Sex in the nursing home

When I was pastoring in Kansas, I visited a nursing home with a ministry team from my church to provide an afternoon “singspiration” with good ole hymns and a bible-thumping sermon. No touchy, feely, hallmark sermon for these guys – they want the real thing coming down both barrels. Right before the service started the duty nurse took me aside and asked me what I would be preaching on….

More Thoughts on the Noble Wounded

I don’t take my theology from Teddy Roosevelt but by common grace he expresses an insight that honors the heroism of those who dare, do and burn for the sake of a greater good….

Whatever Becomes of The Noble Wounded?

I’ve been hearing a lot about the Fallen Heroes Fund. It is a charity to raise money to build a rehabilitation hospital for those wounded in Iraq/Afghanistan. (You can go to their website at www.fallenheroesfund.org-I am contributing and I encourage you to do so, too.) Apparently many believe that the present facilities to care for those handicapped by wounds received in noble duty are woefully inadequate even as multiple billions are being spent to put men and women into war….

Just came home from Celebrate Recovery

I spoke at the CR meeting tonight on Lesson 6: Action.  I love CR.  It’s about the only place I can go in the church (broadly speaking) where I can describe how much I need Christ, embarrassingly need Him, and people aren’t shocked.  At CR you’re supposed to need Christ because in and of yourself you fall short of the glory of God.  I have found that in “church as usual” there are plenty of people who believe in Christ. But to desperately need Him is something else altogether…

When Satan Fell Out of Heaven, He Fell Into the Choirloft

Though I can’t cite book and page, I have often heard the words that are the title of this post attributed to Martin Luther. Never one to mince words or tiptoe carefully around people’s opinions, it sounds like Luther. Or, for that matter, Charles Spurgeon! Many years ago when in seminary I became more acquainted with Charles Spurgeon and found out that one of the first things he did when he became pastor of his first church was to fire the choir, the director and actually remove the organ……

A Thought About the Cartoons of Muhammed

I came across a Pastor’s email the other day that reminds us that the work of Muhammad is based on being honored and the work of Christ is based on being insulted. This produces two very different reactions to mockery. If Christ had not been insulted, there would be no salvation. The Christian has a deep regard for the value of insults…….

An Impossible Task

The Apostle Paul says it this way.  “Here I am, preaching and writing about things that are way over my head, the inexhaustible riches and generosity of Christ.” (Ephesians 3)  There are an infinite number of things to say about our infinite God who is infinite in His merciful ways to us.  Sometimes it is frightingly clear to me that I am out in the deep where my feet can’t touch bottom.  I feel like I am trying to do the impossible -  to bring out into the open and make plain what God has been doing in secret and behind the scenes but has now been revealed in Christ…

Some thought after attending Congress 2006

Went to Congress 2006. As always, it’s a great experience-worshiping, equipping, fellowshiping, and roaming the exhibit hall. But I do walk away from Congress at times with the feeling that lots of evangelicals don’t really like church….

Here we go!!! I like to think out loud. It’s dangerous, but it’s how I process. Bouncing into and off of others keeps the synapses firing, like bumper cars at the amusement park. Some like to drive empty roads. Give me traffic and plenty of people trying to go somewhere! It’s sort of how I find my way. So let’s crash and bounce and get turned around and find out who Jesus really is.