This Side of the Pulpit | This Side of the Pulpit

Quick Update

May 12th, 2012 | Add a Comment

So I’m now the Senior Pastor of Grace Lutheran Church. I was installed on Sunday, May 6 and was blessed by having a full pews and 20 pastors from the district participating. Grace really knows how to through a reception, too. Then I hit the ground running, and it has been exciting and fulfilling. It was a whirlwind of a week, added to being away from the family. I can’t wait for their school to get … Read entire article »

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Call Announcement

March 25th, 2012 | 1 Comment

I announced this morning to my congregation that I have accepted the call to serve as Senior Pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Tulsa, OK. Please pray for both congregations, for my and for my Associate Pastor Christian C. Tiews. My last Sunday at Redeemer Lutheran Church will be April 29, 2012. … Read entire article »

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Weekend Report

March 12th, 2012 | 2 Comments

We had a wonderful weekend in Tulsa. We arrived Friday night and had a nice visit with our friends who moved from Enid a few months ago. Saturday held the Winter Guard Competition at Union High School. They have quite an impressive campus–more on par with a small private College than a public high school. Amazing. The Winter Guard competition was fun. Enid HS had probably their best performance ever, and was awarded with First Place in their division–by several points too! All the teams performed we saw performed well and were very entertaining. Saturday evening ended with the awards presentation and burgers at our friend’s house. Sunday I woke early and attended worship at Grace Ev. Lutheran Church in Tulsa. Another amazing facility! Pastor Tiews conducted the liturgy with grace and … Read entire article »

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Call Received

March 4th, 2012 | 4 Comments

Dear Readers, Today I announced to my congregation that I have received a divine call to serve as Senior Pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I humbly ask your prayers for me and my family and for the two congregations involved as I deliberate this call. Thanks! … Read entire article »

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Back with Both Feet In

January 3rd, 2012 | Add a Comment

Something about returning from vacation and being up to your neck in work and church and family schedules… it makes you want at least another week just for decompression. Ease back into it, you know? Maybe I should be preparing better. In happy news, Christmas Eve worship was beautiful, Christmas Day was wonderful, St. Nicholas was good to us, God was good in providing safe travel, the in-laws were doing well, all things considered and we … Read entire article »

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Merry Christmas and Auf Wiederlesen!

December 22nd, 2011 | 2 Comments

An early Merry Christmas to all of you. This will be my last post until after the new year. I’ll be spending time with the family until Monday, when we will all load in the car and drive, drive, drive to Tennessee to see my in-laws. I’m looking forward to being offline for the next ten days. I may go through Skyrim withdrawal, but that might not be a bad thing either. I have mixed feelings about being gone next week. We have a number of folks here having surgery and going through some heavy trials, and part of me wants to be around or available. But I want and need to see my in-laws who are having health issues, and Marjorie’s uncle who is ailing with MS. I commend them … Read entire article »

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Gettin’ Down on Friday and the Weekend

November 18th, 2011 | Add a Comment

The plan is to clean the garage out thoroughly this weekend, while it is still nice, or nice-ish. Mom and Dad are coming next week to spend Thanksgiving with us. I am taking a few days off before and after the Feast, and Dad and I plan on doing some trim work in the kitchen and dining room and then addressing the dining room table which needs to be taken apart, cleaned, sanded, rebuilt and … Read entire article »

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Uh oh. Skyrim

November 11th, 2011 | Add a Comment

The Elder Scrolls V:Skyrim is out today. Yes, I am a gamer geek…at times. I actually used to do much more computer gaming than I have the last year or two. But I really got immersed in a previous Elder Scrolls game and now I’m hooked. The great part of this game is how open-ended it is. The game does not control where you go or when you go there. There are hours of quests and things to do outside of the main storyline. It is a completely open world. It’s like playing around inside a novel. Needless to say, I’ll have a new distraction these winter nights, but my freelance and fiction writing may take a hit for a while. … Read entire article »

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Working from Home

November 10th, 2011 | Add a Comment

Day three of working from home. Olivia was one sick little girl, but is doing better today. I plan on finishing my sermon for Sunday and working ahead on a few more sermons, which will free me up next week to make some shut in visits and focus on some other projects too. It is nice having a job which allows me to do some work from home, but I do miss going into the office and having the interaction there. I wouldn’t want to work from home all the time, but I appreciate the flexibility. How many of you have jobs you can do from home (in part, at least)? Are you more or less productive? … Read entire article »

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Working Out

November 3rd, 2011 | 2 Comments

A good workout can make a big difference. I woke this morning sluggish and aching and tired and wanting to huddle under the covers and continue the lovely dream I was having. But life moves on and I hunted down clothes for Jack, made coffee, oversaw the breakfast party and hustled the children out the door to school. Awake, but not happy about the day. Then the workout at the Y. It went well, even though I … Read entire article »

Filed under: Personal, Theology