Blog
Jump! For God's Sake (pt.1)
Not all fathers are heroic but I'm unmovable in my conviction we are all meant to be. And that we can be.
I witnessed it myself in the remarkable story of my father. It’s likely my dad’s greatest lesson for me was when he taught me how to jump.
My Father is a Glacier
Like the chiseled Arctic coastline and like Jesus himself, God's sons are born again and disciplined in full view of the world. God's intention is that we become attention grabbing revelations of some aspect of His nature and goodness that can be seen nowhere else.
Becoming Priests
I've been a full time pastor, a company CEO and have probably led a thousand more people in other capacities over the years, but these offices have proven mere child's play compared to offering a simple Bible study with my family.
I know few fathers today who crack open the Bible with their family...
I am your father. Sorry.
Becoming a True Son - Part 1
The first miles in my journey as a father are reminiscent of the Titanic's maiden voyage. Just below the calm surface of my manhood was an iceberg my son's ship was destined to hit. When it finally happened we were both ripped open by the collision.
No man can foresee that fatherhood, which usually begins so promisingly, will inevitably require a violent pruning of our manhood.
Real Men Sighted at Dunkirk
Maleness is beautiful.
It may be a little awkward to say, but isn't maleness beautiful? There are no arguments about whether femininity is. Many would now argue that diversity is. And tolerance. But who is arguing that authentic masculinity is? Nobody. And it is killing our sons. It is frankly killing us as men too.
A SHREWD INVESTMENT
Baer and I have mud stains in our pants that will never come out and memories of a shared adventure that no thief can steal. I am a wealthy man.
It was an expensive trip, but I think it would have been more expensive to not have taken it.
REBEL YELL - Part 1
With tack-sharp clarity I recall the day I was handed the keys to my family's 1978 Chevy Impala station wagon. Turd brown. It was there and then, as I stomped on the accelerator, that I began to road test a new strategy for coping with personal pain.
North Pole. South Pole.
By the hand of providence, I have a friend in Russia and a few in Scandinavia who are laboring for the gospel courageously. Like the running salmon that draw fishermen from all over the world to that region, there are a few men swimming furiously against the swift current of a culture that is attempting to neuter the God-given hearts of men and women. The result is the recasting of male and female
JAILBREAK
A few painful question leaked out of my lost and wandering heart 15 years ago. "What did you create me to do?" and "Will you give me one thing I can do really well for you?" Beyond the joys and challenges of my most important occupation as a loving husband and father, this poem, a simple and heartfelt reflection of my heart's most enduring desires, is his answer to the ever-present question of my calling.
BIGGER IS BETTER. Part 1
When I was 10 years old I payed good money to see Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark nine (9) times in the theater. Regular price was a whopping $1.25 but the matinee was only $.75, leaving money for a soda. That Summer I carried a makeshift whip at my side and changed my name to Indiana.
WE STAND ALONE TOGETHER
It doesn't work for a man to walk alone.
When the idea was first proposed that God designed a man to walk in close fellowship with other men, I quickly dismissed it. Through the use of its masculine caricatures, Hollywood had me convinced early on
THE WOOKIE
On Sunday night, after over a year's worth of digging my heels in, I felt the Father say "Go with it". Meaning... "Get your daughter the dog she's been begging for." So I went with it.
STRENGTH FOR SONS
I've recently been medicating myself with the adventures of Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman in "Long Way Round", a 10 episode documentary on an around the world motorcycle adventure I wish I could be on right now. Netflix has been my night time cocktail
A THIN PLACE
I was skeptical when I first learned we'd be getting lessons in Arctic survival from a Lutheran priest. But there we were, with snow all around and the tundra sticking it's face up through the remaining mask of Winter.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Fast forward a quarter of a century and you will find me coaching soccer to 11 year old boys and 9 year old girls...
BEAVER WOOD LEADS ME TO JESUS
There are moments when beauty hurts. Sitting with my bare feet in the cold running water I watched my kids frolic. We'd been here catching bugs and other critters for a while to stretch our legs after hundreds of miles on the road. We needed to carry on if we wanted to cross the continental divide while it was still light. But this small stream had exactly what I wanted.
LOOKIN' FOR LOVE
She is thin. She is organized. She fits in my pocket. She can be silenced. She brings balance to the force. She's been my obsession for about two months.
BEER FOR MY HORSES
I was by myself with the windows down in Big Bend National Park. Mine was the only car on the highway, meandering through painfully beautiful landscapes and listening to a playlist I created for just such quintessential Texas moments. With the red granite cliffs of the Chisos Mountains to the left of me and the desert to the right and in front of me, the imposing landscape begged to be complemented with loud music from the masters of Texas songwriting:
BELOVED SONS AND WARRIORS
"Train a child in the way that he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it." -Proverbs 22:6
As I have the privilege of playing baseball with these 8 and 9 year old boys I am constantly reminded of the critical and fragile role a man plays in his son’s ever-evolving world. It’s sad but true that, as a culture, we've largely forgotten the art of raising boys into men. It's only been in the last 1-2 generations that father and son have not worked awkwardly close to one another in a field or a workshop. Fathering a young boy skillfully to manhood is an art
KING ME.
“The story of man is the story of God’s desire to make men into kings and men’s inability to handle it.” This is a poor translation from memory of a quote by Dallas Willard (or somebody else). The author’s name didn’t stick with me but the quote did, and for two reasons: 1. I know the statement is absolutely true and 2. I