Simply Gospel

A couple days ago, I invited  you to concentrate on someone who has helped you in this life, someone who has made you feel special in some way. Didn’t it feel good to stop and think about that person? Well, now I’m going to ask you to go the other way: think about someone you intensely dislike. Think of someone who makes your skin crawl or your blood boil every time their name gets mentioned. They might be a celebrity; they may be a family member. They may be a thousand miles away; they might be living in your own… Continue reading

We’ve all had people in our lives who we know care about us. They have helped us become who we are. They want us to do well in our lives, and they’ve had gone out of their way to be a positive force in our lives. Can you think of someone like that in your own life? Who makes you feel that you are special to them? Just take a few seconds, and think on that person right now. What a wonderful feeling to know that someone out there loves and cherishes you, that someone always wants what’s best for… Continue reading

I see stuff like this all the time on Facebook: If you don’t like what I post, then it’s your problem. Just delete me if you don’t like what I write because I’m just being myself, and you should go away if you can’t handle it. Or I see and hear things like: If I can’t be myself on Facebook, it’s ridiculous. I wish people at church would stop trying to change me. I am who I am, and if they can’t handle it, they shouldn’t be friends with me on Facebook. It’s their problem if they can’t take me… Continue reading

I had to take the day off work to help take care of our daughter today because my wife is sick. When she asked this morning if I would stay home, I hesitated – not because I considered abandoning her, but because I was running through my head the various things I’d need to line up to miss a day at work. (When you’re going to have roghly a hundred kids come through your classroom in a day, you want to make sure everything is in order!) There was never a question. Of course I’d drop everything to take care… Continue reading

One of the fun things about my daughter is that she has not yet developed anything resembling an inner dialogue. Every thought that runs through her head comes out as a sort of self-narration through the day. “Miss is eating grapes.” “Miss sees bunnies.” “Miss play in kitchen.” “Miss wash hands.” “Miss go upstairs now and play with trains.” There are no mysteries, and that can be advantageous to keeping her safe at times. “Miss going downstairs without railing,” she proudly proclaims, and both of us are suddenly scrambling to the staircase. It’s almost a shame we grow out of… Continue reading

I’m a good public speaker. I say that without reserve. I have few strengths, but I know that’s one of them. I’ve given talks on technology, on autism, on arts integration, and I’ve delivered more than a few sermons in my time. My style is fast-paced, witty, sometimes appropriately sarcastic, and I enjoy ending on an inspiring note. In a sermon, I’ll seldom keep you sitting for longer than twenty minutes (thank you, Mark Twain), and I slave over having some of the best sermon slides you’ll see in a church of Christ. I take pride in my speaking ability.… Continue reading

We live in a world that is always moving at a breakneck pace. We can prepare meals in minutes or seconds in the microwave. We have fast food, fast computers, and fast transit. We want up to the second news, stocks, and sports scores. We have speedy checkout lanes, rush delivery, and priority mail. We have deadlines upon deadlines upon deadlines, and time spent idling is time losing money and productivity. When we are not working, our free time is as packed. We have a million diversions that could engage us at any moment. We can play a quick five… Continue reading

My goodness do I have a lot on my plate at any given time! I have a backlog of lessons to post and comments to moderate on my congregation’s blog. I have tons of videos to post to my school’s new YouTube account. I have web coding to clean up, lesson plans to prep, an iPod touch review that’s been sitting here unfinished for weeks, and other stuff I can’t even remember at the moment. Chances are, however, I’m no busier than you are. We live in a culture that is always moving, that is always busy. If we have any real… Continue reading

I’m a forgetful person. Or, rather, I have a great memory that only works in specific contexts. I promised to help you address some postcards while standing in the church lobby the other day? It’s completely out of my head until I set foot back into that same lobby. (Shameless endorsement: I’ve downloaded an app called Epic Win to not only help me keep track of my daily tasks but to give me incentive to stay atop my to-do list.) I mean well, but, all too often, everything else crowds out whatever project, assignment, date, D&D Match, skydiving lesson I… Continue reading