Category Archives: character

eager to fight.

You’ve been going through a lot. I get it.  Some of it matters, some of it doesn’t. And you know that. But still, you’ve been going through a lot. And you just said, “The next person who crosses that line is going … Continue reading

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Complete Acceptance

David was pretty far from perfect. 2 Samuel 11-12 is the account of a very rough patch for him. David was relaxing when he should have been leading his nation. During a hazy warm afternoon after a nap, he saw … Continue reading

Posted in character, pmerrill, suffering | Tagged | Leave a comment

Saturday reflection: Row E, Seat 2

January 22, Hope, Nancy and I went to hear Donald Miller for the first time. We know him well, as well as you can know someone from the books he’s written, and the posts and the tweets. But we hadn’t … Continue reading

Posted in character, community | 12 Comments

Planting: a Saturday reflection.

Hope and I drove past a bunch of trees. I say “bunch” because we weren’t at first sure whether it was woods or grove, planted by wind and animal seedfall or by someone with a future eye. It was the … Continue reading

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living between ‘I will’ and ‘I have’

We struggle with goals. We read that telling people your goals is dangerous. It can give you the buzz of affirmation without having to do the hard work. Having goals is fine. But keep them to yourself. But this isn’t … Continue reading

Posted in belief, character | 4 Comments

Unless I am wrong

I am acutely aware of expectations, even those that do not exist. I have lived much of my life as a pleaser. To avoid conflict, I have appeased, placated, avoided and feared. And I am increasingly aware of the dangers … Continue reading

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Going to Kansas

Although I talk all the time,  I’m not a conference speaker. I don’t fit well with church events and not many non-church events invite pastors to the platform. However, if you’ve been around here during the last year, you know … Continue reading

Posted in character, disciple | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

I was not expecting that.

(A guest post from Hope Swanson, first published here on April 6, 2011. It was originally published by Hope on February 8, 2011) Tonight in Lifespan Development, Ted showed us a video that honored the life of Eliot Mooney. Eliot’s parents found out … Continue reading

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Reflections on love. and Jesus.

Jesus was summarizing simply the law. “Love God,” he said. “Love your neighbor.” “Who do we have to love?” was the follow up. “Who counts as my neighbor?” That’s the story of the good Samaritan. If you walk by someone in … Continue reading

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all the answers

I started the day trying to figure out why a computer wasn’t connecting to the Internet. I powered a couple things off and back on. I took a different computer and connected it directly to the modem. I was working … Continue reading

Posted in character, steps | 2 Comments