What Moved Me in 2025

We have arrived at the end of another calendar year. 

2025 was quite a year for sure. 

Over the last couple weeks, as I've been reflecting on all that transpired in and around my life, I found myself remembering all the big and little things that moved me.

As he was fighting a losing battle with cancer some 30 some years ago, Jim Valvano gave a rousing speech that is famous for his ending mantra, "Don't give up, don't ever give up". At the beginning of this address, he mentions three things people should do every day of their lives, "laugh", "think", and "have our emotions moved to tears". If we do that every day, Valvano states, "that's a FULL day".

It is in that vein that I offer this list of things that stand out to me from 2025 because they made me laugh, think, or moved me to tears. Some of this list was inspirational, some involved pain, some of these things just left an imprint on my soul. Some were a mix of all of the above and more.

I offer three general things and then three specific things that really moved me this past year.

Generally: 

• Family - Our boys are growing up, with both now in elementary school. The development of their character and personality is a joy. Make no mistake, parenting two boys under 8 is exhausting but has special moments all the time. Family life was also filled with challenges too. My wife had significant health struggles. My mom did as well. Family is an area I see God constantly refining me in my own sanctification. But in my weakness, He is strong. 
• Funerals - I recently attended the memorial service of the former president of my alma mater, whom I'd had as a professor and whom I'd also worked under for a time. He was a man of sterling faithfulness and we celebrated that. That experience reminded me of the other funerals I officiated and attended this year. Good people with good legacies. Life is fleeting and I appreciate the reminder that this life is not all there is - and that Jesus has conquered the formidable enemy we all have.
• Pastoral Ministry - Tomorrow marks 13 years of serving at Milford First Brethren Church. It has been so rewarding, such a blessing. We are a smaller, aging congregation with plenty of limitations and weaknesses. But we make a difference in our community and beyond. It is such a joy to see God work in people's lives and to be a conduit for God's grace to those inside and outside the church. And even personally, God has shown up as I've led, studied, and proclaimed his Word at various points. Those moments keep me going.

Specifically:

• Andrew Peterson's "A Liturgy, A Legacy, & the Songs of Rich Mullins" album. This album is a recording of a live concert he did along with numerous musician friends as a tribute to the CCM legend. Mullins has long been an artist whom I deeply respected and the older I get, the more I appreciate his catalog. Few people could credibly take on this kind of tribute while matching the "heart" of Mullins - and Peterson is certainly one of those few. The entire album honors and celebrates one of the all-time albums in Christian Music history and leaves you not just grateful for Mullins - but drawn to Jesus. And that's just how Rich would have wanted it.
• "Downstairs" - Twenty One Pilots - This song stands on a drastically different end of the musical spectrum as Peterson/Mullins but it reflects a similar spiritual perspective. Twenty One Pilots are a band who transparently wear their heart on their sleeve in so many of their songs all of their art. This one is particularly raw, and humble, and lamenting, and doubtful, and worshipful. These lyrics in particular will both haunt me and be part of my own prayers for a long time:

You can have all I've made and all I've ever known
You can have both my lungs if you ask me so
'Cause I-I-I want to be the one after your own heart
And I-I-I might doubt the process like I doubted the start

        When you can find multiple videos of vocal coaches and musical analysts getting emotion                     themselves over the content and construct of this song, you know it is something special.

•  "Wake Up, Dead Man" - This movie, now streaming on Netflix, is the best portrayal of the Christian faith that I have seen in a long, long time. It pulls no punches in its honest portrayal of the strengths and the weaknesses of Christianity (western, evangelical and Catholic). It is impossible to miss the critique of the growing power-hungry passion that has taken over many who call themselves Christian. It is also impossible to miss the beauty of Christ-like service and devotion that is portrayed too. This is the third of the popular "Knives Out" franchise that features detective Benoit Blanc (played by Daniel Craig) solving a crime in a dramatic fashion. This installment however flips the narrative on its head from what we've come to expect from these "whodunnit" movies. And in doing so, it leaves room for the truth of the Gospel to land powerfully. The director Rian Johnson is a former evangelical who no longer professes to be a Christian. In the hands of another with his background, one would expect a scathing rebuke. Instead, he offers an accurate depiction of the way of Christ in the face of brokenness, corruption, and shame.

Bragging...about what God has done

 * The following is an article written for our local Mail-Journal newspaper this week as part of the "Church" section of which I am a regular contributor.

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Boasting and bragging are not typically traits Christians seek to be known for. And having lived my entire life in Indiana and Ohio, I certainly know that boasting is not something our Midwestern culture appreciates.

