The panic attacks began one sunny autumn Sunday morning shortly after I arrived at that Colorado church. Nothing unusual was happening – it was a Sunday like every other Sunday. It was during the final morning service when one moment I was reading the text, the next I felt my throat constricting and my breath … More Panic
The Journey One day you finally knew what you had to do, and began, though the voices around you kept shouting their bad advice — though the whole house began to tremble and you felt the old tug at your ankles. “Mend my life!” each voice cried. But you didn’t stop. You knew what you … More The Journey
Oh God, I am so deeply scared. That is the sum of it. Fear, Panic, Anxiety, Terror Name it, claim it, and move forward – Finally And now let it be that when the apprehension rises up in me As it will I will see it and know it for what it is – Just fear … More Fear
“It seems to me this is much of what life is – trusting God, but also (and this is harder) learning to trust myself. It’s all leap after leap in the dark. Sometimes God seems to open a door, but just as often there is no door, no foreseeable route. It’s then I feel like … More Leap after Leap in the Dark…
Grace and peace to you on this Lord’s day, in the name of our risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. True story. A United Methodist pastor was asked to conduct a graveside service for a member of his church. The only problem was, the cemetery was more than an hour and a half away from … More Do Not Fear – an Easter Message (2017)
In the late summer of 1996, I was 26 years old and I had packed up my car and headed to Wyoming for an internship at a church there. It was just me and a pile of cassette tapes and a boombox next to me as I drove across the prairie toward my home for … More Burning Bridges
“Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, … More Easter is Coming
“I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act, says the Lord.” – Ezekiel 37:14 This morning after I got the boys on the bus, I went for a walk. Then, … More This One Life
This Sunday, the Old Testament reading is Ezekiel’s vision of the Valley of Dry Bones (Ezekiel 37:1-14). In Bible study this morning as we talked about that text, the question came up, “What kinds of situations do people face which might cause them to despair that they feel like dried, dead bones? How might God’s … More Dry Bones
For many years I have taken photographs of churches and cemeteries. I’ve been asked numerous times if my photographs are available in a coffee table book or somewhere else and so I have set up a little shop on Society 6 where you can find some of my photos available as prints, notecards, and even … More Sacred Spaces Photography Available Now
