Money

One myth about pastors is that they’re always preaching about money. The funny thing is Jesus and the prophets talked a lot about money. And for those firmly embedded in a consumer culture, every T.V. commercial break is really a 30 second conversation about money. But while our culture chatters on and on about money,

Diversity

On Friday, I’m sharing my Credo, the current details of the story of my beliefs, the values and ideas that make me what I am. I’m not where I started and I assume this isn’t where I’ll end up either but for now, these are the elements of me. My intent isn’t to sway anyone

Life on the Road to Santiago

Tom Cochrane sang, “Life’s like a road that you travel on…” a potent metaphor. Life as a journey is a deep well that’s been drawn from by many. Oliver Goldsmith wrote, “Life is a journey that must be traveled no matter how bad the roads and accommodations.” Tolkien taught us that the road goes ever

Job Description

During the education that was supposed to prepare me for ministry, one of the most valuable things I learned was to always ask for the job description when I was interviewing for a pastoral position. When you’re being hired to be a pastor you might think you know what that means, or at least have

Created and Still Evolving

My Credo Friday thought for this week is about the evolution of my creation belief. This one is tricky because it involves several other elements of my credo, the things I say I believe. And some parts of my credo shape my attitude towards the other elements. To tell you about how creation falls in

Here We Go Again…

It’s a new year and a new decade and it’s hard not to think about new things at a time like this. My experience with church, since I became part of a Pentecostal – charismatic – radical middle church, has been an almost obsessive devotion to “behold, I’m doing a new thing.” And while the

We Are Not Saved by Certainty

On Credo Fridays I try to create a post that will give some clarity and definition to what I believe, the beliefs that make me what I am. When I think of a Credo, I think of a statement of faith. So today I want to tell you what faith looks like in my credo.

Things They Did Not Tell Me

Each week I am posting on Tuesdays about a different aspect of a pastor’s life. It’s pretty easy – or so it seems to my German DNA – for this to sound whiny. I imagine this was how Paul came across to the Corinthians. They valued strength and stoicism and Paul offered vulnerability and open

Truth

It’s Credo Friday. Here’s another bit at the core of what I believe. In I and Thou, Martin Buber invokes the Latin phrase, “Mundus vult decipi” that means “the world wants to be deceived.” In the 2000s, fictional TV doctor Gregory House’s catchphrase was, “Everybody lies.” Marketers, media pundits and psychologists discuss the phenomena of

The Anti-Baskin

One of the most important things I’ve ever heard was from my friend, Dr. Charles Montgomery Jr. Dr. Montgomery was addressing a full house at an international conference when he offered this simple truth: “If you want a diverse church, you have to have a diverse life.” The truth inside this statement is worthy of