Pastor’s Life

Getting out of bed is an act of faith - for the widow with husband lost to COVID, for the single father, bone tired, already working two jobs, for the pastor whipsawed by so many demands. Sometimes I experience a...

Most conversations I’m having with colleagues these days go something like this. Me: "How are you?" Colleague: (shrugs) "Doing ok." Me: “Yeah?" Colleague: "I’m proud of the way the congregation has weathered all the last year and a half have...

“But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for...

Last January, I celebrated 30 years of ordained ministry. This past year and a half have left me pulling on every ounce of experience of that history, learning new things, and needing to draw on my spiritual resources as never...

On Mondays, I brave the day and sit with church folk in our courtyard. It’s been a regular practice--one hour each Monday, sign up through Calendly, and for a while it was on Zoom, but since COVID restrictions lifted in...

I received a call that no pastor wants to receive on April 17, 2020. "We lost her," my church member said over the phone through his tears. My mind started spinning. How are we going to handle this, I asked...

The prophet Isaiah proclaims, “Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” Isaiah 46:18-19 It is August. For many...

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?  The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:1 NRSV Here I am, sojourning in Houston, Texas, serving Austin Seminary these...

He also said, "The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces...

Now concerning food sacrificed to idols: we know that "all of us possess knowledge." Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. – 1 Corinthians 8:1 This past winter my family went ice skating. We were excited but particularly my daughter....