As of today, I am fully underway in pursuit of a Doctor of Theology Degree at Northwest Nazarene University. These past couple of months I have been working on the introductory course (“Introduction to Online Theological Research”). Today I begin my first “real” course: Theological Method and Contextualization. This is why I have not made […]
I feel most at peace and at home when I am in the hills. There is childlike joy that leaps inside me when I walk a mountain trail, awaiting the mystery that lies behind each bend. When someone tells me they “get more” from a day on the lake than a day in church, I […]
“The Lord does not look so much at the magnitude of anything we do as at the love with which we do it.” – St. Teresa of Avila “We must not grow weary of doing little things for the love of God, who looks not on the great size of the work, but on the […]
The parable of the Good Samaritan is one of Jesus’ most famous parables — if not one of the most well-known passages in the whole Bible. Even those who are completely biblically illiterate have heard of the good Samaritan. “Good Samaritan” is part of our cultural consciousness. We have good Samaritan laws. We refer to […]
Controversial opinion: I think Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are a bad idea. Of course it is good to honor our father and our mother. But this should be done on a regular and active basis, not forced into a particular day that probably does more to serve commercial interests than it does to serve […]
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against things like this. – Galatians 5:22-23 (CEB) I am not much of a gardener. It is not that I have little skill in gardening (which is true), but I have little interest. I […]
I recently completed all the John Le Carré novels. Le Carré primarily wrote espionage thrillers such as The Spy Who Came in From the Cold and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. Mark Twain famously said, “Write what you know.” Le Carré knew spies. During the cold war, he served in both MI5 and MI6. His first […]
There is a difference between being accessible and being available. Accessibility is the ability to be accessed. For a pastor to be accessible means that their door is always open, their phone is always on (and they always answer), they are always willing to say, “Yes,” when you request their time and presence. Pastors today […]
If we were to turn our gaze and meditate upon Christ crucified, Christianity would become Christian again. There is a difference between a cross and a crucifix. A cross is a symbol. A crucifix is a story. Symbols can be used and abused to promote agendas. Think of Constantine’s famous, “In this sign, conquer.” Constantine […]
I recently read The Universal Christ by Richard Rohr. I will keep the review brief: I did not like it. Oh, there were things of value in the book: helpful truths and reminders, important insights, ideas worth some further thought. Yet all of these can be found in better books with less problems. My main […]
The Local Pastor 