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December 2016

December 21, 2016

The End of Words: A Zechariah Advent

Thanks to the magic of Facebook pop-up memories, I revisit the posts of Christmas Past...

November 2016

November 30, 2016

Assemble: Word 3, Advent 1

One of the best parts of Christmas at my house is getting out the nativity...

November 28, 2016

Anticipate: Advent 1, Word 1

I spend a lot of my time and energy anticipating future needs. Mine, and those...

June 2016

June 01, 2016

Ticking Clock and Turning Tide

We are not theme park people. We are National Park people. We are beach people....

May 2016

May 24, 2016

$10 In My Pocket

Guest Post: by Tiffany Flaming I have $10 in my pocket. It might as well...

May 18, 2016

The Poetry of Emptiness: Reflections from the Festival of Homiletics

Guest post: My friend and colleague Rev. Laura Ann Phillips shares a good word from...

May 12, 2016

Don’t Like Your Pastor? Don’t Leave Your Church

There's a blog post going around called "So You Don't Like your Pastor..." I read...

May 09, 2016

Cleaning the Brushes: The Never-Done Work of Ministry

My friend Kory shares some thoughts on the "never done-ness" of ministry. On behalf of...

May 03, 2016

Lost and Found: A Parable In Socks

You know what was great about living in the desert all those years? Among other...

April 2016

April 20, 2016

7 Ways From Sunday: 7 True Things From 7 Years of Blogging

Yesterday, I logged into my "back end" blog stuff to edit something and noticed--purely by...

February 2016

February 10, 2016

The Death We Carry

I've been planning this for weeks. An intentional out-of-office beginning to Lent; traveling to different...

February 02, 2016

Clergy Survival Guide: Flu Season Edition

I once had a teacher who suffered from severe mysophobia (fear of germs) to the point...

December 2015

December 17, 2015

Let it Go: What Church Can and Can’t Be at Christmas

Here's what I did NOT need to see: that article from "Christianity Today" about how...

October 2015

October 26, 2015

7 Ways to Prepare Your Kids for Dating…Without Using a Shotgun

It’s the oldest joke in our cultural lexicon: the father, casually cleaning his shotgun on...

October 20, 2015

20 Before 40: A Birthday Wish List

Your birthday is not the best day to start a diet. So I’m not. However,...

September 2015

September 22, 2015

Talking to Strangers: Scene in a Bar

I was drinking a beer. That was her first clue that I wasn’t a real...

August 2015

August 06, 2015

Get Well Soon! And Other Perky Things Not to Say to a Dying Person

I was on my way out the door to visit a church member in hospice care....

August 05, 2015

$h*! Jesus Says: 7 Reasons I’m (Still) a Christian

This one's for the Skeptics, the Cynics, the Critics; the Dones, the Nones, and the...

July 2015

July 30, 2015

And Yet: Two Words to Transform The Church

A friend of mine who works in youth ministry has a theory: Millennials, contrary to...

July 28, 2015

Sinking Ships: 6 Do’s, and One Big Don’t, for Fundraising

Ever been on a sinking ship? I have. Literally. But not for long. Because the...

July 27, 2015

More than Half Enough

Guest post, by Rev. Ryan Motter “Well, look at you. You’re half the man you...

July 19, 2015

Home By Another Way

I'm at my denomination's General Assembly this week. Every other year, in the HOTTEST PART...

July 10, 2015

Cloud By Day: Living With Ambiguity and Measuring Ministry

In every generation, people of faith journey across the hazy plains of “What does this...

June 2015

June 27, 2015

Holy Edges: 10 Things to Preach if Your Church is Divided on Gay Marriage

It’s going to be a great day at my church tomorrow. My congregation has been...

June 24, 2015

Good Call: 10 Ways to Nail that Pastoral Search Interview

It's that time again. All over the country, exhausted pastoral search committees plow through another...

April 2015

April 21, 2015

10 Signs of Life: Your Church Might Just Make It

I once took a group of church leaders on a planning/visioning retreat. We read and...

March 2015

March 31, 2015

Holy Week Survival Guide: 10 Life Hacks for Clergy

Lace up the trainers, zip up your robe. Eye of the tiger, baby. It is...

November 2014

November 20, 2014

Talking to Strangers

It was Sunday morning. I stopped at my favorite, may or may not have chosen...

September 2014

September 17, 2014

How to Do It All

Sometimes other clergy ask for advice on how to balance being a pastor and a...

August 2014

August 20, 2014

Mapping the Message: A Choose Your Own Adventure Tale for Preachers

When I write about pastoral life, I try to make it interesting and/or useful to...