Today’s blog is the continuation of, Welcome to the Valleys. If you would like to catch up with the tale, the first section can be found at this link Shortly after Walter filled his plate, Michael and Terrin entered the dining room. Noticing Satal at the head of the table, both men came to attention. “As you were Captain,…
Month: April 2016
Historic Smithville Park
Yesterday the “shutter hubbies” took a drive to Historic Smithville Park. It was a beautiful day and we we only managed to scratch the surface of it’s trails and sites. Smithville was an old company town, and the ruins of the old factory complex remain on the site. That alone is worth the trip. There…
Looking at Dawn of Justice
The Monday after Easter I headed to the theatre to see Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice. The film has now been out for two weeks so consider this your spoiler warning. I have to say, when the movie was first announced I wasn’t expecting much. First, it felt too much like a “me too”…
Kingdom Collision
Back in 2008 I preached a sermon series entitled “Kingdom Collision,” which explored the political implications of Jesus’ First Century ministry. My hope for the series was to show how Jesus refused to be sucked into the culture wars of his days. Instead, he offered a complete different perspective than his opponents were expecting1. Given…
Goals
I’m often asked by other pastors what my goals are for my pastoral ministry. It’s actually a question I have some difficulty answering. It’s not that I don’t have goals. I do. The goals I have for my pastoral ministry, however, are often not the “traditional” goals which pastors set. See, when I listen to…
Effective Preaching?
Here’s a question I’ve often pondered. Is preaching actually effective? We live in a world literally bombarded with information. Tools like Twitter, Instagram, texts, news alerts, Facebook, YouTube, Vimeo, Snapchat, and Slack shove information at these computers we carry around in our pockets. Many of us are information weary – and then we tell people…
