One habit I haven’t quite established with regularity yet: a good sleep pattern. In particular, I struggle to get to bed at a regular time early enough to provide ample sleep. I get out of bed between 5 and 5:30 each morning, so my wake up is pretty regular. I like the quiet house in the morning.  It doesn’t necessarily feel like I accomplish much before leaving the house at 7:00, but when I stop to reflect, it is actually fairly substantial: drinking coffee (that’s the easy part), showering, exercising a bit, cooking some breakfast, packing my lunch, reading Scripture…

Once started, habits occasionally have a way of evolving and growing. One morning habit I started with the new school year has done just that. And I am excited.  It started as an effort to use my 15 minute morning commute as a time for prayer instead of mindlessly listening to the radio. It wasn’t difficult to remember to pray each day when I got on the road, so the habit took root pretty quickly.  A week or two ago, I added a new twist: I started praying out loud. I don’t know why it had never occurred to me…

Don Lemon on CNN recently gave a great (terrible) example of how not to persuade the hold outs who have yet to get the Covid vaccine.  On air he bemoaned those (like me) who say, “Oh, you can’t shame them, you can’t call them stupid.”  His response was “Yes, they are.” And “The people who are not getting vaccines, who are believing the lies on the internet instead of science – it’s time to start shaming them. What else? Or leave them behind.” (It was not clear to me what Lemon meant by “leave them behind”.)  He continued, “We have…

Another helpful debate suggestion if you truly hope to persuade your opponent: acknowledge where they might be right. Acknowledge their fears, their perspective, and their reasons. Find some common ground. When I teach my 8th graders how to write a persuasive essay next semester, they will be required to research and acknowledge their opponents’ strongest arguments. In the opening paragraph. It’s prescribed way to start a debate. But I have seen almost none of this in the Covid wars.  Why does everything have to be painted a stark black or white?  Take the recent “debates” surrounding Ivermectin, for example: For…

I am a conscientious objector in the recent Covid vaccine wars. So I am just making this observation from a spectator’s perspective: the pro-vax folks are doing a terrible job of talking the unvaccinated into taking “the jab”.  If you hope to persuade someone to your way of thinking, here’s some great advice: Don’t insult them.  Why on earth are so many would-be influencers referring to those who are reluctant to get the vaccine as “anti-vaxxers”?  First of all, that term is already established and it conjures images of conspiracy theorist crackpots who reject all vaccines. Thus, the term drips…

The charge of “hypocrite!” in any debate is a type of ad hominem attack – that is, simply insulting an opponent personally instead of addressing the issue at hand.  The beauty (or foolishness) of the hypocrisy charge is this: With it I can distract the gathered crowd with my cries of “hypocrite!” and never touch the question of whether my opponent was correct in the past … or is correct now.  It had to be one or the other, though, right?

I was working as a youth pastor at First United Methodist Church of Pensacola, Florida. That much I recall for sure.  The rest of my recollections I don’t entirely trust, but here is what I THINK I remember: I didn’t have anywhere I had to be that morning and Melissa must have had a rough night with our first child because I was letting her sleep in. Caleb was four months old and I had just strapped him into his swing and turned on the TV, completely unaware that every channel was broadcasting images of one of the World Trade…