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Happy 152nd Birthday to G.K. Chesterton

It was a dark and stormy night, as they say, when I arrived somewhere between sleep and fairy land. I finally got my chance to sit down with Gilbert. Today, he’s 152 years old and he doesn’t look half bad. In fact I think he may have lost a few pounds since I last saw him. “So — happy birthday, Mr. Chesterton. Any opening words for the occasion? You really look great after a century and a…

Hand Over My Mouth

There’s something in the core of most of us: a need to figure out who caused the mess. 👉Listen to the episode We start early. A broken vase, a quick denial—“It wasn’t me.”And as we grow older, we just get more sophisticated with it. We blame systems.We blame people.We blame entire groups we’ve never met. Because if we can identify the cause…if we can name the enemy…we feel a little more in…

YOU Give them Something to Eat

On a Sunday morning in my small church, I walked into the worship center, and the youth minister pulled me aside and said, “Pastor Bob had a little emergency with his mom and dad in Toledo. He flew out last night, and he asked me to preach, but it’s been a crazy week and I’m totally gassed. Would you mind preaching?” The pre-service music had already started, and we were thirty seconds before the…

Jesus is with me...

If there is one axiom I come back to more than any other—one I find myself saying out loud when things start to tilt—it’s this: Jesus is with me. Not it’s not over.Not if I die, I die. Those are good words. They’ve got grit in them. But this one goes deeper. This one holds. Click to watch the video When I’m over my skis.When the diagnosis lands and everything shifts in a moment.When a…

Introducing Scattered Moments — A New Podcast

For forty years, I’ve been collecting scattered moments — in hospital rooms and sanctuaries, in seasons of grief and flashes of unexpected joy. Places where grace showed up quietly and changed everything. I’ve always believed that faith grows best not in comfort, but in the unexpected classrooms of suffering. And I’ve wanted to find a way to share that conviction in a form that’s brief, honest,…

The Howling Black Dog and the Still Small Voice

Four Lessons for the Depressed from 1 Kings 19 Early in my ministry, I was serving as a youth pastor in Amarillo, Texas when I walked straight into a deep chasm of spiritual warfare. It was born out of too many promises, too many personal expectations, and a growing pile of disappointments. In the midst of all the victories I experienced back when I had less gray hair and more energy—lives…

The Limping Prince at the King's Table

Coldplay’s haunting anthem Viva La Vida tells the story of a king who has lost everything—once commanding armies and ruling cities, now reduced to sweeping the very streets he used to own. It’s a portrait of reversal, of glory turned to ash, of a crown that couldn’t save him. When I hear that song, I think of Mephibosheth. He was born into royalty—the grandson of King Saul, son of Jonathan,…

#christmas #advent #beginning #worship #christianity #prayer #jesus #grace

Lessons on the X-15

When I was 3, I had an X-15. Picture a small trike with more noise than brakes — and a whole lot of reckless joy. I loved racing down hills on that thing — the wind in my face, the rattling wheels, the rush of freedom. But I had one problem: I didn’t trust the pedals to slow me down. Instead, I’d press my shoes against the concrete. It worked… sort of. But it shredded my sneakers and bloodied…

Striving for Something We Already Have

Grace slips through our fingers like water, not because it’s elusive, but because we keep clenching our fists. There’s something almost maddening about the concept of grace—how it defies every instinct we have about earning our place in this world. We live in a universe of transactions, of cause and effect, of merit and reward. So when we encounter love that asks for nothing in return, acceptance…

What We Say to God When We Aren't Listening

You know that moment when you’re the first one awake on a Saturday morning? Your phone isn’t buzzing every thirty seconds, and even the neighbors haven’t started their leaf blowers yet. You step outside with your coffee and suddenly realize: Holy cow, it’s actually quiet. Even your phone is still asleep. No Amazon delivery trucks rumbling by. Just birds doing their thing and wind in the trees –…

#listening #meditation

Angel View

“So, what’s shaken’ down there?” Gabe asked Raphael, a seasoned guardian of an American church. “Looks like they’ve gathered to worship,” Raphael said as he squinted down at the entrance. “What’s that lady carrying in? Looks like some kind of package,” Gabe asked“Probably a casserole,” came the matter-of-fact response.“A casserole?”“Must be having a special ‘something-or-other’ after…

Israel, Gideon and a Bug's Life

Remember the movie “A Bug’s Life”? If you have kids, you’ve probably watched it countless times—children love repeating their favorite films over and over. In that animated classic, a colony of ants lives in constant terror of the grasshoppers who swoop in like a plague, devouring everything in sight. The ants cower and hide, always wondering when the next attack will come, living their lives in…

#Courage #Fear #Gideon

Red Beans and Rice, Cher!

My son, Jacob, asked me for my Red Beans and Rice Recipe. I didn’t give him the recipe like it was given to me. Otherwise it would sound something like this: Lemme tell you how we do it way down da bayou, bébé.First t’ing, you take dem red kidney beans, put ‘em in a big ol’ bowl. Cover dem beans wit’ water — ‘bout an inch or so over da top, yeah — an’ let ’em soak good overnight, let dem swell…

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Praying With a Squirrel Mind: 5 Blockades and 20 Ways

I have a confession: I have the attention span of a caffeinated squirrel. And when it comes to prayer, my mind tends to hop from branch to branch faster than you can say “Hey Siri.” I’m guessing I’m not the only one? If your prayer life sometimes feels like trying to meditate in the middle of a carnival, you’re in good company. Over years of spiritual trial and error (mostly error), I’ve…

The Christ Figure in The Brothers Karamazov

Last year I began a quest to read the books I’ve never really made time to read. I’m a slow reader so it takes a while to get through doorstops like Les Misérables and The Count of Monte Cristo, but it been so rewarding. I have to confess, intimidation set is when I begin a 1033 page novel. And those names! Smerdyashchaya! I’m so glad I’m just Tullos. So often as I read these legendary tomes,…

#Christ #Dostoevsky #Reading #Salinger

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