I’m not a fan of Chat GBT or other Chatbots. Granted, they can be helpful for finding available flights, creating a trip itinerary, figuring out how to fit all your worldly possessions into a three hundred square foot room, or speeding up a patient’s screening process. But… Where I have issues is how quickly people…
It was in 1882 when the phrase “God is dead” first appeared. It was in Fredrick Nietzsche’s book The Gay Science. Misunderstood by many, Nietzsche was not saying that God was literally dead.[1] He didn’t even believe in God so, from his perspective, a nonexistent entity couldn’t die. What Nietzsche was saying was that people’s…
What is the role of the pastor during hospital visitation? If you have ever ministered at the bedside of the sick and dying, you know how irrelevant you can feel. Sometimes it can even feel like you are in the way. Nurses come and go checking vitals and giving meds. Doctors pop in to give…
I’ll never forget my first baptism as a senior pastor. And once you hear this story, you’ll realize how impossible it is to forget this event. Ten people were getting baptized and half of them had just become Christians in the first months of my ministry at this church. I was pumped! I had organized…
Everything in ministry isn’t serious, and a sense of humor is one of the most important attributes for staying healthy in ministry. Every time I read the Apostle Paul’s saying that God chose the foolish things of this world (1 Cor. 1:27), I’m reminded not to take myself too seriously. There’s a hilarious story in…
It’s an embarrassing story. It was my 13th birthday, and I was beginning to get into music. Knowing I was a Christian, my friend Thane bought me cassette tape[1] of an artist I had never heard of. His name was Steve Tayor, and the album was called On the Fritz. When I got home, I…
We were filled with laughter, and we sang for joy. And the other nations said, “What amazing things the Lord has done for them.” Yes, the Lord has done amazing things for us!What joy! (Psalm 126:2-3, NLT). How well do the words in this Psalm describe you? When you reflect upon what God has done,…
Of the thousands of books I’ve read there are a handful that stand out as making a significant impact on me. Francis Schaeffer’s Pollution and the Death of Man was what helped me see my faith as something that interpenetrates all of life. The gothic novel, The Monk, by Matthew Lewis hauntingly exposed what can…
April Fools’ Birthday “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” Everyone has probably sung this little ditty after an insult, or had it sung to them after insulting. We know the song is not true. Words do hurt. Words do bite. That’s why we sing the song as a…
Big Enders vs Little Enders In 1729, Pastor Jonathan Swift published his “Modest Proposal” to address the severe poverty in 18th century Ireland. In it, he suggests that the poor Irish should fatten up their children and sell them to the rich landowners as a win-win! This way, the poor can get out of…
On Farting Boggarts I ended my last blog with the following quote from the jesting Martin Luther: “Almost every night when I wake up the devil is there and wants to argue with me. I have come to this conclusion: When the argument that the Christian is without the law and above the law doesn’t…
Andrew Root notes that today’s pastors often feel unnecessary, mirroring our culture’s anxious drift into tragedy and meaninglessness. But the gospel offers a different story—a Divine Comedy.
Like the jesters of old, pastors are called not to juggle or entertain, but to speak truth with wit and courage, exposing cultural lies and pointing to the…
Stef Piva 