Words Fail, But Prayer Does Not

I’m an editor, a preacher, a teacher, a speaker, and a writer. I make my living by crafting words. I am called by God to fashion words. So it is a rare moment that words fail me. But over the past week, words have undoubtedly failed me, because in this moment, they simply are not enough.

One week ago today my son was rushed by ambulance to the local ER where he was put on a breathing machine immediately. Continue Reading →

Does Money REALLY Follow Ministry?

I’ve often heard this phrase “money follows ministry.” It sounds good. It seems to make sense. And it’s a much better phrase to live by than the reverse: “ministry follows money.” Unfortunately, the latter is far too often the case.

But as I think about it, while I like the phrase “money follows ministry,” I think it is inherently flawed. Continue Reading →

The meaning of life FOUND! @zigbonzorpfodder.com

I actually just googled “google.” I was afraid to hit enter for fear that the Internet might implode. Thankfully, I lived to tell the tale. But it got me thinking about the meaning of life, the reason for which I’m sure is 0bvious to both of us (you and me, that is)… Continue Reading →

The British Voice In My Head

So, I guess this is my very first guest post (well, I don’t guess, I know, I guess, wait, ugh). The guest writer (a.k.a, my wife) has no clue she’s doing this, but I took something she wrote, edited it just slightly, and I’m posting it. If you never hear from me again, you will know that she was not happy with me, but here goes, enjoy… Continue Reading →

When God Jellies Your Belly

 

I was 8 years old, and it was one of the biggest days of my young life.

I remember when my mom had the ultrasound. They let my brother and I watch the monitor as they put the jelly on her belly. We were giddy with excitement at the tender ages of 8 and 7. Then came the shocker: “You do know it’s twins, right? Continue Reading →

God, an Etch-A-Sketch, and Reasons I Hate My Brother

Before the days of electronic travelling bliss such as dvd players and the Nintendo DS, we had old faithful—captain Etch-a-Sketch. What a machine-o-wonder this was. Come to think of it, Etchy has to be the grandfather of the iPad. You could make anything as long as you didn’t have to disconnect a line. Some kids drew self portraits or replicas of the Taj Mahal. I was never quite that artistic.

English: The Taj Mahal, complete with ripples ...

My friends’ creations always looked like this.

The classic red-and-white Etch A Sketch model

Mine looked like this.

My biggest achievement was filling the entire screen with black lines. Continue Reading →

What Happened To Church?

What is it about CHURCH?

I’ve been attending since I was negative 9 months old. (i.e., conception, wait, negative 7 months, I was early), but I sometimes wonder about its relevance to my Christian walk—at least in its present state.  Continue Reading →

WHAT’S MY LINE? the loss of personal convictions

My Dad did not like to hear cuss words. He would often give one warning to any given movie or show and after that, the plug was pulled. And when the remote was missing (or in the days before we had one), Dad had us get up, walk to the TV, and press the power button. This made it even more annoying. Continue Reading →

Dear God, What’s Your Favorite Cookie? a lesson in gossip and prayer

My kids know how to address only one parent: Mommy.

Mommy is always the first one called for anything and everything. Even when I’m the only one home, they still always yell, MOMMMMMYYYYYYY!” I should admit, I don’t ever correct them. (Dear Jesus, if you’ve ever answered a prayer, please answer this one: can you hide that last sentence from my wife when she reads this? Thank you in advance. Your bestest friend, Darren.) Continue Reading →