 2018 by
The people of Judah were in the grips of a great enemy. King Nebuchadnezzar and the armies of Babylon had conquered their land, taken away the sacred items from their temple, and carried many of the people far from home. The people needed wise political and religious leadership to know how to live in such difficult times.
Bells: A Meditation for Teachers
August 1, 2018 by
Telephone bells, doorbells, school bells, and fire alarms all alert us and prepare us to go into action. Our modern use of bells is totally different than one hundred years ago. Church bells rang the hour of the day and told of a death.
Getting It All Together
July 31, 2018 by
Jesus’ boat lands on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee—no longer in Jewish territory. This is like landing in Cuba. Along the edge of the lake, tombs are cut into the mountain. The village graveyard is this land’s version of a mental institution.
Jesus’ Use of the Psalms
July 24, 2018 by
For ordinary Christians who experience opposition and negative feelings, we are invited to bring the full breadth of these experiences into the realm of God.
Loyal Dissenters: Reading Matthew 22:21 Together
July 3, 2018 by
When English Baptists in the seventeenth century read Matthew 22:21, they heard Jesus establishing a limit on the authority of civil power. Caesar did have legitimate concerns in this world—collecting taxes, for example—and, in those areas, he could exercise his power as he saw fit.
Evangelical Common Worship on National Holidays
June 27, 2018 by
In general, we come to common worship from a week in which a secular society has tried to shape our identity as something radically different than what Scripture says it is.
Responding to the Apollo 13 Miracle
June 26, 2018 by
We hear a lot about miracles today, and there is a large volume of work addressing the subject—more than I could address in this book. In my experience on the Lunar Module team during Apollo 13, I felt moved in a special way by what I felt was answered prayer and the miraculous recovery of the crew.
Pain Can Give Birth to New Life
May 8, 2018 by
The day my first grandchild, Liam, was born, Linda and I arrived at the hospital and went to my daughter Elizabeth’s room to spend time with her and her husband, Josh. Every two or three minutes, Elizabeth would have a contraction, a passing moment of tension and discomfort.
A Quiet Life: Living at Peace with One’s Self
May 1, 2018 by
One great embarrassment of Christians is that we talk so much and so loudly. Interviews and conversations of all kinds often remind us of a pride of lions feeding, snapping and snarling, each lunging in for a moment and then getting shoved aside by others.
The Decision Paradox
April 24, 2018 by
People seldom have to choose between right and wrong. Once upon a time, not long ago it seems, I embarked on a journey to be a pastor. I felt call to do battle with the forces of evil in the name of God.
Between What We Dreamed and What We Got
April 11, 2018 by
After all those years of stumbling around in the middle of nowhere, dealing with all the conflict and controversy of his contrary constituency, you’d like to think that Moses would get to lead the parade into the land of promise.
Live the Stories: Jesus Gives Peter Instructions
April 3, 2018 by
Remind the children that many of the disciples who followed Jesus were fishermen before they left their jobs to learn from him. When Jesus died, they returned to their jobs of catching fish.
Meditations on Luke: Maundy Thursday
March 29, 2018 by
These words, straight from Jesus’ lips, have a haunting tone. Jesus is fully aware of what is about to happen. Nothing about our Lord’s passion is an accident, a mistake, or a coincidence; it is all part of the Father’s plan, and Jesus knows it.
The Potter’s Wheel is Still Turning
March 28, 2018 by
God told Jeremiah to go the potter’s house because, through the work of the potter, God would reveal his message to Jeremiah. The prophet watched as the potter worked at the wheel, purposefully shaping the clay with a beautiful and useful end in mind. But, as the potter worked, something went wrong.
Brokenness, a Prayer for Lent
March 14, 2018 by
God, it takes courage to be the creatures
you made us to be.
Year after year we add to our experiences of the world,
pushing against our limits
to find out what will budge and what will not.
Meditations on Luke: A Judas Living Inside Each of Us
March 13, 2018 by
In his memoir Telling Secrets, writer and preacher Frederick Buechner tells about his childhood after his father committed suicide. In addition to the trauma of losing his dad was the grief of being forbidden to speak of what happened.
The Wind and the Spirit
March 1, 2018 by
What would you do differently if you could start over? What would you change if you could be born again? If I could edit my life, I would skip junior high football, wrecking my father’s car, and the last five minutes of my first date. I would stop my mother throwing away my baseball cards.
The Baggage We Carry
February 28, 2018 by
My excitement about being on El Camino De Santiago—the Way of St. James—walking in the footsteps of the millions of pilgrims who came before me, carried me for the first portion of my journey. My feet were still in good shape—no soreness or blisters, not even any calluses yet—and I was sticking to the schedule I’d designed to keep myself from overdoing it.
Trying to Make the Unhappy Happy
February 27, 2018 by
Trying to make the unhappy happy. There probably isn’t much future in this, God. We like to be liked, and we love to be loved. At least some of us. Well intentioned psychology has partly vilified some among us as people pleasers. Take away any personal tendencies, and we are left with more practical concerns.
Meditations on Luke: The Depth of Darkness
February 14, 2018 by
One the greatest measures of human creativity is our ability to rationalize almost anything. No matter how destructive our actions, no matter how foolish our choices, no matter how selfish our behaviors, no matter how dark our impulses, we can always come up with a good excuse or a reasonable explanation for them.
Mystery, a Prayer for Lent
February 13, 2018 by
God, thank you for faithful signs
of spring that tell us you love the world.
Give us glimpses of your creation
that are sights for sore eyes…
With All Your Heart
January 23, 2018 by
Good counselors ask good questions. The counselor who helped me work through my season of depression once asked me a question that revealed a source of my pain and a path I needed to take toward healing. She asked, “Who knows your whole story?”
Holy Hilarity: Somewhere Over the Rainbow
January 17, 2018 by
The conclusion to the flood story addresses a variety of topics, including what we eat and how we eat it, capital punishment, and the connection of all life on earth. It does not specifically address Big Macs, whether to execute by firing squad or electric chair, or the importance of talking to your plants.
Faith, a Prayer for Epiphany
January 2, 2018 by
God of life,
God of all our becoming
winding
changing
hopeful
fearful years—
we praise you
for your faithfulness.
Catching a Glimpse
December 27, 2017 by
The first Christmas comes and goes, and most people don’t notice. Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, and a few others catch a glimpse of what is happening, but they’re just a handful.
Meditations on Luke: “Do Not Be Afraid”
December 26, 2017 by
Over Christmas one of my daughters asked me a question. “Daddy, why is it that every time an angel shows up in the Bible, he always says, ‘Do not be afraid’?” I responded, “Well, what would you do if an angel suddenly appeared in your room one night?”
Facing Grief, at Christmas and Always
December 19, 2017 by
I am neither a nihilist nor a pessimist. For heaven’s sake, I am pastor of America’s home of Positive Thinking. I am, however, a realist. And as such, I have a theory about life. Here it is: Life is not the last five minutes of the movie.
How Does Christmas Feel?
December 13, 2017 by
When I was a high school student, I did not compile a particularly enviable record as an athlete or as a scholar. I did, however, achieve a fleeting measure of notoriety as an Elvis impersonator.
Meditations on Luke: Our Given Identities
December 12, 2017 by
When my wife was pregnant with each of our daughters, we felt a degree of stress in coming up with names for them. For one thing, we didn’t want to offend anyone in our families of origin. Use names from only one side of the family and you may alienate folks on the other.