A Pilgrim’s Odyssey

The day I burned down a graveyard, Almost

When I was about 10, I almost torched the graveyard of a small country church my dad was pastoring. I learned a valuable lesson on the dangers of fire and playing with gasoline. One my wife would tell me I've never fully learned!

I was thinking about this episode this Sunday as we celebrated Pentecost, the descent of the Holy Spirit. This holy fire is one that can truly transform our lives, but it is also a warning on what happens if we don't. We become our own towers of babel, our own monument to self. And in this state, the fire we are most likely to get caught up in is the fire of the world.

The glory in our sufferings, using this time wisely

Allow this time to deepen your faith, increase the strength of your relationships, and show the world how the light of Christ can shine in a believer, and you will have something no measure of darkness or strife can take away.

Don't keep your light hidden, let it shine and engage your family, church, and community.

Making use of your time because the days are evil.

There is a power in being intentional. A simple list could be your vehicle to change. As the world spins out of control, what are you doing to prepare. Today, we continue our series on what is happening with our world on fire, what's next, why, and what to do about it!

Preparation– Love Your Enemies and Reveal Your Faith

We should be preparing - food, water, protection, communication, and most importantly, spiritually.

It's easy to become complacent when life is comfortable. Crisis can be an opportunity to dig deep and come out spiritually stronger and more alive.

This week we are discussing the fire going on around us - why it's happening, what's next, and what to do about. Today, we focus on preparation!

From Fire to Life - Going to the well with a Samaritan

The world is burning and people are drinking from the well of fear and anger. How do we avoid that ourselves while leading them to a different water, one that never leaves you thirsty and always lead to life. 

All week we are discussing what is happening in our burning world, why, and what to do about it. Today, it's about the Lord's call to treat everyone like he did the Samaritan woman, to show the people doing the most burning another way.

Who is your God? Gotta serve somebody!

Bob Dylan said it may be the devil, or it may be the Lord, but you're gonna have to serve somebody.

Richard Dawkins said we serve our genes, we are genetically wired to be selfish, so to speak.

Like it or not, we all serve somebody. God or the devil. Good or evil. Knowledge or ignorance. Freedom or oppression. Family or government. Biology or psychology. Eventually in life, you will have to choose.

Right now the world seems to be serving fire. Today we begin our week discussion on why, where we are going, and what to do about it.

Preparing For What’s Next, George Floyd and the Minneapolis Riots

From Corona to the tragic murder of George Floyd and its aftermath, fear and anger are running wild. Will this end soon, or is it only the beginning?

Whatever the outcome and continued impact, are you ready? Will you face this alone, or in community? And if in community, what are doing to prepare yourselves spirituality?

We have a chance to show people an alternative to fear and anger. Shall we rise together?

Meaning In Our Suffering: Thomas Merton and Why The Cross?

Suffering can turn us inward down an endless dark hole, or it can force us to look outward, outside of ourselves to the only place we can find meaning in our suffering.

Today, on The Pilgrim's Odyssey podcast, we reflect on some words of wisdom from Thomas Merton's great book, No Man Is An Island, along with a few powerful words of Christ that can help us understand how to turn our suffering from an inexplicable burden to the thing that allows us to find true life and freedom.

Don’t Be Afraid Kids: Deconstruction of a Hawk Nelson (just what is a Hawk Nelson?)

Yesterday I mentioned briefly the singer Jon Steingard of the Christian rock band, Hawk Nelson, who had released a letter denying his faith and proclaiming himself an atheist. Today, we go through his letter to point out something glaringly obvious, his struggle is the struggle of the bible and his questions are as old as Adam and Eve.

So don’t be afraid kids. His questions aren’t really that tough. They are the excuses of someone, who like many, all of us really at times, wants to be their own God and mold God in their own image. It is the story of Adam and Eve, it is the story of the bible, it is the story of you, and it’s the story of me.

An Atheist and a Pilgrim Meet on a Train: Or, The Curse of Hipster Christians

I saw in the news today that the Christian singer Jon Steingard of the band Hawk Nelson had renounced his faith. It got me thinking about why do I believe what I believe, and took me back to a conversation I had long ago on a memorable train ride.

She was a girl from New York who described herself as a dancer/artist/who knows and I was walking the earth. I learned a lot about myself from her atheism, and hopefully I showed her a different side of faith than the one she had been bludgeoned with as a child.