I’m hard pressed to think of a more complex anti-hero in scripture. The Bible has its villains: Goliath, Judas, and Pharisees come to mind. But these antagonists are, by and large, two dimensional.  The narrators don’t give us a window into their thoughts and motivations. They’re each...

Is it okay for a pastor to wonder if the way we handle the Bible doesn’t make God grind his teeth a bit? I’ve mentioned in other posts that I’m sorting out my spirituality and trying to work some (much) legalistic thinking out of it. Last week I read A Matter of Basic Principles:...

Off came the shoes. First the left, then the right. This prince-turned-shepherd had never seen a burning bush before, and when the Voice inside the bush said to remove his shoes, he didn’t argue. But his don’t-argue-with-the-Voice policy didn’t last long. As soon as the Voice began dictating...

Have you ever known anyone imprisoned by a cell of their own making? Perhaps we all do it to some degree, but some do it to the extent that their lives are an ever-shrinking, imploding world of self-absorption.  Indignation can be addictive, and some seem to have been seduced by it entirely. I know...

Back in the day, when God wanted to separate King David from his personal darkness, he sent a prophet to entrap him. The prophet told David about a rich man who killed poor man to gain his sheep. This, naturally, got the king’s ire and he demanded justice. The hook was set, so the prophet told David...

This morning I worked out with a good friend. Somehow, at 5 AM, the conversation turned to God. My friend has an awareness of God and Christ, but he wouldn’t call himself a Christian, I don’t think. He is aware, however, of a lot of the weirdness in our subculture. We both agreed that much of Christian...

One day last week I was reading one of the blogs I follow and saw a word cloud based on Romans 12. One particular phrase jumped out at me: “Pray hard.” This is a phrase that I’ve seen and heard quite a bit, especially over the last few years, and it’s always raised questions in my mind. What...

I remember it like it was yesterday: it was 1984, and I had reached the end of my 6th week of Basic Training. We were allowed to go the PX to buy non-bathroom items for the first time.  After a month and a half of music deprivation, I couldn’t wait to immerse myself in the music section. Bruce...

News of the record-breaking five-hour-53-minute Australian Open final match greeted me this morning as I checked email.  I still can’t wrap my mind around such an intense competition lasting that long.  Can you even imagine? The marathon showdown delighted fans around the world, and rightfully...

According to most of what I’ve heard and read, most New Year’s resolutions don’t last more than a couple of weeks. We’re a little over six weeks into the new year, so I thought I’d check and see how I was doing. In case you missed it in my post called “Wishing You a Messy New Year,”  here’s...