Karen Armstrong, in her very captivating book, The Spiral Staircase: My Climb Out of Darkness, says: “In the words of the late Joseph Campbell, we have to ‘follow our bliss’, find something that wholly involves and enthralls us, even if it seems hopelessly unfashionable and unproductive, and throw ourselves into this, heart and soul.” For me, to follow my bliss means to be a pastor. In fact, I desire to be the best possible pastor I can be. About two... Read more

“Nothing depresses me more than hearing an organized religion worry about membership. Do they think Jesus is somehow impressed by voter turnout? Do they think God gives preference to religions that appear especially popular? It’s not like God only allocates federal funding to religious organizations that meet a quota…” (Chuck Klosterman). </p><br /> Read more

I will sub-title this “Rainy Days and Mondays Always Get Me Down!” Pretty consistently, Mondays are a terrible day for me. As a pastor, it is usually my day off. I get up early, as usual, read my devotions, some theology, and try to pray. I do a bit of blogging and eBay. I get my kids up, prepare lunches and get them off to school. Then, I promptly proceed to sink into a deep hole of despair while Lisa... Read more

“Unfortunately, in life, our strengths can become our weaknesses. Just as the dark side of charisma is narcissism, the dark side of innovation is fraud. Enron fell victim to both” (Sherron Watkins). </p><br /> Read more

“Your enemies will define you, so make them interesting. In this case (Achtung Baby) it starts to be the hypocrisy in your own heart—you realize that’s the more interesting enemy” (Bono). </p><br /> Read more

Last night Lisa and I were invited to dinner by people who are a part of our church. They wanted us to meet friends of theirs, Shane and Alli Magee from Ireland. They have their own blog called FAKE REPUBLIC. Check it out to find out more about them. VERY interesting people that we instantly engaged with. We enjoyed beer and wine and ate lots of wonderful food as we laughed and talked and debated late into the night. Half... Read more