Yet I would like to take this opportunity to do a little bragging, bragging in what God has done. A few months ago, our church secretary mentioned an idea regarding honoring all the people who volunteer and serve in our church. It seemed like a worthwhile concept and so we started planning a dinner celebration. In the course of our preparation, we went through our regular attenders and members at Milford First Brethren. Low and behold, after going through the list, we discovered that EVERYONE who regularly attended and/or was a member served in some capacity with our church’s ministries.

That was both surprising and not surprising. We are not a large church by any means, so to an extent, we need everyone to pitch in at times. But it is an incredible blessing that both the old and young have found ways to serve.

As the pastor, I cannot take credit for this even if I wanted to. Instead I find myself echoing the apostle Paul’s words in a couple of his New Testament writings. In 2 Corinthians 10:17, he quotes Jeremiah when he says, “But ‘Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.’”. And in Romans 15:17, he says, “Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God.” I find myself in full agreement with his perspective. I can’t brag about my own achievements or even about my people’s service per se. I can brag about the work God has done in their hearts and lives to lead them to this kind of service as a community of believers to the community around them.

Our celebration was a delightful evening. We catered some BBQ and had some terrific desserts. My good friend, Pastor Tim Sprankle from Leesburg shared a word of encouragement and we were also treated to a country music concert by Jim Olson, brother of one of our deacons who has recorded several albums as a solo artist.

I will remember that evening for a long time, not just for the event itself, but for what it represents – God working among his people to invest in His Kingdom in simple, tangible ways.

Book Review - A White Preacher's Memior: The Montgomery Bus Boycott, Robert S. Graetz, Black Belt Press

 

On a visit a number of years ago to the Henry Ford Museum in Detroit, I had a fascinating personal experience. In the museum are a number of notable cars, planes, and other vehicles of transportation that have historical significance. One particular bus caught my attention. It was the bus Rosa Parks was riding when she refused to give up her seat to a white passenger - an event that sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which in turn triggered fresh momentum into the broader Civil Rights movement. 

The bus is open for visitors to board and if my memory serves correctly, the museum has marked the seat she was sitting in that fateful day. I'm not entirely sure why, but I can clearly recall a sense of significance hitting me when I climbed aboard that modest bus and sat in her seat.

Fast forward to 2023 when I discovered that some new friends who had started a Brethren church in Marion Indiana had a special family backstory directly connected to Mrs. Parks, that bus, and that famous part of American history. Our friends David and Sarah Miller planted a house church several years ago after moving for David's job as a chaplain at the local VA hospital. Sarah's father is a retired highly decorated chaplain in the military. But as I got to know the Miller's more, I came to discover her grandfather had been a minister in Montgomery Alabama in the 1950's and personally knew both Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr!

Our families got together a month or so ago and Sarah let me borrow her grandfather's biographical account of his time serving a black church as a white pastor. 

Written and published 26 years ago, the account is comprehensive enough to get a good sense of Graetz's life and preparation leading up to his time in Montgomery but specific enough to keep the reader both glued to the story and more informed of the context of those times. It should be noted that Graetz does not filter out the language and racist mockery that was commonplace in that time and space. For instance, "N"-words are not abbreviated (though always used in quotations of the white supremacist opponents), and labels like "colored" and "Negroes" are employed in contextually-appropriate ways (at least in my judgment).

The Graetz's story is fascinating for a variety of reasons. How he as a white minister found himself called and accepted as pastor of an entirely Black church is interesting. His observations as a supporting participant in the Civil Right's movement are as well. The record shows that he was the lone white pastor who supported the bus boycott. He describes the threats and dangers his family and his community faced in frank transparency. I was also drawn to his description of the various arguments that were held up against the Civil Right's push. I couldn't help but recognize how many continue to espouse similar objections to social justice reforms that are being undertaken today. Told by another, this story could easily fall into the trope of a "white Savior" account. But at multiple points, Graetz has enough integrity to commend his African-American brothers and sisters as the true heroes and pioneers, deflecting any magnification of his role. 

This isn't a book one will easily find at Barnes and Noble, but I highly recommend seeking it out and exploring this part of our nation's past in general.

What Goes Around...

Twenty-three years ago, I took a life-transforming trip to Europe, Germany and France specifically. 

I was fresh off my freshman year of college and a few months removed from our basketball season ending unceremoniously. We had started off fine, 9-9 at Christmas as I remember. We were a young team with a ton of physical talent and ability but were missing experience and internal strength. We then proceeded to lose 13 straight conference games in the gauntlet that was the MCC (now Crossroads League). We lost in every conceivable way. 

Up 4 with a minute left on the road vs. a top 3 team? Check.

Lose multiple leads to less talented teams at home? Check

Have players quit mid-game? Check

Get beat by the (other) worst team in the league? Check

And I was nowhere near the varsity rotation. I was a lowly JV player gaining valuable playing experience on another terrible team. Our JV team went like 0-16 with the closest contest being like 12 points.

