Photographic Passion
Why am I so attracted to photography? Of what use is it? Or better, what use do I want it to have for me or others? These are just a few of the questions with which I’ve been grappling? The impetus for these questions has come from Tony Luna’s book, How to Grow as [...]
First Camera Memories
I bought my first camera in 1976. I think it cost me about $179 ( a great deal of money for a 20-year-old college student 33 years ago). It was a Vivitar SLR and had a couple of lenses with screw on mounts. This meant that every time I wanted to use the telephoto [...]
Career Reflection
My wife and I had dinner this evening with a young couple from our church. Both have recently graduated from seminary and have just entered the world of church ministry. I am simultaneously thrilled for them and scared for them.
We talked of their hopes and ambitions as a ministry couple. I was reminded of [...]
I Suffer from Spiritual-Truth-Forgetfulness
A few years ago I read Dallas Willard’s Book, The Spirit of Disciplines. It was a wonderful book. I underlined many significant passages and wrote myself notes in the margin. The spiritual truths I found there were bound to change my life. Two years later I somehow acquired another copy of the book. Completely [...]
Living My Vocation Every Day
Mark Goodyear responded to my last post (hey, thanks Mark) with a great question.
I like this idea that there is only one calling–to Christ. How do you avoid letting that concept get twisted, though? People read Merton and think life has more meaning if they stop everything and pray. Or if they go work [...]
My Vocation
I’ve given my life to several different jobs. Since graduating college, I’ve been a minister, a college teacher, a seminary professor, a writer, and an insurance salesman. Currently, I’m a consultant in the mental health field. I used to refer to my job as my vocation. I don’t any more. None of these are [...]
Prayers Do Get Answered
I wish I could say God is always swift to answer my prayers, but it is not true. Often I wrestle with non-answers, confusing indications, or complete silence. I cannot say that I believe less in those moments. Rather, I sometimes feel sorry for myself as if God’s response is done intentionally to hurt me. [...]
Trust God in Your Wilderness
Other Posts in this SeriesTrust God in Your Wilderness The exodus of God’s people from slavery in Egypt was a great trust building event. God heard their prayers and intervened in a historic way to bring the people out of bondage and set them on the road toward a new land. God showed himself in the [...]
Speaking Love
Matt, my younger son, is out of town this week on a mission trip to Mexico. I talked to him on the phone this evening and he told me about finishing their project which was to build a new home for a needy family. They dedicated the home this afternoon. I am proud of Matt–the [...]
Voices
I’ve been thinking about voices the last couple of weeks. No, I didn’t say I was hearing voices. I’ve been thinking about them. Specifically, I’ve been considering the people who have no voice–the citizens of Darfur, the homeless, the mentally ill, the poor, the children, etc. They are the people of our world who [...]
Disorder
Order appeals to me. My family and close friends can tell you I tend to be an orderly person. I make my To Do lists and check them off. I arrange my books in alphabetical order according to author’s last name. I abhor stacks on my desk, and those I have are small and [...]
Emotion
My wife and I were having a conversation earlier today in which she shared some of her heartfelt desires. She allowed her emotions to show so I knew how deeply she felt. I appreciate the ability she has to speak from her heart and to share her emotion. As much as I might want to be [...]
Profound Faith
When confronted with something new I tend to make comparisons. That is, I compare this new phenomenon with what I have experienced in the past or what I already “know.” I compare it to my current worldview to see if it fits. I cannot know the world except through the lens of what I [...]
Colorful Monuments
One afternoon in Guatemala I stood on top of a home looking out across the hills and mountains. Directly below me the steep dirt road descended deeper into the valley. A procession of people climbed the hill past me in a loose line. In the center of the group, four men carried a small casket [...]
Beauty
The locals say Lake Atitlan in Guatemala has no bottom. In reality, no one seems to know how deep it actually is. There is an aura of mystery and awe associated with this beautiful lake. It is located in the cupped hands of mountains and volcanoes that surround it in all directions. The early morning sun paints pink [...]
Worship
This morning I worshiped at my church. Several hundred people gathered in a large auditorium designed, no doubt, by some of the finest architects. Polished wood beams supported the high ceiling. Sunlight illumined the space through stain-glassed windows. A high-tech sound system magnified the voices of the worship leaders and those of a robed choir. [...]
Comfort Zones
Sometimes I sit at my computer to write a blog entry and realize I have little to say. No new thoughts have surfaced in the previous days. It frightens me. When I stop reflecting, I feel like I’ve stopped living. My mind-numbing routines sometimes deaden my perception and awareness of God and truth around [...]
Laughter
In my meditation this morning I read the passage from Luke where Jesus says, “Let the little children come to me, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” Then I read in Brennan Manning’s book, The Relentless Tenderness of Jesus, these words. “Blessed are you who laugh. . . . But [...]
Goof
You may not be able to tell by looking at this picture on the internet, but it is all wrong. I saw this interesting looking building from the main road last week in my travels. To get to it I had to drive about a 1/2 mile up a dirt road (my car had [...]
Reprieve
This morning, in the pre-dawn hours a storm raged through my town with flashes of lightening and loud, rolling thunder. The aftermath has been a gray day of drizzle. Depressing, you say? Not for me. I laid in my bed this morning listening to the drum rolls of thunder and the windblown rain against [...]
Desert Places
I am drawn to the stark honesty of poets, who with an economy of words express a truth that often alludes my own verbiage. Robert Frost, in his poem “Desert Places” writes:
They cannot scare me with their empty spaces
Between stars–on stars where no human race is.
I have it in me so much nearer home
To [...]
Mood
I’m taking a photography class at the local technology center on Saturday mornings. Although I’m reviewing a great deal I already knew, I’m also learning a few new tricks along the way. Today our instructor passed out an arm load full of coffee table style photography books to us. He asked us to peruse [...]
Forgiveness
This past weekend my wife and I took a driving tour of the back roads of northeast Texas and southeast Oklahoma. We saw beautiful scenery, quaint small towns, and rural lifestyles–any of which I may comment on in later posts. At one point we passed a small rural church with a letter-board marquee out [...]
Poverty
Yesterday, a woman I met pulled me into her world of poverty. She had recently moved to the city to escape her abusive husband who would lock her in their place of business at night. She hitched a ride, pawned her wedding ring for $10, and moved in with her sister’s family. The determined [...]
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