Rewiring My Fears
After four years of trying to sell our old house, we finally moving into our new house last August. To prepare it for retreats, I’ve been immersed in …
Intimate Theology
Indispensable or Invited?
Last week I visited my oldest son to celebrate a few birthdays. He showed me a picture of a time he helped me fix a drive shaft on my old pickup. He …
Gifts and Gods
When I fly, I never talk to the person next to me. I sit quietly and read a book while they sit quietly and watch a video, just as God ordained …
Intimate Theology
Two years ago I met with a man who had left his job to pursue mission work. He had devoted his remaining years to helping other people create a legacy …
Meeting Jesus in Mystery
I recently read an article in which the author rejects any kind of fear of God. He especially hates the beavers’ descriptions of Aslan in The Lion, …
How Do We Measure the Fruit of Our Lives?
My father pastored five different churches between 1949 and 1994. His first four churches averaged 200 members, and his last church grew from 250 to …
Shut Down by a Sneer
Six weeks ago, I flew back from a Hearing God retreat in Seattle. I sat next to a young man—thirty-ish—who was returning home from a job interview. He …
Betrayed
Last week I woke up in a nightmare. The dream seemed real, like an IMAX theater with heart-throbbing surround-sound and mountain-shaking sub-woofers. …
I Was Ashamed of Myself
I was small for my age. When I graduated from high school, I was 5 feet 7 inches and 120 pounds. (I added 2 inches and 25 pounds in the first two …
What A Fool I Was!
Shortly after graduating from university, I took a trip with my new boss to a conference. He was about to give an important presentation, but over …
Codependent Kids
In the last month, each of my four grown kids asked me for advice: one asked about buying a camera lens, one about the best way to help a friend, one …
Institutional Injustice
Mrs. Blackstock, my fourth-grade teacher, once took our class out to the playground to play softball. She divided us into two teams and assigned each …