The cicadas have been singing their song. Somehow it reminds me of the summers of my youth. Everyday it gets to the eighties or nineties. That’s very unusual here in the upper Midwest near the shores of Lake Michigan, but it has been normal this year. When the inhabitants of … Continue reading
It’s a good idea to keep our eyes, ears, and minds open because beauty, truth, and insight will pop up in strange places. On of those strange places was the May 26th episode of comedian Craig Ferguson’s History Channel show, Join or Die. Craig hosts a panel of colorful characters … Continue reading
There was no verbal response. I simple shook my head back-and-forth in shock and sorrow as the details were unfolding about the shooting at the Orlando nightclub. It is the same response I had upon hearing of the Sandy Hook shooting deaths of the twenty 6 and 7-year-old children. … Continue reading
It’s not easy living in paradise. I am confronted with decisions, like are we going to hang out on the beach, go fishing, or go for a little drive to gawk at multi-million dollar coastal homes. Maybe I will do a little writing from our porch overlooking the Gulf of Mexico. … Continue reading
Faith is something that you are not supposed to mess with. It’s fixed. Its propositions are anchored in history. You accept them and you’re “in.” Reject them and you’re “out.” Question them and you’re a problem. How those things are understood have undergone some changes through the centuries. Some faiths … Continue reading
Originality… Is not rewarded. We teach people to follow the rules (the ones that are already there.) I have had a lot of ideas that some people really hated because they felt threatened by how things may change for them, and that was more important to them than how they … Continue reading
It’s a good thing to evolve, to change, to adapt, to develop, to grow. The alternative is to stay exactly the same. There are some people would say there is great virtue is staying the same. Talk of evolving is unappreciated heresy. They already have things all figured out, so … Continue reading
I love legalized lying. You may know it by a different name; fiction writing. I didn’t even use to like to write, but caught the bug when I was a pastor and needed a public presentation (sermon, talk) every week. I had fun trying to figure out how connect ancient … Continue reading
What is the meaning of life? It’s an age old question with obvious ramifications, but who really spends much time thinking about it? We are usually too busy trying to keep up with requirements and expectations to think about the meaning of it all, or even how to enrich our … Continue reading
I am not not depressed or feeling all is lost, but I am disappointed by many things that I have been taught to hold dear. I am disappointed by a church (meant in the institutional and local sense) that equates propping up an organization with following Jesus. It acquired too … Continue reading
“It’s a great day in America.” That’s how, Craig Fergusson, former host of the Late Late Show, usually began his ad-libbed comedy monologue. After all, the Scottish immigrant became an American citizen by choice. But it’s not; i.e., a great day in America. It’s a dark day in the U.S.A. I … Continue reading
I love watching and reading biographies of musicians and bands. Their stories usually follow a similar progression. They have an “it” factor. “It” is raw talent, a singular devotion, a stage presence, or a coolness that is just right for the times. More likely, it is a combination of all of … Continue reading
I recently celebrated my sixty-second birthday. Those words, sixty-second, seem incredibly foreign to me. I feel like I ought to be in my mid forties or even younger. Part of me doesn’t mind being sixty-two at all. Part of me can’t believe that I am sixty-two. I don’t know what happened. … Continue reading
Or is exclusive. And is inclusive. Or makes enemies. And makes friends. Or gets its way or blocks the way. And gives a little, learns a lot, and finds a way. Or vilifies. And reaches out. Or believes it has the truth. And believes there is more to learn. Or is a false … Continue reading
I know. The two most written about topics on the internet, and the two most divisive. But usually about once a week I write about what ever is on my mind, and that’s what’s on my mind. I figure, it’s cheap therapy. For most of my life I have … Continue reading
As I get older, I have a hard telling if I am getting wiser or just crankier, more discerning or just out of touch. Nowhere is that more apparent than in my taste in music. I once heard Justin Hayward (front man of The Moody Blues and solo artist) say … Continue reading
I don’t like being told what to think. Who does? It’s a domineering for someone to be so convinced they are right, that they believe that you and everyone else must get in lockstep with their way of thinking. If you don’t; you’re inferior. That attitude is arrogant, disrespectful, and … Continue reading
