I find it interesting that this question is “…sacred” and not “…the sacred.”  I have often heard the words “the sacred” used to talk about a way of experiencing God as person, force, object, etc.  Without the definite article, it does bring in a new element.  The word sacred is defined as “something connected with [...]

There are several authors that I have struggled to connect with over the years.  Barbara Brown Taylor is one of them – until her most recent book, An Altar in the World, I had never actually finished one of her books.  Its nothing against her writing personally, but it just never seemed to connect with [...]

Thinking about the Lectionary Gospel passage for Sunday got me thinking about what it means to us that Jesus was a little boy, what it means that Jesus was fully human as well as being fully God.  It matters that Jesus lived what we lived.  Felt what we felt.  Experienced the blessed wonderfulness of life [...]

I often am asked what books I would recommend to help in one’s faith journey.  I’ve been thinking a good bit about this the last few weeks and have come up with an initial list.  Feel free to add books you might recommend as well. These books represent some different periods in my journey, so [...]

The shot above was one of the many incredible moments of the U2 360 concert at Soldier Field on Sunday night.  Never having been to a U2 concert, I cannot compare it to previous U2 performances, but I have to say that its definitely in the top 5 of shows that I have been to [...]

Growing up, I cannot count the number of times that I rode my bike or walked by myself or with friends down to these three places: A drainage ditch about 10 houses down from my own (right in the middle of the picture between the 2 houses): A duckpond a bit further down: And then [...]

Tonight was book night around my house.  Finished two books…The Country Parson by George Herbert and The Furious Longing of God by Brennan Manning.  Before getting into a specific review of The Furious Longing, I do have to contrast the two books.  Herbert’s book was written in the 17th century and is a description of [...]

What a wonderful Easter celebration in worship yesterday.  It was truly a blessed time of gathering together as God’s people to celebrate our risen Savior.  Thank you all for being a part of it.  Our focus yesterday in worship was on John 20:1-18 as Jesus appeared to Mary of Magdala in the garden.  It was [...]

On this beautiful Easter morning when the shouts of “Christ is risen!” ring throughout communities of faith throughout the world, one who was a far better preacher than I could ever hope to be shared these words nearly 1600 years ago on an Easter morning.  John Chrysostom, pastor in Constantinople celebrated the resurrection in this [...]

It unfortunately gets cliche sometimes to talk about the incredible influence that teachers can have in our lives from the first kindergarten teacher we remember to the college professor who became a life-changing mentor.  It is sad that it sometimes becomes cliche because few people have as much influence in the lives of so many [...]