Posts from October 2026

We had a group of pranksters in divinity school who produced a fake student newsletter to match that of the office of the dean of students. Think The Onion or The Babylon Bee. They included wild updates such as an expensive retractable dome for the outdoor basketball goals, fake menus for the campus dining room, and a hilarious multi-issue saga of Survivor with the school faculty. A couple of times each year, school dignitaries would descend upon our campus for…

How does one address God? Should we be casual, like close friends? “Hey God!” Should we be formal, as if approaching royalty? “Blessed are you, Lord our God, King of the universe”. This is from a standard Jewish prayer. One answer lies in the teaching of Jesus on prayer. “When you pray,” says Jesus, address God with “Our Father in heaven…” There are times we approach God in reverence and awe. Moses went close to God’s presence while Israel stood…

Statistics tell us that ministers have one of the higher-stress jobs in our nation. There are regular duties which must be performed no matter, what and they are generally both public and highly scrutinized. Then there’s the always-on-call part of the job, never knowing what will come up and when. The COVID pandemic didn’t help, as face-to-face ministry became impossible for a time, non-profit organizations faced funding stresses, and the need to catch up with technological tools overnight was demanded…

Dad passed away in April. He spent his last few weeks of life in the ICU. He did not “go gentle into that good night”. No, he continued to give marching orders between labored breaths, bits of advice for the situations he knew about in our lives, and he dictated a few more editorials. As one’s life ebbs away, I suppose you think in more ultimate terms. Foolishness and triviality quickly fade and vanish. This is what we discussed about…