A lot of people are going to tell you that you’re nuts for trying to live out a life of faith away from the church and religious institutions. A lot of people are wrong. Churches, like people, come in all shapes and sizes. Some are so in love with their … Continue reading
Do you know someone who complains about a physical malady, but refuses to go to the doctor? That reminds me of what is happening to our nation. Our maladies are well known in experiential terms, but they continue on an on, because we don’t want to go to the doctor … Continue reading
Living in “the now” is a big challenge for many of us. I love those year-end-review TV shows and newspaper articles. Even though I lived it, I always forget so much of what happened and I am informed for the first time about some of the important events of the previous twelve months. … Continue reading
“The blue” has a couple of things going for it. In the blue, you are free from the confines of the institutional ways of expressing your faith. You are free from outsourcing your faith expression to an organization. How you deal with that now is up to you. You are … Continue reading
My world is already split in two. Most of my Internet friends lean liberal, and most of my real life friends are conservatives. I vacillate between perspectives, and sometimes, opt out, in frustration of a broken system. Please, pull back from the fray for a moment. Let’s get an aerial … Continue reading
I wondered for a long time how to summarize one hundred and eighty-two pages into a physical image. I finally got a picture in my mind that the cover artist for my first book, An Irreligious Faith, captured beautifully. On the cover is a birdcage that strangely reminds you … Continue reading
The Royals are atypical champions. They have no pitching ace, no huge power hitter, and no superstar. Two years ago, they were bottom dwellers. How did they become world champions? They built on the right foundation. (Character) Everybody has values and those values determine what you do, and how you … Continue reading
As any student taking a test will tell you, some questions are far more answerable than others. And any teacher will tell you, some answers are a better than others. It seems almost any answer we could give to a very difficult question, could be followed by a, “Yeah, but what about…”. … Continue reading
My column in the Kenosha News, last Monday: Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.— Howard Thurman What makes you feel alive? You may be able to answer quickly, or … Continue reading
This post is part of the October 2015 Synchroblog that invites bloggers to imagine what they would say if they were writing their last blog post. Please scroll to the bottom of the page for links to other writers’ contributions. I am feeling both sentimental and hopeful as I leave … Continue reading
Ever wonder what is behind the certainty that some Christians claim they have about things that are impossible to verify? Obviously, it takes faith to be a person of faith. But, I am thinking about folks who claim they understand God’s position on every point of doctrine and every contemporary … Continue reading
In the summer, I was free to roam the entirety of the tiny Midwestern village, and do things with my favorite person on earth, my Grandpa. But fishing with Grandpa was the best thing ever. He got excited about fishing. I got excited about fishing. There was over sixty years … Continue reading
It’s tidy to reduce our faith to an intellectual exercise of systematic theology and positions on various topics. You can make a checklist to see if someone is right or wrong. It’s tidy to categorize the losers who get it wrong. You’re right, they’re wrong! Done. But love is always … Continue reading
I am writing a novel. It’s one of my many pursuits, right now. I am not sure where it is going, I just know it is therapy for me. It’s only been recently that I have ever thought about writing fiction. Not long ago I never thought I could write … Continue reading
“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” ― Howard Thurman I that is true, then I have been at least half dead now for quite awhile. My focus has been … Continue reading
For years I have wondered what faith in Jesus looks like, not faith in the church, or faith in Bible, or faith in doctrine, or faith in ritual, but faith in Jesus. This thing called Christianity has played fast and loose with faith in Jesus for a long, long time. … Continue reading
This post is part of the July 2015 synchroblog that invited bloggers to write about “What It Means To Be Pro-Life.” My fifty-seven year-old friend has been fighting for her life for over a month and half, after having emergency surgery to repair complications from a previous surgery. She is … Continue reading
