It happens to the best of us. Something (although at times it’s someone) captures our hearts. The Bible counsels us to guard our hearts and for good reasons. What about the fruit, which she knew was off limits, caused her to throw caution to the wind and end up in such a mess? There were […]
What we desire says a lot about us. How often have you had to answer the question, “Why in the world would you want that?” Of course, we can answer why we want something, but we may also realize the other person would never understand the answer. As it has been said, “The heart has […]
This is part of “The Formative Path” a 2024 Fall Sermon Series at St. Paul United Methodist Church in Bloomington, Indiana. For more information and the Weekly Reflection Sheets, go to https://ponderingpassages.com/category/path/ Most people know that spiritual practices such as reading scripture, spending time in prayer, singing, and Bible study are vital to strengthening their […]
This is part of “The Formative Path” a 2024 Fall Sermon Series at St. Paul United Methodist Church in Bloomington, Indiana. For more information and the Weekly Reflection Sheets, go to https://ponderingpassages.com/category/path/ Some days, when they’re over, I just want to fall into bed. Maybe it’s been a bad day full of challenges, difficulties, and […]
I thought I’d post an update since it’s been a while. Overall, I’m doing well. Little by little, I’m feeling better and regaining strength. Occasionally, I feel well enough to do something and then realize I’m still not where I’d like to be strength-wise. The symptoms I had earlier in the year have pretty much […]
I don’t know how often I was asked about my pain level. The scale started at 0 and ended at 10. At first, I wasn’t sure how to answer. Since I wasn’t sure what a pain level of 10 was, I wasn’t quite sure how to respond. Then, it hit me. The most pain I’ve […]
I had a bit of a setback since my last update. What started as a call to my surgical team about some swelling in my foot ended with life-threatening concerns and a five-hour ER visit. After an ultrasound, x-ray, and CT scan, I was diagnosed with two acute pulmonary embolisms in my lungs, which was […]
I’ve been home since Monday evening, but haven’t felt like updating or really communicating. I believe I texted someone(s) but don’t remember much about the communication. Nevertheless, I want everyone to know that I am recovering at home and doing well. I came home with a drain, so I have to be careful with that. […]
This will be short. Surgery went well and I am painfully progressing. I’m walking and they continue to give me less stuff through my IV. Thank you all for your prayers and concern. It means a lot.
A New Journey I’m not exactly sure when it was, but at some point, probably over a decade ago, I wanted to know the book of Psalms better. The Psalms cover all of life’s experiences and emotions. There are beautiful Psalms, tragic Psalms, Psalms of desire, Psalms of confusion, and even some Psalms that seem […]
Back to Normal On April 4th, 2022, I began a sabbatical. Next week, I will go back to normal life. When I began my sabbatical in April, I had no idea what would happen, now, I look back with grateful appreciation. My final sabbatical activity was camping (mostly on my own) and then a weekend […]
Hiking Life Over the past several months, I’ve hiked more than I have in my entire life. Some hikes were easy…some were difficult…and a couple of times, I found myself wondering, “Is it really the best idea to continue on here? The path ahead looks a bit difficult.” I find myself asking that last question […]
No Time to Dive Deep When your schedule is full, having more on your plate than you could possibly do, it’s easy to push the call of God aside. Busyness serves as a distraction to deeper challenges. If we keep everything on the surface, we don’t have to dive into the deeper depths of who […]
A Funny Thing Happened to Me On the Way Back from SabbaticalSeeing the Finish Line I only have a few more weeks left on my sabbatical. When I first thought about pursuing a sabbatical, I didn’t know what to expect. I thought there would be times for experiences that I had never had before. I […]
Challenged In my blog post Effortless Living, I referred to an interview with Dr. Amos Smith by Brian Russell. During the interview, Dr. Smith said something that challenged me. He compared Eastern Christians’ approach to prayer, specifically Centering Prayer, to those of us in the West. He said the Christians in the East know they […]
Specks and Logs Jesus gathers the crowd and begins teaching. What he teaches is important if they are going to live the life of God’s kingdom. During his teaching, he tells them what has been accepted as commonplace will not be the way of God’s kingdom. One area of kingdom life is how we interact […]
Lights Off I was in the mood for a milkshake, so we drove to the local Arby’s. The parking lot was empty and we didn’t notice any lights on which was odd for a Sunday evening. Nevertheless, we drove to the drive-up window to place our order. That’s when we saw the sign. It was […]
The Universe Cries Out “The joy is in the journey.” I never understood that statement. For me, joy is getting to the destination, to finally being “done”. “Once I get to the destination,” I would tell myself, “I can finally rest.” That’s a great thought. That one point to finally sit back and rest. However, […]
Visiting the Grand Cayon during my sabbatical was amazing. The day was beautiful and warm, with very few, if any, clouds. It was going to be a great day to visit the canyon. We arrived, parked the car in one of the parking lots, and made our way to the visitor center. We then walked […]
For several years we had a cat that liked to be left alone. She was a stray that showed up in our garage and we couldn’t get her to leave. After several weeks, we gave in, realizing that the cat had chosen us as her family, and we accepted her as a permanent resident. She […]
When the doctor called me, he said I had a Neuroendocrine Tumor (NET). The preliminary report pointed in that direction and the biopsy confirmed it. After the preliminary report, I looked up NETs because I wanted to know more. I learned that they were not all cancerous. However, it is believed the non-cancerous NETs can […]
Visiting the Grand Cayon during my sabbatical was amazing. The day was beautiful and warm, with very few, if any, clouds. It was going to be a great day to visit the canyon. We arrived, parked the car in one of the parking lots, and made our way to the visitor center. We then walked […]
Spin Cycle My mom would quip how she didn’t know if she was coming or going from time to time. Her acknowledgment usually came during busy times when I wanted to start a new activity or had something I needed her to do. My mom and dad were 43 when I came into the picture. […]
Addicted I have an unhealthy infatuation with time. There. I’ve admitted it. My time infatuation wasn’t easy to admit. At first, I wrote, “I’m beginning to realize that I have an unhealthy infatuation with time,” but that isn’t really admitting to the problem.
