I still remember the first I was told I was going to hell. I was 15, and our youth group was ripping “For Those Tears I Died” by Marsha...

Every Sunday at Emmanuel Lutheran Church, we pray the same ancient words: Your kingdom Come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. The words are familiar, safe, and routine. Lately, these same words have begun to ache.  If heaven is the place where God’s will is done, then then I’m pretty sure we’re standing at the gates of hell here in Kern County California. Where in heaven do people go hours without medicine? Where in heaven do mothers sit with their children, no

Charlie Kirk is dead—shot during a college speaking event in Utah. I will not pretend to admire him in death. His politics were malicious...

This last week I found myself in a crowded board room in Tehachapi. Parents had gathered, upset about a transgender child at the middle...

Today I slipped into the sanctuary when no one else was there. No sermon to polish, no list of things to check off. Just silence, a few...

Recently, a local Bible teacher and religious studies scholar reached out to me with a question: “What’s your Lutheran perspective on...

The first time my would-be wife came to my house, she perused over my bookshelves and said, “I’m a little concerned about all these books...

There is nothing new under the sun.” That’s what Ecclesiastes tells us, and I’ll be honest, it’s not always the most comforting line in...