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Ministerial Detoxing
Sometimes the vulnerability hurts as a minister. Recently going to a doctor’s appointment, I learned much to my chagrin that LDL cholesterol level was at 397, which is double what a healthy number should be. With family history of issues in particular with LDL cholesterol, I’ve had to make some pretty stark and immediate changes,…
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“I Missed the Moment”
“I missed the moment.” Currently I’m listening to the book Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky. I generally love the craziness that expresses itself through Russian writing, and especially how writers like Dostoevsky weave philosophy, spirituality, and creative thinking into their stories. The above quote comes from a passage where a demon (or the devil…book’s not very…
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Sometimes Backstage is the Darkest
Charles Spurgeon wrote in his Lectures to His Students an entire session on something he called the Minister’s “Fainting Fits.” It occupies the 11th lecture. I paused when I read that, thinking, “What does that mean?” While Spurgeon was partly referring to a lack of physical strength and weakness, in a greater fashion “fainting fits”…
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Pray for Rain
About a decade ago, there was an interesting phenomenon happening in Austin. We had been locked in a terrible drought and our local reservoirs were approaching and sometimes below 30%. There were widespread brushfires that afflicted Central Texas communities. Businesses near lake areas were shuttering. All in all, not a great time. The phenomenon that…
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Paper Pillars
I was thinking today on the nature of Institution. Our world is filled with them, from churches to governments to schools to friend groups. It is our nature to establish relationships and pathways that last, to make tracks on the world that others will follow. But in thinking about institutions today, I remembered the Spirit…
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Straits and Gulfs, Rivers and Seas
This past month was a unique one for me as I had the opportunity in a three week stretch to stand in the frigid waters of the Pacific in the Juan de Fuca Strait and then in the warm waves of the Atlantic in the Gulf of Mexico. Almost 3,000 miles apart, these two great…
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Scars and Shorelines
What does revival look like in a believer’s life? At a recent youth camp, the idea was posed to us of “returning to the way things used to be” with regard to our faith. That statement made me pause…Is that a true goal? Should we desire to return to some previous form of faith and…
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Preparations
“The horse is fitted for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the LORD.” Proverb 21:31 In my ministry, the worst times of anxiety have always been the last 2 days before an event. You can spend weeks and months preparing for an event at or through the church, but every time the…
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“CS Lewis is Overrated.”
“CS Lewis is overrated.” This was a line that one of my roommates in college (now a stand up comedian) put on a bulletin board in our room. He didn’t necessarily think it was a true statement, but he put it up to get a reaction. And as you can probably imagine at a Baptist…
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