When I was 7 years old and living in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, my family belonged to a neighborhood pool complex. Early on summer mornings, when the dew was still clinging to the grass and the temperature of the air was still reasonable, I rode my bike down to the pool for my swimming lesson. One morning in particular, the sky was overcast…

Last Sunday evening I went to our junior and senior high youth group. The first 10 years I was a pastor, I had the privilege of leading various youth groups. I have missed hanging out with the youth in the past 10 years! Youth always have different ways of seeing and thinking about the world and God. We tackled a big question…

The bummer about being a preacher is that I have to pay attention to what I am preaching and sometimes it’s stuff I would rather not think about at all. Take economic justice for example. It’s one thing to preach about making invisible people visible and it’s another thing to think about what I personally would have to do to make that…

Last Sunday in church I lugged a suitcase in to Celebration filled with heavy theological books. While I was talking with the children, I had them feel how heavy it was and then I opened it and pulled out the books that I had titled with things like “anger,” “guilt,” “hurt feelings,” and “the unwillingness to forgive.”