I learned a considerably valuable lesson last week in the pulpit; of all the places in the world in which it remains offensive to declare, “Santa is not real,” Sunday worship still manages to rank fairly high.       To be fair I did not begin my sermon with any ill intent. I am not a Christian version of the Grinch who is bent on ruining “Holiday spirit” in the lives of millions...

          In its introductory season on air the Serial podcast has become one of the most popular podcasts in the world, surpassing even the long-time champion This American Life, which is produced by Serial host, Sarah Koenig. If you are not currently among the over one million weekly listeners to the show- here is a quick synopsis.      In 1999 a young teenager named Hae...

         Every now and then a story emerges that needs very little commentary. In fact, some stories are so precious, and so fragile that any additional words run the risk of tarnishing them, cheapen them, or perhaps even destroy them. Ruth Coker Burks has such a story to tell. It is her own story of standing by the bedsides and gravesides of AIDS patients who had been abandoned by their families. It...

“To enter a broken heart means that our hearts will be broken as well.” - Paul Miller      It was close to a year ago that I sat at my computer writing a reflection on the suicide of a fellow pastor named Stephen Hightower. Today, I find myself compelled to memorialize the life of Mickey Sheally. Mickey was one of Stephen’s mentors who took his own life while sitting in the parking lot of his church at the...

Be very careful what you wish for. In the world of pastoral ministry (especially the evangelical variety) what seems to be wished for with an increasing frequency is fame. Despite the fact that it is often shrouded in more spiritual terms like “influence” or "maximizing capacity," there is but a razors edge difference between them all. In recent months we have watched our culture develop a healthy unease with "celebrity...