Who are you? What defines you? What is your identity? "Identity" is a loaded term these days, being all wrapped up in things like sexuality, sexual preference, gender identity, racial identity, political affiliation – and it’s all become very divisive, very incendiary – and very confusing. Some of us might joke about the political correctness … Continue reading Who Are You?
Life is messy. That's the reason I don't care for so many Christian movies. It's not that I have anything against Christians making movies or movies about Christianity or the attempt to share the Gospel with people who are far more willing to watch a movie than listen to a sermon. It's just that so … Continue reading Not Like In the Movies
See that beautifully manicured mullet up there? Yep, that's me, about a month after my 14th birthday and finishing the 8th grade. It's my confirmation photo. If you weren't raised Catholic or Lutheran, you may have no idea what confirmation is. So let me try and explain it - from the Lutheran perspective. For many … Continue reading Why Do We Do That: Confirmation
When all hell is breaking loose around us, silence is sin. And yet, what do you say - and how do you say it? I may not know the whole path, but I can at least take a first step. Here is my prayer from worship this past Sunday: Father, (we pray for) the situation … Continue reading A Prayer for Our Country
*NOTE: This is a re-post of an earlier entry, originally published on Memorial Day two years ago. And even though many of us can't "go" to church, we can worship online, and the same principles still apply. Today, we set aside a national holiday to remember all those who have died either while serving our … Continue reading Paying the Price
Warning: rant coming. I don't like it very much when people take themselves too seriously. I like to keep things light and make people laugh, and sometimes you have to let yourself get choked up by a cheesy commercial on television, or cry outright at a Disney cartoon. When people complain about these types of … Continue reading Dear Sports: We’re Not Falling For It
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light … Continue reading Creation and Evolution
There is a phrase often repeated (and wrongly attributed to St. Francis of Assisi) that goes something like this, “Preach the Gospel at all times, and if necessary use words.” The purpose of this well-liked phrase is to remind Christians to let their actions speak for themselves, and to say more about love than anything … Continue reading Use Your Words
As we continue to navigate this new, coronavirus-initiated, shelter-in-place world, many of us are attending worship services online. While this new method of 'gathering' in front of a computer or television screen for worship via livestream, Facebook Live, YouTube and other platforms certainly has its challenges, I thought I would give you a peek at … Continue reading Worship On the Other Side of the Screen
As this coronavirus thing wears on with all of its social distancing and all-too-real statistics, I continue to see people posting things on social media attacking those who do things differently, with absolute confidence that "those people" are wrong enough to be personally insulted. And I see a whole lot of it coming from Christians, … Continue reading We Can Do Better
