Who’s Following Whom?

Here’s an original story I told at the end of my message yesterday. The message was based on Mark 1:14-20, in which Jesus calls four fishermen to follow him. I would love to hear your response to this story. ***** Once there was a man who, when he was backing out of his garage at […]

What To Do When Hell Freezes Over (How to Survive an Ice Storm)

I got an email from an old friend this week. I thought you might enjoy reading his tale. ****** Dear Wade, How’s it going? You’re never gonna believe what happened to us this past week. We had one of the worst ice storms in the history of the world hit us squarely between the eyes. […]

The Bag of Walnuts

I told this story yesterday as part of a teaching on justice. It is adapted from a snippet of a folktale I read years ago. There’s a lot going on in this short tale. I’d love to hear what you hear in this story. ******* Once upon a time three kids found a bag of […]

How (Not) To Overcome Sin

Not long ago, I had a theological conversation with one of my sons. We ended up talking about sin. Out of nowhere he declared, “I believe you can so much that God will not let you into heaven.” “Can you sin so much that God will stop loving you?” I asked. “No. God will never […]

The Peeps Who Played With Matches

Once upon a time there was a mother hen who had a brood of chicks. They lived in a large barnyard surrounded by a field. Her chicks were cute, cuddly, and LOUD. Their constant peeping could always be heard, no matter where you were in the barnyard. Their mother thought of them as her “precious […]

Fearful Unto Death

The following is based on a true story. . . ***** It was summer and the old man was curled in a fetal position under a heavy quilt. He was upset. He’d been having hard dreams that left him confused. He dreamt she was sick, but was going to get better. He dreamt she was […]

Overheard At The Airport

A guy tossed his cup into a trash can as a janitor was changing the bag. The guy said to the janitor, “Are you having a good day?” The janitor said that he was. The guy continued, “Thanks for what you’re doing. This airport looks great.” The janitor looked at the guy like he was […]

Mysterious Ways: A Short Story

Beads of sweat stood at attention on Pastor Burt’s forehead. When he looked down to read, they joined forces and raced down the bridge of his nose like an Olympic ski jumper, finally splattering on the worn pages of scripture he was holding chest high. Burt’s voice boomed over the sound system as he read […]

Waiting For Greatness

I’m doing the #Trust30 writing challenge. You can read more about it here. Every day, for the next 30 days, I’ll respond to a writing prompt and post (most of) what I write here on the blog. Here is the first prompt: We are afraid of truth, afraid of fortune, afraid of death, and afraid […]

Sydney Saved The Day

Here’s a little story I’ve been sitting on until I felt like it was time to tell it. One of the hardest things in the months immediately after we shut down the church plant was going back to church. Mainly because of embarrassment. We visited several churches during that time and the one that made […]