Category: Essays

So, from Friday on, I was pretty much "off the grid" and all the headlines blew up. It's been interesting catching up. Usually, I like flying under the radar and being inconspicuous. I don't do bumper stickers, yard signs, tattoos, or green / blue / red / rainbow Facebook profile pics. Now that I am once again serving in professional ministry, I sometimes feel pressure (from myself) to have an "official opinion" about stuff. So, here's mine: I decided a long time ago that God does not call me to be the morality police to this world. I think we are specifically called to (1) love God, (2) Love our neighbor as ourselves, (3) make disciples, and (4) announce the presence of God with those who need to hear it.…

  Today, I added my name to the following letter regarding the Mississippi state flag. To: The Clarion-Ledger Editorial Board Date: June 24, 2015 We are each Baptist pastors in Mississippi. We recognize all forms of racism as sin, and we acknowledge the sin of racism in our own hearts, in our Baptist churches, and in the people of this good but wounded state. We lament the violence and the bloodshed and also the everyday dehumanization that are the result of this vicious sin, and as the prophet Jeremiah said of Rachel, we “refuse to be consoled” so long as our brothers and sisters face any degradation. As we seek the peace and the well-being of this good, but fractured state, we call upon Governor Phil Bryant and the Mississippi…

The last couple of months have been a bit of a whirlwind - I left my day job, wrote a novella, went to camp with my kids, took a 20th anniversary cruise with my wife and some good friends, and did some freelance consulting and graphic design work. Needless to say, writing new essays became a lower priority for a while. Things have settled into a more predictable routine, so I can once again turn my attention to writing here. So, I shaved my head yesterday. Well, I didn't exactly shave it with shaving gel and a razor. It’s more of a buzz cut - a really, really short buzz cut. I used the 1/8 inch guard on my clippers and went crazy while the rest of the family was…

I usually try to “bloom where I am planted.” It seems like generally good advice for living – be content where you are, find opportunities to grow in any situation, give all of your effort to everything you do, and so on. I said “try,” but the truth is that I have to work hard to bloom where I’m planted. Too often, I am distracted by the new and shiny, or I want to indulge an underlying sense of wanderlust. I want to try something new, become good at it, then move on and tackle something else. That feels like growth to me. Many folks, however, can really and truly bloom where they are planted. No matter where they are, they become essential lynchpins to their environment. They become the…

As a Christian, I get irked by a lot of comments from atheist friends where the word “religious” becomes a pejorative term.  To many folks, the mere presence of faith or spirituality marks me as a fool or a willing dupe. To be called a Christian is to be labeled by default as intolerant and misinformed. The majority of the time, when I see the word atheist, I read “asshat.” Unfortunately, as someone willing to struggle with my own faith and ask tough questions about what it means to be loved by God and how I am obligated to share that love with others, I have the same reaction in the other direction. As someone who once served in professional ministry and now works in a secular environment, I am…

As individuals, we work hard to live authentic lives. But, how do we find authenticity for our businesses and organizations? It’s tough to do. We forget that organizations can be authentic. Worse, we forget that they should be authentic. If you want the short version, here it is: The world is run by and for PEOPLE. Understanding and remembering that fact is essential to maintaining authentic organizations. 1. Remember Your “Why” Why does your organization exist? Why does it do what it does? If your answer is “to make money,” then you’re full of crap. Do you make pornography, sell illegal drugs, support human trafficking, or  bilk little old ladies out of their life savings? If so, then maybe you are in it just for the money. Otherwise, your organization…