The folks who produced the Christian films, “Fireproof” and “Facing the Giants” have produced a new film entitled “Courageous.”  If you haven’t seen it men, I encourage you to go and take your wife with you.  Every father needs to go.  Judy and I have seen it.  It’s about four cops in Albany, Georgia.  They do…

If you are like I am, as a committed Christian guy, I am pulling for Tim Tebow.  I want him to succeed as the quarterback of the Denver Broncos.  But I agree the jury is still out as the whether or not he will make it as the starting quarterback.  What I find interesting is…

We all know about the ponzi scheme of Bernie Madoff.  It was worth more then $60 billion.  But now in prison Madoff says he works in the one of the stores of his prison as “a glorifed bag boy” for $170 a month.  He believes he deserves to go to prison and to he punished.  As…

Steve Jobs died on Oct 5th at 56.  As I write this blog, his book is hitting the book stores today.  I read a post today on the interview given by his biographer Walter Isaacson on “60 minutes.”  The post talked about some of Jobs’ religious views.  I want to draw attention to two quotes…

In my last blog I talked about the appeal in our day of the Desert Fathers.  As one observer stated, “The flight to the desert represented both a protest and an affirmation – a protest against a decadent and overly institutionalized ecclesiastical body and a restatement of the gospel teaching to fit the changed conditions…

Back in the early 80’s I read a book by Henri Nowen entitled “The Way of the Heart” in which he introduced me to the desert fathers of the 4th and 5th centuries.  At that time I was just beginning to understand the need for silence and solitude in my life.  He gave a quote from Thomas Merton that…

As I was working on the sermon for Sunday from Matthew 22:1-14, I was reminded of something that David Benner pointed out about this text.  It is the parable of the wedding banquet.  The king prepares a banquet for his son.  He sends out his servants to tell those who have been invited to come…

Last sunday the gospel text that I preached on was from Matt 18:21-35.  It is the parable of the unforgiving debtor.  I sensed the urgency of communicating the joy and freedom of living “a lifestyle of forgiveness.”  After over forty years of being a pastor among Lutheran folks, I know there are many who live…

I have been reading Richard Foster’s new book entitled, “The Sancturay of the Soul.”  I assume that most of the readers of this blog are familiar with the writings of Richard Foster.  I stumbled unto his first book back in the late 70’s entitled “The Celebration of Discipline.”  In those days I was fully immersed…

To be trully human and fully alive involves enormous vulnerability and risk. It is a journey into maturity.  Most men choose the bondage of addiction over the anxiety and freedom that comes with being fully alive, fully awake and fully aware.  David Benner has pointed out that “the primary function of any addiction is to numb and desensitize.  Task…