“You know, the English are not very nice,” she told me. “I was there, you know. And they were cold and uncaring.” The woman speaking to me after church at my wife’s congregation the day I flew out to England told me this sincerely. I was struck how easy it is for us to define…
Tag: relationships
A Wonderful Fragrance
The first time it occurred I thought it was Fred walking to the sauna. Fred is this big, jovial guy I’ve met at the gym. He’s lots taller than me, three times as wide, but it works on him, and has the kindest smile. Once as he walked by me after his shower this fragrance…
Great is Thy Faithfulness
“Dad, did you hear what I chose for my processional music?” “No, I didn’t,” I said, as we stood waiting our cue to walk in for the wedding rehearsal. She named the songs before the processional and then said, “And for the processional, ‘Great Is Thy Faithfulness.’ So, we need to walk slowly. I want…
Share Your Heart
I walked in to my counselor’s office and said, “Okay. Today I want to talk about two things. Money and Exercise. I want to start with money.” My counselor, Kate, and I have worked together for decades, literally. Over the years, we have processed the stress of ministry, the challenges of life — all those…
Life Comes in Waves
Listening to my CEO doing a training I was suddenly struck with this fact — he is leading from his strengths. Of course, hopefully this is true for all of us in life, but I imagine many of us are not leading from our strengths but wishing we had different strengths. The only reason I…
Men Who Put Skin on Jesus: Steve, Bob, Reid and Kevin
Dave S. from my last post, connected me to a group of guys called “Brothers in Christ” or BIC. This group of Portland businessmen of all ages was founded and led by a local lawyer named Don. The group met monthly for breakfast at a downtown club, hosted a Christmas lunch, and a yearly retreat….
Men who put Skin on Jesus: Ed D. and Dave S.
“I need to nail your feet to the ground,” Ed quipped on the way out of church one Sunday soon after I had arrived at Westside. It became his standing joke. He said it with a twinkle in his eye and a laugh. Ed, a barrel-chested, big guy, almost a decade older than me, has…
Men who put Skin on Jesus: Mike M.
I had been serving Banks 15 years. “Don’t call unless the appointment makes your heart sing,” I had told my District Superintendent (DS), Kate. In my denomination’s vernacular an “appointment” was a church to serve as pastor. In addition, I had told my leadership team what I had heard from my DS, “There were no…
Men who put Skin on Jesus: Iron Sharpens Iron
The “South Banks Project” was a bitter pill for Banks’ residents. Streets and utilities had been completed in what had been a field and construction had begun on the houses, when I arrived at the church. By and large, the predominant attitude about the project in the community was critical. The folk of the Banks…
Men who Put Skin on Jesus: Bill, Rand and Glen
The pastor at a nearby congregation had a good friend in Bill Seagren, who was pastoring at Marquam and Carus UMCs. Some members from my previous church in California were his parishioners. I wrote of that here. The three of us met for prayer a few times. I always longed for those prayer times…
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