Rewired for the Journey

I always thought being a pastor would be the coolest job in the world. I would be sitting in a huge Gothic cathedral smelling incenses and lighting candles. Then I would be in prayer and from time to time someone would come in seeking guidance from me a "holy man". Then I would listen to the troubled soul as reflective as a Buddhist Monk and after listening I would speak with the passion and depth of wisdom as Yoda of Star Wars! Sending them off with "May the Force be with you young Jedi". Well, sounds great does it not? But in reality, it was a very busy life full of go-go-go and not much time of reflection and no big Gothic cathedral to walk around in and write sermons just a small rural church the size of your living room. Always short notices to perform a wedding (God forbid we take time to have pre-marriage counseling) and the hospital visits for people who did not ever darken the door of any church but expected you to come and pray over them. About the onl

I have read a book called  Saving Paradise  which is intriguing and troublesome at the same time. I went downtown Indianapolis to Christ's Cathedral on the circle to hear a mini-lecture by the authors who happened to be in town. They are two women who have spent their whole life being theologians. Both had some interesting points but in the end, I smelled something in the pot that should not be there! It's called an " agenda"!  In this time of history, there are many voices out there all claiming truth and knowledge   about the Bible and Jesus. The sad part about it is the majority of it is false doctrines of one form or another with heresy sprinkled in for good measure. Thus my spirit laments the unsound Christian beliefs ground we now stand on. The two women authors agenda was to take away the power of the Cross and replace it with the Garden of Eden. Which they believe is still here on earth and so here comes the "lets worship mother earth doctrine",

I took a step and  WHAM ! My left hip had a sharp pain hit and walking became a chore. The next four days my best friends were ice packs and Ibuprofen. If you ever had your sciatic nerve go out then you can relate to my situation. Being sidelined the last four days reminded me of how fragile life is in this world. Aging bodies that are susceptible to illness and injury at any moment. We try to keep them strong and healthy with exercise and healthy foods along with proper sleep but these are no guarantee that illness or injury will not strike.  Our spiritual lives are just as fragile as our physical bodies. We can feed our souls the holy words of the Bible. We can rest in the presence of our Heavenly Father. We can exercise love and charity in our homes, churches, workplaces and the world. But there are no guarantees that we will not at times get discouraged and have doubts and fears. Our human frailties that lead to improper thoughts, words that should not have been said and deeds le

Most people love to watch magicians practice their art. We expect magicians to deceive our eyes but we do not expect to be deceived in religion. But there are many false religions out there in this world that do not hold true against the last judge of arbitration, "the Holy Bible". As I continue to study theology I find there is an illusion in many modern day beliefs. Every time I think I have nailed down an understanding of Christian beliefs I find a new twist. Here is an example from this past week. "Substitutionary atonement" is a belief that has been around only a thousand years and yet it is a major accepted belief in most Christian circles. Throw in the fact that there are eight different viewpoints or theories of how it works and it can be Confusion City! You can start with Ransom theory of atonement or Christus Victor: The ransom and Christus Victor theories present Jesus as dying to overcome (supernatural) powers of evil. In this model, the devil

I have always said life can be messy! Life is so fragile. Life can change in a moment and in my life, it changed overnight. I woke up on November 5th with a blood clot in my left calf. It has been slowly healing and I have had to struggle with the mental and emotional blues. I would have a good day and think I am on my way to recovery and then the next day I am having trouble with just walking without leg cramps, no fun. I had to fight the thought that I would never get well. I have had some time (a lot of time) to reflect on my life and life in general as I am still healing slowly. I would like to share these thoughts in the hopes it may help others who are or someday may be in a suspended moment in time. I have been asking myself what does God want me to learn from this experience? First, that I cannot live life on my own, I need community. I am not as independent as I would like to believe I am. I need the community to be praying for my healing. I need someone to keep me from fall

After journeying to Bethlehem to worship the Baby Jesus we then sprint right into a new year with hopes of all kinds of changes. Maybe last year had too many changes and your hope is for a time of no changes which would still be a change in itself! Let’s take a look at Isaiah 61, the chapter talks about the deliverance of God’s people through an “anointed servant” and in Hebrew anointed means someone who has been consecrated to a special task to perform. The Jews thought the Messiah was going to be a great military leader and by violent force free Israel from her suppressors. Little did they realize that the Messiah was going to free them from themselves of a sinful nature and eternal separation from God. Jesus was going to change them and give them a new way to live, a new way to think, a new way to believe, a new way to talk, a new way to worship and restore them to a better condition. Jesus wants to do the same with you and me. Now last month