I’m beginning a retreat today, but I made the trip a day early for a meeting and to spend some time reading. I love the statement by Steinbeck that you don’t take a journey, a journey takes you. I’ve verified that statement many times. This journey is no exception.
Psalm 61 Where Can We Go? Life gets bogged down. We take two steps forward, but because of unforeseen challenges, we take six steps back. Frustration ensues as our problems loom large and solutions are nowhere in sight. We become so fixated on our problems that we can no longer see past them. We believe […]
Psalm 60:1-12 Where was God? You thought you had it all figured out. You planned. You strategized. And then…failure. Not a small failure, but a colossal failure. A failure so big you had to step back and reassess your approach and ask, “What went wrong? Where did I get off track? How in the world […]
Psalm 59:1-17 Jokers to the Left, Clowns to the Right I don’t like problems. When I have a problem I try to fix it, or get it fixed, as soon as I have. Problems are enemies which work against my goals and agenda. Imagine my surprise when the psalmist ask God to allow his enemies, […]
Psalm 58:1-11 Psalm 58 Watching the World Burn People gravitate toward the Psalms because of their complete and utter realness. I was taught that if I didn’t have anything nice to say…then don’t say anything. The psalmist doesn’t follow such motherly advice. Instead, the psalmist lets his fury fly. There’s a scene in The Dark […]
Psalm 57:1-8 Should I Stay or Should I Go? Some problems can’t be fixed no matter how hard we try. The problems are bigger than we are. I used to try to fix my problems. After much frustration, I finally admitted that some problems can’t be fixed, or at least not by me.
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A Warning I have written a few posts on the Enneagram and how I’ve found the tool helpful. Since there are others who are interested, I thought I’d share some resources and thoughts on how the Enneagram can help in the discipleship journey. First, a disclaimer. The Enneagram can rock your world. Not because it […]
Hey everyone. My friend Curt and I just released a new episode of Pondering Psalms. I the episode, we talk about Psalm 14.
Back to Normal On April 4th, 2022, I began a sabbatical. Next week, I will go back to normal life. When I began my sabbatical in April, I had no idea what would happen, now, I look back with grateful appreciation. My final sabbatical activity was camping (mostly on my own) and then a weekend […]
Hiking Life Over the past several months, I’ve hiked more than I have in my entire life. Some hikes were easy…some were difficult…and a couple of times, I found myself wondering, “Is it really the best idea to continue on here? The path ahead looks a bit difficult.” I find myself asking that last question […]
No Time to Dive Deep When your schedule is full, having more on your plate than you could possibly do, it’s easy to push the call of God aside. Busyness serves as a distraction to deeper challenges. If we keep everything on the surface, we don’t have to dive into the deeper depths of who […]
A Funny Thing Happened to Me On the Way Back from SabbaticalSeeing the Finish Line I only have a few more weeks left on my sabbatical. When I first thought about pursuing a sabbatical, I didn’t know what to expect. I thought there would be times for experiences that I had never had before. I […]
Challenged In my blog post Effortless Living, I referred to an interview with Dr. Amos Smith by Brian Russell. During the interview, Dr. Smith said something that challenged me. He compared Eastern Christians’ approach to prayer, specifically Centering Prayer, to those of us in the West. He said the Christians in the East know they […]
Specks and Logs Jesus gathers the crowd and begins teaching. What he teaches is important if they are going to live the life of God’s kingdom. During his teaching, he tells them what has been accepted as commonplace will not be the way of God’s kingdom. One area of kingdom life is how we interact […]
Lights Off I was in the mood for a milkshake, so we drove to the local Arby’s. The parking lot was empty and we didn’t notice any lights on which was odd for a Sunday evening. Nevertheless, we drove to the drive-up window to place our order. That’s when we saw the sign. It was […]
The Universe Cries Out “The joy is in the journey.” I never understood that statement. For me, joy is getting to the destination, to finally being “done”. “Once I get to the destination,” I would tell myself, “I can finally rest.” That’s a great thought. That one point to finally sit back and rest. However, […]
About five or six years ago, I started using Chromebooks. Up to that point, I was squarely in the world of Windows. I loved Windows as an operating system, but grew weary of the slow boots, slow updates, and program conflicts. I was also looking for something cheaper than most of the Windows laptops on […]
About a week ago I purchased a Samsung Chromebook Pro. I’ve wanted one of these even before they were available. However, it’s taken me about a year to finally get one. I’ve not been disappointed. In fact, I’ve been extremely impressed. I’ve been so impressed that I decided to do a “Real World Review.” This […]
Yes, the Logos Android bible app runs just fine on a Chromebook. Here’s a short screen-cast. The app works extremely well and has all the functionality of running it on a phone or tablet.