Here is a convenient way to decide who is “in” and who is “out,” who we will love, and who we will hate (or disregard.) Stick a label on them. We have liberals, conservatives, progressives, Calvinists, Hyper-Calvinists, moderate-Calvinists, pre-tribulationalists, post-tribulationalists, mid-tribulationalists, Armenians, fundamentalists, denominationalists, Methodists, Baptists (Southern, General, Regular, Independent, … Continue reading
Where I live in the upper Midwest/Great Lakes region, we are experiencing a summer we thought would never come. It was a full month late, with the dependably warm weather not kicking in until July. It’s so funny because July and August are crammed full of fairs and outdoor festivals, … Continue reading
Sam My Grandpa made everything better. He was my favorite person in the whole world. Somehow, he merged a stern German demeanor with a tender, yet manly love. As I look back, I think I was special to him, like he was to me. Six-foot-tall. Back straight as a broomstick. … Continue reading
Everyone likes winning. But, every time someone wins, someone, or several someones loose. The thrill of winning, usually keeps us from thinking about the losers. Victory trumps empathy. It just feels good being right. Having the right answer, being correct, being the most astute, identifying with the right group, being a … Continue reading
Hold on! I am going to cover a lot of ground in just a few words. We all have our narrative, our story. That story forms a grid through which we witness events and develop opinions. Our stories are very powerful as a means of communication. That’s why a good … Continue reading
This post is part of the July 2015 synchroblog that invited bloggers to write about “Gay Marriage.” Honestly, I have been able to avoid this topic. So, what you read here is me “writing out loud,” trying to “process” my way through it. Is it right or wrong? Many Christians, … Continue reading
You may hate me after you read this. If you do, you won’t be alone. My hate mail file has suddenly gotten rather thick, after a recent post. For decades, I have endured the disdain of church members who felt their church was drifting out of their control under my … Continue reading
We make messes. We all do. We fail. We disappoint others, and even ourselves. We wreck havoc in our own lives, and in the lives of the people who look up to us. All of us do, to varying degrees. Some failures are subtle incidents of inappropriateness. Others are blaring … Continue reading
This post is a follow-up to “Preoccupied Pastor.” I’m not there yet, but I have mellowed out tremendously. I wonder why? Well, I couldn’t have been wound much tighter. Mostly, I mellowed out because I had no choice. Things happened, unexpected, unwanted things. Different kinds of people came into my … Continue reading
I am absent minded! I loose tract of my eyeglasses and my beverage everyday. When I get ready to go somewhere, I often return to the house from the garage to pick up something I should have taken with me. Behind the wheel, if I am in conversation, or deep … Continue reading
Another “Arizona Sun” in my yard I have turned into the family gardener. Over the last two years, we have pulled out twenty-six, huge bushes that were about forty years old and replanted those areas with things we like a lot better. One of those plants was a pretty little … Continue reading
“Responsibility” is a heavy-sounding word. But assuming personal responsibility is about freedom (a lighter-sounding word.) When you have freedom, you get responsibility along with it. If no one is mandating what to do, you need to figure it out for yourself. You need to be responsible with your freedom. You … Continue reading
This post is part of the June synchroblog “Hospitality.” Links to the other writers’ contributions will be posted when they become available. When you get married, you not only marry your wife or your husband, but you are also grafted into each other’s family, and their traditions. One of Patty’s … Continue reading
God gets blamed for more stuff that anyone I know. People have claimed that God told them all manner of things, from committing murder, to all out international war, to making just plain stupid and hurtful decisions. Sometimes, God gets credit for things he didn’t do. I have heard so … Continue reading
That’s what Elle Luna’s mother used to tell her. Elle is the author of the book, The Crossroads of Should and Must, a book I own, and will soon read. What does it mean when someone says, “You should…?” Let’s take a peek at what is implied by those words. … Continue reading
What does that look like when you chisel away all of the centuries of extraneous stuff, and it’s just you and Jesus in real life? If you jettison the hierarchy, the cathedrals, the massive church campuses, the official clergy, the budgets, the billions of dollars, the stereotypes, the expectations, the … Continue reading
