Keeping grounded and fed by my faith, I am able and capable to help others heal and grow in their own spiritual and emotional wellbeing.
All tagged COVID-19
Chaplaincy During COVID
I realized that chaplains are the spiritual connection for patients and families in times of need, but we are human, too.
Is Doubt a Sin?
May you find rest in the winter of doubt and receive the affirmation of spring.
Play the Cards You Hold
If we began our congregational ministry by assessing what we have to offer, we’d likely find it’s a lot.
Walking While Grieving
My challenge that day was complicated: keep walking uphill while fighting the wind and trying to find the next trail marker amidst the fog.
Sheep Respond to Nurture
This week I saw a sheep with an adopted master, following close because it knew familiarity and care. It had everything it needed and responded simply in acceptance.
Is it Time to Quit My Church?
For me, perhaps the saddest aspect of the pandemic has been the polarization and consequent sorting of churchgoers.
Joy in Discouragement
When we would rather erase the previous period of time rather than reflect on it, it may be that burnout, fatigue, or just plain discouragement is impeding our ability to feel anticipation or excitement about the future.
Thinking About Church Leadership in a Different Way
Many of us talk to churches about how to rethink our approach coming out of the pandemic. This is a chance to do things differently.
Reflection Roundup: Behold, the Light
As the light of Christ streams in the window, lighting the room of our lives, let us notice what the light illuminates, yet not spend glorious, God-given energy attempting perfection in what is the Lord’s to complete.
Making Decisions About Decisions
The past 18 months have given ministers and leaders ample – if unwanted – experience in making difficult decisions.
Reflection Roundup: Unfriendly Homeostasis
Beware of the lure of calm waters. Not every minister must be a “whitewater adrenaline junkie,” but paths toward missional goals often contain obstacles ministries must leverage.
Reflection Roundup: Generational Trust
Generational differences are a given; intergenerational trust is a must. It’s essential we listen to and honor the priorities of those going before us and those coming behind.
Reflection Roundup: The Limitations That Myths Impose
Faith is the space between doubt and certainty; amid fear and self-assuredness lies trust in power, our knowledge of whom is but a dewdrop in the ocean.
Reflection Roundup: Soul Fire
We must give ourselves over to letting what’s burning on the inside show on the outside. Otherwise, we miss an opportunity to warm someone else and may wind up consumed by our own flames.
Reflection Roundup: Embody the Message
Embody the unchanging story, the gospel that is truer than true, where you are “you-er than you,” rather than living in response to an old memory tape.
Reflection Roundup: Topics That Stretch
Christ confesses in his Phil. 2 hymn that every knee that bows brings glory to God the Father.
Reflection Roundup: Pandemic Realities
Scott Sauls writes, “Christians possess resources in Christ to pursue harmony between individuals and groups who could not possibly come together, let alone love one another, outside of Christ.”
Needing the Eyes of Elisha
We must do a better job of learning to see how God is at work. We aren’t called upon to wage war in the way of the world. It’s not all up to us. We don’t need to fight fire with fire.
Reflection Roundup: Painfully Simple
God desires to be found, to be known. Though God is not far from us, God doesn’t make God’s will difficult to discern; we do.