We don’t have a word for “the opposite of a nightmare” but I have a recurring dream that is just that.   I am outdoors running down a grassy path among some trees. Sometimes there are other people at a distance, but often I am alone.  As I am running, I start taking longer and longer strides until I realize that I am actually floating briefly between footfalls.  The stretches grow longer until I am convinced that I can actually fly – or at least hover above the ground.  I take one more big bound to test the theory … and…

I just finished writing a review of a book called Preaching, written by Fred Craddock. It was a great book – the guy obviously had a lot of experience in the pulpit. To call the book comprehensive is an understatement.  And if there is a downside to Craddock’s comprehensive approach, it is that it sets such a high standard for preaching that the average preacher in the average church setting might be tempted to despair. For example, at one point Craddock asks, “Can anyone think of a reason why a preacher should not work regularly with breathing, volume, tone, enunciation, and…

I found out last week that there are over 30 American Baptist Churches across Indiana and Kentucky currently looking for pastors. And an equal number between Illinois and Missouri. (These were the regions represented at the conference I attended.) And that’s just within our relatively small denomination. With the majority of our pastors in their 50s, 60s, and 70s, the pulpit shortage will become even more pronounced in the coming decades.  It seems quite strange to me that the number of pastors seems to be shrinking at a faster rate than congregations themselves are shrinking! (And the church IS shrinking.)…

In the first chapter of Acts, Luke starts the sequel to his gospel with a quick recap – a few scenes like you might get on Netflix these days announced with the words “Previously on the Gospel According to Luke”.  Luke says that his previous book was about “all that Jesus began to do and to teach”. (That word “began” is interesting!) Then he brings us into that final scene of his gospel, where Jesus and the disciples are on a hillside, about to say goodbye. Luke says Jesus had been sharing a lot about the Kingdom of God in…

I put in a full day at the American Baptist Church conference for pastors of small churches, drove three hours to get back to Columbus, arriving a bit after 11:00 pm, caught up with the family for a few moments and now it is midnight and my fingers are hardly functioning enough even to type this excuse for why I am not writing anything of substance tonight … I will take the opportunity to say, though, that the more I see of the ABC as a denomination, the more I like it. This conference was well worth my time and…

This was one of those days that almost made me forget I was an introvert – and the day’s responsibilities were all over the map. It started with a ministerial breakfast at City Hall. Then I was back home to finish up my weekly Mission Resource email so it could be sent by 10:00 am. In it, I offered to give away free fertilizer and posted my cell number as the contact for anyone who wanted some. Then it was time for a Zoom call with the librarian at Wesley Biblical Seminary for some advice on 2 practice “Literature Review”…

There is so much garbage being produced by Hollywood in general (and Disney in particular) right now, that I feel it is my duty as an optimist to highlight a bright spot on the cultural landscape when I see it – and give Disney a little credit – even though it involves me admitting to a childhood obsession that has never really left me: I love the Muppets. But for years now I have had to specify: I love the OLD Muppets. The way they used to be.  But then Disney decided to create a new show for their streaming…

Here’s a quote for my missionary friends – I know they have seen this themselves… The famous missionary from a previous era, E. Stanley Jones, described seeing “many a missionary leave loved ones, friends, home, business, prospects, and come to other lands and find that he had given up everything except – just himself. Self was still there, assertive and jealous of its place and honor. Jesus asks us to lay down that last thing.”  On the mission field, this type can lay waste to entire ministries and, worse, bring dishonor on the Gospel. (In a place where it  They…

It seems to me that people speak on most topics as if they have absolute certainty. We tend to believe that we are 100% right about everything, even when our statements are quite clearly opinions, speculations, or matters of taste. This is the common practice among preachers as well, isn’t it?  A few years ago I was sitting in the back of a junior high Bible class in which a student asked the teacher, “Can women be preachers?” The teacher did not even hesitate, but answered with great confidence, “The Bible says women aren’t allowed to preach.” From the teacher’s…