NOTE: I changed the title from “Four Tools to take ChromeOS Beyond the Browser” to “Four Tools to take a Chromebook Beyond the Browser” to reflect that Linux is used rather than native ChromeOS. Thanks to Philotech Mueller from the Chromebooks GooglePlus community for pointing it out! I’ve already written about why I use Chromebooks. […]
I’m a big fan of Chromebooks. I purchased my first Chomebook, a Toshiba 1st Generation, a few years back. Even though I am comfortable with technology, I love the simplicity, affordability, and how Chromebooks just work allowing me to focus on what matters; my work. More times than I can share, Windows would “get in […]
I posted a couple of messages on the Google+ Chromebooks community about an issue I’ve been having with version 53 (dev with Android Apps) and running Linux via Crouton. It took me a while to realize that Linux seemed to be causing my Android Apps to crash. Since I was on DEV I assumed it […]
What this Review Is And Is Not I thought I’d do a review of the Acer R11 Chromebook focusing on how it fits within my daily workflow. This review will not address the technical specifics of the Chromebook, but more day to day usability. If you are interested in specifications, octane speeds, etc., there are […]
Around March of this past year I was in the market for a new laptop. My laptop had seen better days and I was getting frustrated with the fan continuing to come on for, what seemed to be, no reason at all. I was also frustrated by spending way to long letting the thing update […]
The Computers / Background From time to time I become discontented with my computing situation. I’ve moved away from having the latest and greatest PC. Now I would much rather have a cheaper PC and find ways to get it to run well. My life is surrounded by four different computers. I have a computer […]
I’ve been trying to incorporate Organic Groups with Forums in Drupal 7. What I’m wanting is a private group where group members can post various types of content and also have a private forum for discussion. OC has changed a bit from Drupal 6. It is now recommended to use Panels as well. I’ve been […]
Note: While I focus on pastoral work in this article, I believe anyone who struggles with scheduling creative work may benefit. I debated publishing this, fearing that some may not understand the various pressures and struggles of pastors and others who must address problems without clear solutions or perform other tasks which draw on creative […]
If you want to see what a Leaderbox looks like, here’s my unboxing and first impressions: I told myself I wasn’t going to do it. I told myself it was too much money. But then, I received a 10% off coupon for Michael Hyatt’s Leaderbox and I thought I’d revisit my initial decision. After thinking […]
I love reading books. Actually, that’s not quite accurate. I love the thought of reading. Reading, on the other hand, I find taxing. I know many people who love reading. I’m not one of them. What I do love is learning. Since reading provides me the best and, perhaps, the most effective way to learn, […]
One of the best books I’ve read on leadership is [amazon text=“The Leadership Challenge”&asin=0470651725] by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner. The book, in its fifth edition and over twenty-five years old, outlines five vital practices for effective leadership. As I stumble my way into and through leadership, the five practices have helped my […]
4 Tips that Help You Remember what You Read Are you Sure that Leaders are Readers? I used to think that leaders were readers because I kept reading that they were and the belief just seemed right. Many leaders do read, sometimes quite a bit. If you want an example, just check out Bill Gate’s […]
Unimportant Words There was a Peanuts’ Cartoon where Charlie Brown was making a sign and Lucy, because the sign was wordy, kept marking out words one after another until all Charlie Brown had was a one word sign. Apparently, some words are unimportant. We can communicate without them. However, some words are important, such as […]
Wheels of Progress In over twenty years of pastoring, I have not known the church to be on the “cutting edge” of culture. There may be an argument about some mega-churches focusing on innovation, but for the majority of churches, the wheels of progress move quite slowly. The statements of “We’ve never done it that […]
A Book Really Changed Your Life? Some might say the title exhibits hyperbole. Perhaps, but I’m not completely convinced. I don’t name this post lightly. Let me share why I say a book changed my life. Along with several other churches, my church was participating in a transformational process sponsored by our conference. One of […]
This post contains both a confession and a vision. Over the past three or four years I have been facilitating pastor peer groups for one of our conference programs. The objective of the groups are that each pastor can become the transformational leader he or she is called to be. A few times, after reading […]