My entry for the  Good News for your City series with JR Woodward is now up.  This is a great series, with people from a number of backgrounds speaking. You can read what I wrote, and what others are writing here

I am part of a writing project conceived by JR Woodward.  My post will go up on JR’s website on Tuesday April 21st. The task is as follows: From the streets of LA to the skyscrapers of NYC, from the flats of London to the halls of academia, people are discussing the Good News. In [...]

Tomorrow is Easter. As a preacher turned seminary professor, I am agitated today. Preachers everywhere tomorrow get to proclaim once again the amazing story of the Easter event.  That event not only was unprecidented historically, but continues to impact history, lives, neighborhoods and cultures.  The Easter story, proclaiming that Jesus is risen, offers hope.  It [...]

Yesterday I took one of my field trips from suburban Simi Valley to downtown Los Angeles. A few times a year I hop on the subway in North Hollywood take the ride to downtown. I never have much of an agenda.  I just walk and see what I will discover. This time, the discovery was not [...]

This short film is amazing.   it is 15 minutes long—and worth taking the time. It is about caring for others, appreciating them, telling them that they are amazing, and watching them smile. Making the world a better place sometimes is as easy as telling someone that they are great. Watch the film….Practice what you see in the [...]

Before I was 5, I could sing and dance and draw with gusto. By the time I turned 10, I had lost the ability to do all those things. In reality, I was told in subtle (oh, isn’t that nice) and not so subtle (keep you day job!) ways that I couldn’t So maybe this new [...]

Our world sometimes seems so alone  and disconnected. Here is a reminder that we need each other…and can be there for each other.

Happy Thanksgiving! This is one of my favorite holidays.  Family, friends, food! It is a time to remember–there is so much to be thankful for. Today at some point in the day–simpy pause.  Look around the room, where ever you are and just give thanks to God for good gifts.  Sometime today–simply pause and remember all [...]

When we start to think that we are too important, and when we feel the burden weighing too heavily, it is good to listen to these words from Archbishop Oscar Romero (1917-1980), martyr of El Salvador It helps now and then, to step back and take the long view. The kingdom is not only beyond our [...]

Before coming to Fuller, I was a pastor at Simi Covenant Church. I know first hand about the joys and the challenges of serving a local congregation.  It is easy to become cynical or bitter.  Maybe even develop a “thinly veiled sense of contempt.”  But, there is no church but the local church with all [...]