A Passionate Pursuit of God--1

Several years ago, a woman walked into Haagen-Dazs, and noticed Paul Newman in his prime standing next to her. He smiled and said hello as his blue eyes captivated her. She got her change and the ice cream and left, only to discover she didn’t have her cone. Turning back, she encountered Newman at the door, “Looking for your ice cream cone? You put it in your purse, along with your change.”

She got excited and giddy and ecstatic merely at being in the presence of Newman. Many God-seekers feel that way about God. Some. Not all.

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Blame or Own?

Imagine the Garden of Eden. Although naked, Adam and Eve felt no shame, think of that as no barriers between them. Trust overcame any vulnerability (Genesis 2:24-25). Regularly, as evening cooled the heat of the day, they would stroll with God. Intimacy with one another, with God (3:8). That sounds idyllic.

Until it wasn’t. One evening…

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A Tale of Two Cats

After providing a home and family to too many felines during our marriage, we were happy when our last cat passed, but we did decide to enjoy being full empty nesters.

Six months later, our visiting grandchildren brought in a visiting, just weaned kitten. Adamantly, Sheila agreed to keep it just overnight to find the owners, and she would put up “Lost Cat” signs the next day while I worked. Heading home with no signs in sight, I found him curled up on her lap, purring…

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Be a Hammer

An editor once asked about my writing goals, and I answered we write for either therapy or impact, and I focus on impact. Yes, they overlap, and my writing changes me, but impact dominates. Ironically within days, a quote by St. Dominic came up on Facebook, “A man who governs his passions is master of his world. We must either command them or be enslaved by them. It is better to be a hammer…”

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Who Is This Jesus?

Most love Christmas, as we celebrate Jesus’ birth. But his life transcends being a babe in a crib, and for followers of Jesus, or those intrigued with him, knowing his nature will drive how we follow. John’s story of Jesus’ life doesn’t detail the events of his birth, but summarizes them, “The Word (Jesus) became flesh and…

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Turbulent Transformations

A fellow teaching compatriot, Leilani Smith, has crafted a new skill since we both left the school—painting. That’s her “Water into Wine” above. I easily saw the blue of water, at the top right, and the red of wine at the bottom left, and the turbulent mixing of the two in the center. But she neither intended nor noticed the faint presence of a face top center. A suggested jaw line, a mouth and nose, and shaded eyes.

What a metaphor of the turbulence that accompanies following Jesus and the transformation he brings to our lives. Let’s experiment and…

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Lessons from Nam for a Marginalized Church

This bird above would have been like my bird. Back in college, I signed up for the Navy ROTC, to fly an F-4. They approved my app, sent the paperwork to DC for final signatures, and somehow lost it. By the time they discovered their mistake and asked me to resubmit, life changed and I declined. But seeing this jet at the Palm Springs Air Museum brought back memories, and a lesson for the church in a now secular society.

Not long ago, some friends and I discussed the changes…

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Born in Blood and Mud

True confession time—not only am I a bit of a Christmas junkie, but this post is revised from earlier, because the concept haunts me. Our displays seem so bright and cheery and sanitary, but the first Christmas differed, and the difference impacts our following. So, let’s think about that first one.

His parents were alone, far from home and family, and likely delivered their firstborn…

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