Category: Practical Theology
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It’s All in the Funeral Details
Read more: It’s All in the Funeral DetailsI recently admitted to my coworkers that unlike many girls who seem to have many of their wedding details planned since childhood, I actually have more details of my funeral planned than my wedding. This is probably strangely morbid to most people, but I guess for me, it has become quite normalized to think about…
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Leviticus: Much ado about Homosexuality
Read more: Leviticus: Much ado about HomosexualityAs one of my good friends says: “’God loves all his children’ is somehow forgotten. But we paraphrase a book written thirty-five-hundred years ago.” Actually, Macklemore said that, and he’s not one of my good friends, but I like to think if he got to know me he would really like me—but I digress. I…
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Practical Wisdom for the Modern Christian from a Crime-Solving Priest
Read more: Practical Wisdom for the Modern Christian from a Crime-Solving PriestFather Brown, a delightful gift of G. K. Chesterton’s imagination (and not to be mistaken with the clever Encyclopedia Brown), is an unassuming genius in a clerical collar with an old ordinary umbrella who at one point in his life was able to summarize any page of St. Thomas’ Summa Theologica. Although Father Brown is…
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The Key to Successful Ministry
Read more: The Key to Successful MinistrySometime after I graduated High School, but before I went to college I was fervently trying to decide what I was going to do with my life. As the fog began to clear and I could see that the LORD was calling me to some type of ministry, I began to devour books and podcasts….
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3 Expert Dad Tips for the Practical Man
Read more: 3 Expert Dad Tips for the Practical ManThis week I thought that I would share some of my expert tips on that all important station in life, fatherhood. There are plenty of blogs out there that will tell you how to be a better dad by doing things like hugging your kids more and using positive reinforcement. My purpose in this instance…
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Jesus the Seeker
Read more: Jesus the SeekerI was six years old. It was “fellowship time” at church after the morning service before Sunday school. The kids congregated out on the lawn with a somewhat flat and worn rubber ball for the weekly game of kickball. I was never particularly fond of games, but my older cousin was especially good at kickball…
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The Gospel Comes To Us
Read more: The Gospel Comes To UsI have only been to an Anglican church service a handful of times, but some of the most profound experiences I’ve had in church took place during an Anglican service. The most recent was my experience this past January when I took communion from the common cup for the very first time. With words I…
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How to Ruin a Perfectly Good Group Discussion
Read more: How to Ruin a Perfectly Good Group DiscussionI’ve had the privilege of being part of several group discussions lately in several different situations. Some of these discussions were fruitful and led in a positive direction. Others were excellently hampered by certain individual’s conscious efforts to be a proverbial “spanner in the works” (as they say on this side of the pond). If…
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Transience.
Read more: Transience.Here is no water but only rock Rock and no water and the sandy road The road winding above among the mountains Which are mountains of rock without water If there were water we should stop and drink Amongst the rock one cannot stop or think Sweat is dry and feet are in the sand…
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Dancing to “Shake it Off” and Other Confessions
Read more: Dancing to “Shake it Off” and Other ConfessionsLast Friday, I had the awesome opportunity to speak in Biola’s undergraduate chapel about my thesis on shame and how it affects our relationships with God and others. I’m so grateful for the opportunity to share about what I’ve learned about shame and grace, and also my own struggle with shame and depression, and the…