Once the season ended, it was clear it was going to be a pivotal off-season for the program. And Coach Kessler had set up a missions trip to Europe for us to put on clinics, play games, and make connections for the missionaries and churches in those countries. 

With players quitting like rats jumping off the ship (who could blame them?), Coach was left with 3 varsity guys and me. He made some other contacts and found a few other people to join us. A track runner from LeTourneau and a middle-aged guy from Columbus, Ohio.

Despite, and because of, all of that background, we had a tremendous trip. Speaking for myself, I will always remember the trip because I got to participate in a trip where I could use my own love for the game to share my love for Jesus. As American basketball players, we had an automatic platform to share our faith and that was such a neat thing to experience.

Twenty-three years later, I am going back. 

One of my side-gigs is being chaplain for the current Grace Lancer basketball team. The program is in a much better place and should be a top 5 team next year in the-now-one-division NAIA (it was two back in my day).  Scott Moore, Coach K's successor whose older brother went to Europe with me, has continued the tradition of taking the team on an overseas trip.

Sunday we leave for France to do much of the same type of ministry. Clinics, games, connecting with churches - all are on the menu. This time, the whole team is coming. And this time, I get to go as a coach, driver, chaperone, and chaplain intent on pouring into these young men so that they can have a similarly transformative experience.

Prayers are appreciated, it's going to be a crazy trip without a doubt.

I'm Back!

Michael Jordan famously used those two words in my title to announce his return to the NBA in the mid-90's. My returning to my pastoral role and blogging is much less historic. And while I've been back for a month or so, now feels like the time to share my reflections on my mini-sabbatical.

My TL;DR version I've been telling people is, it was restful but not relaxing. 

It was restful in that spiritually, physically, emotionally I got to a healthier place. Most importantly, I got my heart realigned towards God - an adjustment I knew I needed after being all-around worn down.

It was not relaxing though because it did not go as I had planned. As I'll explain below, a number of unexpected things came up that disrupted my weekly schedule(s).

All-in-all, I think I am walking away from the month off with two major takeaways. 

1) God shows up in unexpected difficulties.

So entering January, we knew my wife needed a outpatient surgical procedure and late in December it was set up. Stress #1 came when we had to hassle with our insurance company and 'upgrade' to a policy that would cover this procedure - at a significant expense. But we did get it covered! Then came the surgery itself, which caused my wife significant pain in the 12 hours post-operation. Once we got the meds worked out it was better but it made her miss two weeks of work. In the post-op consult, the doctor shared that they did find cancer in the skin they had removed. There was a 98% chance they got it all but recommended a follow-up surgery to be sure. 

As that was all happening, we had noticed my wife's car started running weird. The week after her surgery, I took it into the shop and it needed ignition/spark plug work that was going to cost more than the car was probably worth. God provided though. My mom gave us our share of my grandmother's inheritance and it covered that cost. 

Then the following week, a cold virus of some sort went through our family. Yay! Through all of these things, my stress level was redlining. And yet God gently nudged me to the point where I more or less had to 'give up' and say, "Ok God, will you provide and how will you do it?" God's daily provision was evident - and still has been in the aftermath of all of these things.

Stephanie has had her follow-up procedure which seemed to go well. The pain is much less though the procedure was more invasive and complicated. But things are good. God is providing. He is showing up in recognizable ways.

2) I need to "Eat This Book".

This second take-away requires explanation. One of the proactive activities I did on my break was to audit the Spiritual Formation class at Grace College and Seminary.

I actually took it 20 years ago as a M.Div. student but it was with a different professor in a much different format. I had heard over the years about this class and how this particular profess, Dr. Christy Hill, approached the subject. I knew it was the kind of class that would benefit my spiritual life and get my heart adjusted in all the right ways. 

It met my expectations and more. The class requires its students to wrestle with their hearts, their backgrounds, the assumptions and presuppositions about God. As an auditing student, I was not required to do every assignment, thus allowing me to attend to the things that would maximize the personal benefit.

One such assignment I tackled was the extra reading required of the seminary students. I got a referral from a friend who suggested I read "Eat This Book" by Eugene Peterson. It was a great referral and one of the best books I have read in a long time. Peterson is most famous for writing The Message translation of the Bible. To some, he is infamous for that work. 

"Eat This Book" concludes by the author explaining how and why he created The Message. But he gets there by inviting his readers to approach the Bible with a humble but expectant attitude. He offers a layman's version of Bibliology - his theology of what Scripture is. He encourages his audience to work with Lectio Divina the ancient tradition of personally engaging with the Word. He narrates stories of translations and makes a strong case that God wanted to meet us and spiritually form us in His Word.

