My Dad Grew Up on a Farm and Other Tales from the City

An Open Letter to Monica Conyers

I Wrote Love on My Arm
Technically, I paid someone else to do it. But it wasn't a lot of money. I decided to go and get a permanent reminder of what I believe and what is meaningful to me. It is a tip-of-the-cap to several people who are important. And it is sweet.

Monday Brief - Complete with a Sermon Link
Yesterday's Sermon Highlight of the week: Spending the weekend with my parents in Detroit. Their almost-last-minute visit to hear me preach on Sunday was incredible, especially getting to share Slows BBQ with Mom, my brother, my sister/brother-in-law and the kids (Dad will have to come back soon to check it out). It was a joy to be preaching and look out and see half my family sitting there listening, especially since this was the first real time I've been asked to preach quite like this (sharing my vision on a Sunday morning in Flint was also incredible, but not quite a

More Important Than A Monday Update
In lieu of the normal Monday update, I am going to diverge and tell a personal story. ___________________________________________ Like most of us, there are those people in our lives that touch us in a particular way, perhaps a fleeting glimpse of the love of God revealed to us through another human being. As these people impact us in their own way, our attitude toward the world and those around us is impacted, sometimes in a powerful way. And they become the story behind those parts of us that are outwardly difficult to understand. Dylan moved in and out of my life in what seemed like less than an instant, and his life and death have had such a lasting impact on who

Rejecting the faith of Depeche Mode
In his latest book The Prodigal God, Tim Keller writes about C.S. Lewis and his friends in the Inklings. Lewis wrote many words about the passing of one of their companions and the loss of a communal relationship with him. Keller concludes: Lewis is saying that it took a community to know an individual. How much more would this be true of Jesus Christ? Christians commonly say they want to "get to know Jesus better." You will never be able to do that by yourself. You must be deeply involved in the

Support Your Public Library: Rack up the Fines!
I love my local library and try to support it every way I am able. Which is why I kept two books for three months past the due date.  __________________________________________________ The Bowen Branch of the Detroit Public Library is approximately one mile from my house. I ride past it twice each day, although my morning ride is always prior to it being open (and it is closed on Fridays, I have discovered). Despite these hurdles, it is still open for four of my ride-bys (although a 40 percent average is not stellar, except in baseball).