I think Michael Guglielmucci’s song is more poignant now

I had never heard of the pastor from Australia with the unpronounceable last name before his story broke a couple of weeks ago, so I didn’t have an emotional attachment to his apparently popular song. I also don’t want to diminish the damage his sin has done to people who trusted him and the [...]

patience, patience

I was having a late night conversation with my wife not too long ago and we were talking about, well… pretty much everything, mostly a project that I’m working on about church.
Some background for our conversation. People leave Church. Not just my church or your church but Church. They do this for a variety of [...]

come again

By now most of you have heard about the murder that took place on a bus between Edmonton and Winnipeg. When things like this happen people sometimes look to me as a pastor to answer questions. Questions like where is God when a psycho stabs a random guy to death on a bus. Questions like [...]

Why I am a Sports Atheist

I got the term from Bill Simmons, of whose writing I am a big fan. Basically he uses the term to refer to those who follow and love pro sports without declaring allegiance to a specific team. I’m splitting hairs a little bit, but a more accurate term would probably be sports pluralist. The sports [...]

fathers

I haven’t posted much lately, mostly because I haven’t got anything to say and the book project is taking up a lot of my mental energy. I just haven’t had anything interesting to say.
I was re-reading Robertson Davies‘ Deptford Trilogy to immerse myself in great writing. I probably read it once every couple of years. [...]

if I say it out loud it will be real, right?

So I’m working on a book. It sounds silly even as I say it but I am and I want to finish it so I’m going to pressure myself by announcing it publicly. Feel free to ask me how it’s coming so I will feel stupid if my answer is that I haven’t touched in [...]

For the record, Dallaire is right

I try to avoid being overtly political, but this isn’t a political issue. I watched the tape of the incident, and in the context he was placed in by the questioner Dallaire was right. Jason Kenny backed him into a corner with a ridiculous statement and Romeo Dallaire didn’t back down. If anyone should apologize [...]

The employer that shall remain nameless

So as I’ve mentioned before, I work for a large, multi-national coffee company that shall remain nameless. I know that they are a huge and potentially evil monolith, coating the world with sub-standard coffee products. I get it. I also get that I’ve got kids to feed. If you want to talk about how much [...]

Confessions of a Failed Faster

I know you’re not supposed to announce your fasting, but I’m not fasting anymore, so I think it’s okay. I’m not trying to raise my spiritual profile with tales of exorbitant fasting. I don’t have any.
In the tradition I grew up in (mental fundamentalist) we didn’t really talk about fasting. We didn’t talk about gluttony [...]

52 books #7: A Short History of Nearly Everything-Bill Bryson

A Short History of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson
When I was in elementary school I loved science. It was my favourite subject and if you asked me then what I was going to be when I grew up, I would have said “detective”, but my second choice would have been doctor. I didn’t realize at [...]