I've long been fascinated by the rich young ruler—not because of what he did, but because of what we assume he didn't do next. Picture him walking away from Jesus in Mark 10, shoulders heavy with the weight of unmet expectations. The text says he
Writings
Previous Posts
Load More
You've reached the end of the list
My family and I moved to Washington, D.C. in March 2020, only a couple of weeks before everything shut down because of COVID. I've lived in many different kinds of places throughout my life, each one teaching me something about America and about myself. When I was
On one of my prior TikToks, I got a comment that said something along the lines of "Jesus's words aren't any more important than the rest of the words of the Bible." This is unfortunately a very common idea in modern readings of the
The first time I recall seeing real pastoral leadership, it came with a power cord and the smell of industrial carpet cleaner. I was twelve and starting to become convinced I was destined to be the next John the Baptist, heralding in the second coming of Christ (religious trauma starts
Family & The Sweet Chaos of Friendship * The Livermores just left and I'm emotionally exhausted in the best way — our Iowa friends (now living in Omaha) came for a week with their family of five. Our youngest kids have known each other since they were babies, so watching
Those who tried to use Jesus' name as a technique got humiliated, while those who actually turned toward Jesus' way gave up their tools of manipulation entirely.
"Thanks for everything, but we're not going to see each other again." As a pastor, it's not uncommon that I have one of those conversations. You know the ones. An individual or family leaving the church, citing theological differences with the leadership. Never mind
One Sunday, the slides didn't work. Or, more accurately, there was no one to run the slides. I watched from the back as the congregation fumbled for their phones, squinting at tiny screens to find the second verse to "How Great Thou Art." A few people