Archives for 2005

It’s been a good week. I was able to get a lot of things done that needed to be done. I had a series of very encouraging meetings regarding the shape of future ministry efforts at Garnett. I finished up a mini-series on hospitality this morning that I thought went pretty well. This week I’m […]

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Today I’m eating everything in sight. Tomorrow I’ll be saying goodbye to candy and bread until Easter.

Here’s what we’re doing in the Wednesday night class I teach. We begin with about ten minutes of introductory conversation/teaching. This usually has something to do with contemplative prayer or “lectio divina.” It’s part history lesson and part instruction. Then we spend fifteen minutes in contemplative prayer/silence. I turn down the lights and we sit […]

Did you catch the gang on Larry King Live? The Lahayes were, well, they were the Lahayes. No real surprises there. King badgered them a bit and they didn’t come across as the sharpest apocalyptic fundies in the land. Maybe it was because they were in studio with King, but I thought they were given […]

God’s blessings upon Russ and Rebecca Debenport as they make their journey to Thailand to join a mission effort in Chiang Mai. I spent a month in Thailand one summer during college. The people were warm and generous. The food was delicious. The churches were vibrant. The weather was hot. The meat market was bloody. […]

Seeing too much to deny and too little to be sure, I am in a state to be pitied. Blaise Pascal

Man-oh-man. My week has been packed and is only getting fuller. Sunday is “Family Business Day” at Garnett, which is another way of saying “Budget Sunday.” Now more than ever, I’m understanding that a church like Garnett is both a family and a business. Both are equally important. Sometimes I get the sense that some […]

Forgive me, but heaven gets in the way of lots of important work. Hold on, now. Before you fire off a red hot e-mail response or call me on the phone or assemble a church tribunal, hear me out. For twenty-five years I served churches as a pastor. For the past ten years I have […]

Have you seen the movie To End All Wars? If you haven’t, and there’s a good chance you haven’t, then check it out. It is based on a true story, is set in a WWII Japanese POW camp, and is brutally graphic. It is also one of the most “Christian” movies I’ve ever seen. If […]