Peterson is an excellent writer, wonderfully making complex ideas beautifully simple. Case in point is the books title. Three times in Scripture God asks his prophet to 'eat this book/scroll' - most famously in Revelation 10. Peterson unpacks what this means. They didn't likely chew and swallow the literal writings. It was a call to digest, savor, embody God's revelation. God wanted them (and us) to read it for it's transforming value, so His Word would become a part of us. The Bible isn't meant to be read for informational purposes. It's meant to be read so we are conformed into the image of Christ. 

This fresh perspective on God's Word was the exact glass of water my dry soul needed. I've felt worn down and in a lot of ways I know that has been rooted in a dry devotional life. This book hit all the right notes in my soul and I'm already engaging in God's Word differently. Scripture is a beautiful thing. And what the Spirit does in meeting us there is even more beautiful. I need to 'eat this book' and so do you.

Wednesday Wisdom

I don't know about "wisdom" but today I thought I would offer you a peek behind the curtain of what the routine of ministry can be like for a pastor - at least this pastor.

There have been long stretches, "seasons" if I want to use church terminology, where I would reflect on my weekly schedule and wonder if I was spending too much time in books. 

Sermon preparation is a important. Sometimes pastors make it too important, as if a 20-45 minute message is going to completely override the hundreds of hours of other messages our people are consuming during the week. And for that reason this pastor sometimes wonders if my week has been taken up by too much commentary reading and message-preparing. Proclaiming God's Word is a vital task but that wondering is helpful self-evaluation that ensures things are in balance. 

That's how some stretches of my routine can go. Then there are days and weeks like the last few I have been through. A elderly widow needs moved, people call in looking for basic assistance, lunches are planned, and meetings must take place. Sermon prep gets done but it gets done more in the margins while relationships and interpersonal interactions dominate my time. It is during these times I remind myself that pastoring is by definition more shepherding than studying.

Ebbs and flows have marked my almost 9 years now as a full-time pastor of our church. I'm thankful I have had room to use my stronger gifts for the edification of our people. But even more so, I'm grateful to have had the space to grow in areas where I wasn't as polished. Pastoring is a multi-faceted calling and our people have been patient and gracious and appreciative of the learning curve I have been on. 

Now, on to the rest of my day full of sermon prep, ministry lunch meetings, and two other appointments.

Gen Con reflections and quotes

We just returned from our Brethren Church National Conference which was held at the beautiful and spacious Ridgecrest Conference Center outside of Ashville, North Carolina. 

It was a busy week so we took our time coming back this weekend and made it a mini-vacation which was a good decision. Having some time to reflect on the conversations, meetings, and sessions I thought I'd share some of the key quotes I am taking away from this year's gathering. 

It turns out all of these are from our main speaker, Karl Vaters, who is an author, pastor, and expert on small churches. He proved to be a perfect fit for who we are and where we are at as a denomination. 

A little background, The Brethren Church traces its roots back to 1700's Germany when a movement was birthed out Anabaptism and Radical Pietism. Fleeing hardship and persecution, these original Brethren moved to the American colonies and continued many aspects of their spiritual and social lifestyle including being agrarian (farming) people and remaining German-speaking for many years. These preferences led them to starting churches in rural areas to begin with. And while various groups have splintered off and no longer maintain this path, it still provided the foundation for where we began and where our churches were planted. Because our specific denomination did not dramatically change course we remain in mostly rural areas with mostly smaller churches (50-150).

And here is where the Conference's themes and Vater's expertise comes in to play:

"Small is not a problem, virtue, or an excuse."

IKEA and Starbucks are both wildly successful businesses with vastly different business models (h/t to Vaters for this genius analogy). We don't have to compare ourselves with bigger ministries and we don't have to arrogantly believe we're better because we "provide a better personal touch."

"A healthy church will not necessarily experience numerical growth."

Numbers may accompany healthy ministry, but not always. We need to divorce ourselves from the assumption that numbers equal health and health equals numbers. More quotes to come, after the break...

Sermon Snippets

I'm quoting Liam Neeson from Taken in my sermon this week. Specifically, this:

Why? Because it's a Ministry Skills Sunday!
Just as Mr. Neeson was well-equipped in a variety of ways to seek out and find his kidnapped daughter in that movie, we as Christians need to be well-equipped to successfully deal with the trials and tribulations of our lives. And a Ministry Skills Sunday is a special week in between series where we equip ourselves with knowledge and practical insights regarding various skills needed in the Christian life.

This week - Prayer. It is not a Liam Neeson-type skill that will help us overpower a bunch of bad guys. Though it does help us in spiritual fights.

Prayer is a crucial skill Christians need to acquire. It is vital to our own spiritual health and the fundamental tool God has ordained to involve us in His Kingdom purposes (Matt. 6:10, 9:37-38).

Ok, using Liam Neeson to make a case for sharpening our prayer skills may be a stretch, but in whatever scenario we find ourselves in, prayer has to be a skill we utilize.