Painfully Hopeful

An Education

A few weeks ago I was at a wonderful training session, which highlighted ways to use the iPad in special education. It was well-presented, thought-provoking, and encouraging — three things which always make my day. During the presentation, however, I was involved in a brief exchange which has continued to bother me. The trainer was…

The freedom of immediacy

“I’ll e-mail it to you when I get home.” Thus has much important data been lost in congregations all over the world. Most congregations, for better or for worse, are volunteer organizations. This means that, for better or worse, most of the people doing the work of the congregation have a life away from it….

Immersion emergence

The other day I needed to get some work done on my MacBook, and felt an odd emotion. I was annoyed. It was odd feeling. Over the last decade and a half I’ve moved from Windows, to Linux, and then to Mac. Each time the shift was met with a sense of joy at the…

Insight

I will often appear to be “out of it.” Sometimes I’m just wiped out from worship, allergies, or illness. Sometimes I’m just “out there” pondering the existence of the universe (or pretending certain household items are spaceships in a battle for survival – don’t ask). It’s usually difficult to figure out the reason why I’m…

Romantic Realist

Sometimes I hate looking at the world. There is so much going on as people struggle to eat, fight disease, overcome natural disasters, and battle oppression for the hope of a better today. Yet, I have the audacity to think that it’s normal to go through my day without many troubles at all. The problems…

Healthy Introspection

I’m preaching on 1 Corinthians 15 this Sunday, and as I worked on the text this week I came to appreciate something about the Apostle Paul. To be honest, I had seen it before, but as I looked at the text for my sermon I was enabled to pause and see it as one if…