Planning for a sabbatical is interesting. Also interesting are the discussions surrounding it. Some pastors, desperately needing one, wishfully happy, and others who believe in it give a holy thumbs up. There is also the ‘what-about, I didn’t, yada yada’ statements. Here is the thought process that lead to the sabbatical I’m about to embark […]
One key rule to navigating life is that on this side of eternity life is hard and not fair. We can have a pity party or we can chose to make a difference. We can blame or question God about the storm, or we and seek him in it. The choice is ultimately ours. Some […]
Rather than burn things, pray for them. Rather than protest, seek to serve. Rather than demonize, wish for their well-being. Rather than scorn, show compassion. Rather than shout, speak in whispers. Rather than be heard, fervently listen. Rather than ridicule, show admiration. Rather than hate, love. Rather than go after ‘enemies,’ pray for them. It […]
As a society we are pontificating about how to stop school violence. The focus is on shootings at the moment, but there are other forms of harm that are rampant in our schools. In these ‘debates’ the question is often given, “What are your solutions?!” The reality is there is a cost of stealing the […]
The slander of the NRA bothers me greatly for a number of reasons. The biggest is the false motives assigned to them. The summer camp I attended had NRA certified instructors man the rifle range. As a boy I loved guns and all things explosive. But from them and other NRA friends I learned more […]
You cannot control outcomes, you can only control how you respond to them. In various types of crises I see people trying to control outcomes. This is futile. You don’t have that much power. If we try to control things we can actually make things worse or open the doors for other negative experiences. Why […]
Change is possible. One of the biggest changes we need is the courage to engage in conflict rather than run from it, only to have an explosion. In the entirety of my ministry, conflict resolution, or peacemaking, is the most often used skill set used. I discovered the norm for most people is naivety on […]
