Note: this is an excerpt from An Ordinary Death: Where Grief and Relief Hold Hands, available from Amazon.com. It is Thursday afternoon, not quite three weeks since this saga with my mother started when she was found after suffering her series of stokes that felled her. My sister and I are back in the hospital with my mother again. This time, we are at Methodist Richardson, and the experience here stands in stark contrast to the experience at Medical City.... Read more
Today, I’ve reached the final excuse that actually sparked the whole series of the top fifteen reasons for avoiding transformational worship gatherings. The other fourteen ranged from complaints about the checkered history of the church to frustration over unclear and divergent doctrines to the personal sense of feeling unworthy, unwelcomed, or unknowledgable about the mysteries of church language and customs. One excuse, “God will understand,” suggests that God doesn’t expect us to live in holiness, but is perfectly happy for... Read more
I am now back to the questions I asked at the very beginning of this crisis: How does one go about dying in our society? Why can’t we embrace an ordinary death fearlessly? Note: this is an excerpt from An Ordinary Death: Where Grief and Relief Hold Hands, available from Amazon.com. I’ve always had leftover socks. When all my sons were young, just matching socks was a huge weekly chore and I always kept a bag of mismatched ones which... Read more
Several weeks ago, I watched this year’s induction into the Football Hall of Fame. In almost every case, these exceptional athletes first gave honor to discipline of practicing their faith as a key factor in their athletic success. Clearly, church life had permeated their hearts and minds. Football was their occupation; excellence their goal; but the development of their souls through worship was not discarded or put aside in the process. I was reminded then of a story Jesus told... Read more
Note: this is an excerpt from An Ordinary Death: Where Grief and Relief Hold Hands, available from Amazon.com. Why is this situation with my mother hitting me so hard? For what reason do I find myself in inconsolable tears so much of the time? I am beginning to think that the loss I see happening with her represents to me the loss of a whole generation. A generation of people who actively pursued right; who suffered deprivation, who gave up... Read more
Note: this is an excerpt from An Ordinary Death: Where Grief and Relief Hold Hands, available from Amazon.com. It has been eight days now since my mother was found with her massive and multiple strokes. I spent the first six days with her, although I did start going home at nights. Yesterday, Friday, I just couldn’t go. I needed to get back to work, to get the message ready for Sunday, to meet with my staff who have been at... Read more
Note: this is an excerpt from An Ordinary Death: Where Grief and Relief Hold Hands, available from Amazon.com. In the few hours of sleep I had last night, I kept having dreams that I was facing multiple impossible tasks. There was also some sort of poisonous snake or lizard that infiltrated the bookcases. It would be in plain sight and then hide away again. I woke this morning in despair. I have this sense that by going ahead and arranging... Read more
Note: this is an excerpt from An Ordinary Death: Where Grief and Relief Hold Hands, available from Amazon.com. For the fifth day now, I am sitting in my mother’s hospital room at Medical City Hospital in Dallas. After a really massive stroke sometime Thursday night, my sister found her Friday afternoon and she was brought here. Roller coaster ride–first it looked like she’d recover, then her heart headed back to the state that caused the stroke to begin with and... Read more
From the beginning of this series on why people avoid worship, I’ve defined worship as a time when unrelated people gather together to acknowledge God and intentionally move beyond our humanness into an understanding of the Holy. An integral part of transformational worship lies in the connection we make with others think differently than we do. Connection between humans requires vulnerability where we expose who we are, what life forces have shaped us, and what we value most. Think about... Read more
At our church, we often have a “stump the pastor” time during part of the morning service. Members of the congregation are free to pose any questions on their mind concerning the Christian faith and see how quickly I can come up with an articulate and biblically accurate response. One Sunday, a younger member who had been reading some work by Shane Claiborne asked, “In order to be fully Christian, do I have to give away everything I have?” Good... Read more
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