Category Archives: For Pastors Only
Only Stories
Spoiler alert: If you haven’t seen the movie “Atonement” and want to, don’t read this.
“I Know” Christians
Please note I’m not saying the following aren’t Christians, but it is not a Christian response to respond with, “I know,” when someone speaks the Gospel truth to you, yet, this often the response I get.
You’re Just a Kid!
“You’re just a kid!” O how age can be made an accusation.
Ministerial Health
There’s an oxymoron for you: “Ministerial Health.” According to some researcher somewhere the “average” minister puts in 55 hours a week. He vicariously experiences divorce, death, and disease more times a year then he would like to remember. And … Continue reading
Falling Flat on Your Face
Nobody likes to fall flat on their face. It means embarrassment, humiliation, and defeat. I doubt there’s a pastor alive who has not had that dream where he fell flat on his face while giving a sermon: his notes … Continue reading
Amen to that!
I was celebrating the Lord’s Supper one Sunday about 4 years ago. I said the dismissal, “Now may this Body and Blood strengthen and preserve you in the true faith unto life everlasting. Amen.” As I said, “Amen,” I heard … Continue reading
On Receptionism and Touching the Ground
I was raised in the era when the Flag touching the ground was an unforgivable sin. My time in the Army reinforced this. When I flew the Flag from the flagpole outside our church the Sunday after 9/11, I was … Continue reading
A Tale of Two Jackasses
One of my favorite apocryphal stories about Jesus goes like this: Jesus, Mother Mary, and Joseph are fleeing the wrath of King Herod heading for Egypt. They are all riding on the back of a donkey. Joseph becomes impatient … Continue reading
Almost a Christian
In the movie 300, Leonidas is leaving with his small band of men to fight the invading million man army of the Persians. He bids his wife goodbye. As he marches away to certain death she calls out to … Continue reading
A Happy Christmas
Driving from Texas to Michigan in December 1977 John Lennon’s “Happy Christmas” seemed to be on all the radio stations. At that time in my twenty-year-old life Lennon’s melancholy lyrics particularly the line “so this is Christmas, and what … Continue reading