About My Blog

People are always telling me, “I hope you are writing all this down. Someday, you should write it all in a book.” These posts are all the notes to myself for the someday book. Some entries will be like a baby book, memories of encounters with my son. Others will be humorous and disturbing conversations from my life as a preacher and pastor. I want to write in order to reflect, to think through ideas, to imagine and enter a conversation with others. I hope a few posts will be good ideas that don’t yet have a home or a context, that can be recorded here like a notebook I can return to later. For the someday book.

The posts you will find here are as diverse as I am. They are reflections on the whole of my life, not just parts of it, and the subject matter ranges freely over all aspects of  life.  I write in order to think, to pray and to reflect, and every moment of encounter is fodder for that process.

Some of it may be entertaining, enlightening, amusing. Some of it may only matter to me. Some of it may not make any sense at all. But now it will be here, ready for the someday book.

Note: I do a lot of professional writing for sermons and articles and even another blog of sermon podcasts and videos. This is not that. I created this blog to be a space for my personal writing. While I often express thoughts or ideas about the practice of ministry, these thoughts and reflections and opinions are mine alone, and do not represent my church, denomination or anyone else but me. While I often write reflections on real events in ministry, all identifying information is changed to protect the anonymity of those involved. I will frequently write about something when it happens, but wait weeks or months to post to protect anonymity.

There are a couple of regular features on the blog:

Book Reviews

I don’t just read books, I consume them. Nearly 10 years ago, I realized I was reading so much so fast that I could barely remember what I was reading. To make myself slow down and reflect, I began writing a brief review of every book I read. When I started the blog, I began posting the reviews here. The reviews I write tell the story of my encounter with the book, rather than attempting to summarize the argument or plot. They are often highly personal and can be as much about me as they are about the book. If you would like to suggest a book for me to read and review, I welcome your input.

Sermon Saplings

In Advent 2010 (the beginning of Year A), I am returning to the Revised Common Lectionary as the source of scripture for my weekly preaching. After several years of preaching sermon series of my own making, I am ready to return to the discipline of choosing from among the weekly lectionary selections. I also want to participate in the community connections that arise when so many church leaders are all considering the Word from the same passages of scripture in a given week. As part of that community connection, I am committing to posting an initial reflection on the lectionary on the Monday before most churches will engage the readings.

I call these reflections “Sermon Saplings,” because they are quick-growing thoughts that have not yet matured into full and well-considered expressions of the Word. I welcome your comments and input on my ideas, and look forward to hear your “sapling” ideas on the scriptures–whether you are a preacher or not! While I write with a seminary education and 10 years experience in ministry as background, these Sermon Saplings come before I have done any research or read any commentaries. They are an initial reaction and possible direction for considering the readings for the week. Some ideas may grow into that week’s sermon, some may not. If you want to hear what the final sermon sounds like, you can listen to a podcast at my sermon blog after Sunday.