Walking The Walk

A few years ago, I was getting gas at a local convenience store.   As I’m waiting for my tank to fill, a guy walks out of the store after paying, gets into his car, and starts to pull away.   Suddenly, I see this young girl in a cashier’s apron dash out of the store towards the guy that’s pulling away.   I seriously thought maybe he’d stolen something.   She's sprinting after that car, and I mean like she’s trying out for the Olympic team.   She catches up to the car and knocks on his window.   He stops and rolls down his window.   “You forgot your change,” she said.   And she gives it to him.   Just change.   No bills.   Then she walks back to the store.   I was a little surprised by that.   It stuck with me.   In our modern world the fact she would have done that for less than a dollar in change is kind of remarkable.   That's not enough for a coffee these days. She could have easily pocketed that loose cha...

What they don't teach you in seminary is how awkward being a pastor can be . . .  I was riding to the cemetery in a hearse recently to do a graveside service, and a car pulled out in front of the driver.  The driver braked, honked at the car, and then let an impressive tirade of foul language fly.  That was followed by the awkward moment when he realized he was sitting next to the pastor.  “I’m sorry about the language, Reverend,” he said.  I went to my stand-by line, "I've heard way worse than that—I've been a Cubs fan my whole life."  Somebody is always apologizing to me for something, and I’m still not used to it. I haven’t been a pastor for a long time.   I've  spent most of my life "not a pastor."  I've been a Christian for a long time, but until I became a pastor, nobody ever apologized for swearing in front of me.   Nobody ever tried to explain to me items in their shopping cart at the grocery store. Nobody tossed a cigarette ou...

 "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven." ~Ecclesiastes 3:1 Last week, I attended my 40th high school reunion. It started on Friday night when we all met at our high school for a football game.  The next morning, we toured the high school.  That evening there was a nice dinner.   A s we were exploring our old high school, I was struck by how much some things had changed, and how little other things had. We all noted that everything seemed a little smaller than we remembered it.   I was struck with just how much each of us had changed.   Some of us had experienced serious health issues already.  Some faces I barely recognized, weathered by four decades of life's joys and sorrows.  Most I recognized right away.  But what hit me hardest was the memorial table—photographs of classmates who had passed away.  We've lost twelve out of our class of 88 graduates.  Cancer, accidents, heart attac...

Almost exactly one year ago, my life took a dramatic change.  I retired from a career that was 9-5, and very predictable, into full-time ministry.  It was a difficult change, because I was used to decades of working in a very set routine, with set hours, in a job that I knew inside and out. And then all the sudden I'm thrown into a vocation that doesn't have set hours (if I'm awake I'm the pastor).  And there is no routine, because every single day is different, and every single week is different, and you never know what each day and each week is going to bring until you get into it.  And it was a struggle, because I'm a planner, and you just can't plan in a normal way when there's so many variables.  It has taken pretty much a year to find my footing.  Change is hard.   I'm not the only one that struggles with change.  One of the biggest challenges we face in life is dealing with the constantly changing nature of our world. More often than n...

The only thing harder than quitting a bad habit is beginning a good one. At least that's been my experience. I've had a very long habit of starting my day off in the Bible and with prayer. My routine varies-- lately I've been studying in Romans. I spent about a half an hour reading and studying, and another half an hour writing in my prayer journal. I rarely miss a day. But it was a difficult in the beginning to get into that daily habit. But I've found over the years, it has become my favorite part of the day. I've got a couple tips I hope you will find useful in setting aside a little time for God each day. My first time is to start small. I mean it really small. Don't plan to spent an hour on it every morning--you're setting yourself up for failure if you start with an unrealistic goal. How about instead, just find a nice five minute devotional to read each morning, and spend a few minutes in prayer. Perhaps you could find a journal to write you...