These are essays from the Real Live Preacher blog. 2002-2010

Hollowed Be Thy Name

Originally published at Real Live Preacher in May of 2003. These people asked me to do a wedding in a hollow church. I shit you not. A hollow church. They found this place in Dallas. The congregation lost touch with their neighborhood and went away, leaving their building behind. I guess they went away; they’re…

.9 of X

  Let this circle represent a pastor. Let x represent the reality of his life. X includes the best and the worst in him. X includes his secret sexual fantasies and the most selfish and harmful urges he usually suppresses but sometimes cannot. X is the real person. Let this rectangle represent the image of…

What if

What if we suddenly saw the world with God’s eyes? What if the reality of good and evil exploded into our consciousness in a blinding flash of inspiration? What if this happened right in the middle of church? Would we fall out of our pews, bawling at our first glimpse of real beauty? Would there…

Goodbye, Iron Giant

Before you read this you should read “Trinket Transformation.” Saturday before last, I found a little boy under my table eating M&Ms. He was clearly eyeing my Iron Giant Action Figure. “Go ahead, you can play with it,” I said. He grabbed it and ran down the hall. I stepped to the door to watch…

Trinket Transformation

I got to design my own office when we built our church four years ago. It’s a 10′ by 10′ room with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves all around, a large window and a recessed area for a computer. In the middle is a round, wooden table that seats four. It’s a tight fit, but it works. When I…