Sandy, bravely revealing his pain, schooled me. He attended a focus group I hosted that sought to create a safe environment wherein a person could express their truest feelings about faith and church. Taking me up on the invitation to keep it real, Sandy dove in: “I...
Do you remember the first time someone explained to you the concept of “Good Friday?” I remember my own mother explaining how it was possible that Jesus’ death was “good,” not because torture and suffering were good, but because his death enabled us to live in...
About ten years ago, I was teaching a course on the psalms for my seminary students in the midst of a personal health crisis. It wasn’t in my notes, but I spontaneously ended up sharing with my students about my pain, my frustration, and my struggle to understand why...
This past week I have been at a reunion with college friends (this is the main reason I missed last week’s update). It’s been significant for a number of reasons. I hope to unpack a few other ideas from the trip in the future, but I thought I would begin...
A couple weeks ago I was having a conversation with another pastor and the book of Job came up. This friend said something that has stuck with me ever since. He said, “You know, the end of Job isn’t very satisfying for us. God says essentially, “I am...
When God first nudged me in the direction of developing The Pastor’s Workshop, I threw myself wholeheartedly into the collection and curation of great content. It was, on the whole, a rather foolhardy enterprise, where I, a single person, would attempt to log...
