For most people, the Christmas season evokes two extreme emotions. the warm fuzzy nostalgic notions of a time gone by or the frustrated, frazzled, and otherwise fatigued efforts to capture those romanticized emotions. Pastor Micah Sutton offers a third alternative when it comes to celebrating the Christmas season, in his book Noel: Bringing Your God-Designed … Continue reading Christmas for Dreamers, Leaders, and Doers. →

These are my typed notes for my father's eulogy delivered November 17, 2021. I improvised a bit at times, so for the full message please see the video link. https://youtu.be/2y1DUpqTzUo Thanks to Joshua Loyd for the recording. Ninety-three years is an amazing testament. Dad witnessed the invention of Tupperware, the credit card, and hair spray. … Continue reading A Eulogy for Dad →

When you’re a thinker you are burdened with a certain way of seeing the world. You cannot view it as others, and you will have great difficulty enjoying the present as the past and future insist on getting equal time. You do not have the luxury of merely being amused (literally without thinking) but are constantly bombarded … Continue reading When you are a thinker →

Increasingly, it seems that the angst among some white communities over changing demographics, and resulting cultural power, is escalating. There is a renewed effort, especially in Republican led states to pass legislation to condemn the use of Critical Race Theory under the guise that it may cause students to feel uncomfortable. The need to be … Continue reading Christians? What are your children learning in that school? →

The affable George Constanza of Seinfeld fame once encouraged a balding boyfriend of Elaine’s that in the face of his irreversible receding hairline he should “Live dammit! Live!” Good advice for those of us finding ourselves with terminal male pattern baldness as well as struggling with the meaning of life.  https://youtu.be/8cTkTEpEYfk Live Dammit! Lately I’ve been contemplating … Continue reading “Live Dammit! Live!” →

I wish I could tell you that everything is going to be alright. I can’t make any guarantees. There are none in this life. Increasingly, I find it easier to check out mentally than I do to try. It is a tactic that I picked up as a kid. In reading groups, I would try … Continue reading Note to self →

https://youtu.be/YV0IRhyYl9Q Sometimes the best thing to do is lift a hand and say "It's me!"

Going through an old journal today, I came across this attempt at poetry I wrote at some point in my son's childhood. Haden is now a great father, loving husband, and a faithful pastor, leading others in worship every week. I couldn't be more proud of the man he has become. The internets are telling … Continue reading I lived through my son today →

A reflection on Baptists and the Holy Spirit: The Contested History with Holiness-Pentecostal-Charismatic Movements by C. Douglass Weaver. When one thinks of the history of Pentecostalism, it is unlikely that Baptists come immediately to mind. But like all of American history, pulling on any single thread of a story reveals an interwoven tapestry of relationships … Continue reading New wine breaks old bottles →

A Reflection on Baby Dinosaurs on the Ark? The Bible and modern science and the trouble of making it all fit by Janet Kellogg Ray. Charles Darwin was among a reoccurring cast of characters often featured in my church’s attempts to entertain and educate young people on Wednesday nights. I remember that Darwin was often … Continue reading Darwin isn’t the Devil you know…  →