Weekly Devotionals

  Occasionally a loud clang will make Ranger, our dog, and I jump on our nightly walks. The first time it happened, I frantically looked around until I saw a squirrel looking down at us from the carport roof where it had landed after dropping from an oak tree. Lately, the clangs have been more […]

  When was the last time you laughed really hard? For me, it was watching the new Naked Gun movie a couple of weeks ago. After all that laughter, the day seemed brighter. A doctor could probably explain the science behind it, but we intuitively know there is some truth in laughter being the best

  I think all Christians can agree God has a purpose(s) for our lives. We often talk about this in terms of God’s will. But what is God’s will? Sometimes we think about it like the “narrow road” in scripture and might even call it God’s plan, singular. We worry if we mess up a

  One of the questions we did not get to at the Q&A this last Sunday was about the church’s old building on 6th and Oak, before the Preston Road location. The question asked if I had ever seen inside. I had not, but I did go on a virtual tour on Zillow. If I

  A couple weeks ago, a new app called “Focus Friend” came out. The app is very simple. An anthropomorphized bean sits in a room. The bean likes to knit. You set a timer, and the bean knits. During that time, you cannot use your phone, or the bean will drop its needles and look

  This is an illustration I cut from the sermon, but thought it would be worth sharing. The sermon was about how joy inspires us to endure when times are hard. Normally, I listen to music while writing the sermon. Normally, I listen to playlists, but sometimes I’ll let the algorithm pick. A ways into

  I like grilled cheese. It’s so simple and good, just a few elements to make something delicious. Cheese, butter, bread. Maybe a couple of other things tossed in or substituted. It’s also easy to mess up. Story for another day, or ask me on Sunday. Even if it’s simple, it still takes attention to

There was one thing I did not appreciate on the Alaskan cruise: jewelry stores. They were everywhere. In one town I think we counted seventeen on a street about as long as HEB. It’s not that I have anything against jewelry, I was just tired of overpriced sellers advertising at me. It all seemed so

  “At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a child whom he put among them, and said, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this

  Normally, I consider the authors of scripture to be very wise, but I have to disagree with their anti-ocean bias. In scripture the ocean is usually a source of chaos and destruction. Revelation even says in the new heaven and earth, the ocean will be no more. I’m hoping that’s just a metaphor. I

The Upside Despite my concerns about the development and deployment of A.I., I think there is probably an upside. If God can redeem evil and bring good out of it, then A.I., which is only a tool and not evil, can surely be used for good. Here is one use case I found persuasive. My

28 God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” – Genesis 1:28, NRSVUE   Bowling Alone by Robert

First, what is church? What is church for? There are endless ways to answer, but I’ll try to stick to a short simple one; church is the community of people gathering to follow Jesus. The church exists to work with God in building the kingdom of God on earth by growing in love of God

I’m trying something strange. I think it is good to try unusual ideas. I guess I think strangeness is a virtue. I am aware that just because something is strange does not mean it is good. However, if we are trying to follow God’s will in a world of sin, we will end up acting

I heard a podcast host recently talk about bigotry. One of the people on the show was down on the idea that bigotry gets better when people are in contact with the people they hate. I think there is good evidence for them being right; plenty of people have harmed their neighbors because they were