Fifty Years

June 16, 2010.Reading time 2 minutes.

An awfully momentous event went relatively unnoticed over the weekend. My folks celebrated their 50-year wedding anniversary. The “relatively unnoticed” part is that the big celebration is going to happen in early August. That week, all of us kids, all of our kids and spouses, Mom and Dad, are headed up to Estes Park to […]

Goodbye, Paul (or, "Infrastructure is Grace")

June 8, 2010.Reading time 11 minutes.

This week, we’re saying final goodbye’s to Paul Escamilla. For some of us, the goodbyes have been going on for a while now. Paul, as many of you will know, has been a minister here in North Texas for well over 20 years now. He’s also one of the founding members of Connections. After our […]

"Happy Anniversary, Baby…"

May 29, 2010.Reading time 2 minutes.

One of the more obvious proofs that Dennise loves me is that she puts up with me going to Kerrville over Memorial Day Weekend. Not only that, but sometimes she even comes too. The big deal of this is that this weekend almost always coincides with our anniversary. As it does this year. In fact, […]

Because You Were Once an Alien (Immigration and Faith)

May 4, 2010.Reading time 39 minutes.

Last Saturday, I had the great honor of participating in the second MegaMarch here in Dallas, Texas. Twenty or so Northaveners(1a), and a few friends from the North Texas Conference, joined our voices with the 56,000-plus folks who gathered in downtown.(1) (Myself and old friend, Rev. Gerald Britt, just before the march began) (People in […]

Praying for a Peaceful March.

May 1, 2010.Reading time 2 minutes.

As I wrote on this blog back in 2006, this original MegaMarch was one of the most amazing days I’ve ever seen. Around 500,000 peaceful marchers, moving through downtown Dallas, waving American flags and chanting “USA, USA…” I know everyone associated with tomorrow’s march hopes and prays for a similar day. Tonight, I saw a […]

My Remarks at the MegaMarch Press Conference

April 30, 2010.Reading time 6 minutes.

Friday, I took part in a press conference of religious leaders, gathered to show their support for the MegaMarch. I’ve already posted the comments at Northaven’s blog. But I thought I’d post it here too. The press conference was covered in the DMN here, and here’s a pretty decent news story from Channel 11.The DMN […]

Fun With Statistics- Making Some "Connections"

April 22, 2010.Reading time 7 minutes.

I can’t believe it’s been more than a month since my last blog. I’m hopelessly behind on “Daily Grats,” mostly because of Easter and stuff happening around the house with construction and the break-in. One of the things that’s currently a bit wiggy is Connections‘ own website. So, I’ll post this blog here instead. We […]

Daily Grat: Wood Floors

March 21, 2010.Reading time 1 minute.

Have I mentioned lately that Tom Karges is a home repair genius? Tom is a church member who has been leading the repairs here at the parsonage, which have been ongoing for the past few months. You can see his new website here, where he showcases his own art and his work in home remodeling […]

Daily Grat: Stars in the Water

March 19, 2010.Reading time 5 minutes.

It’s only minutes into today, and I am already certain of my daily gratitude. I can’t imagine this one will get eclipsed by anything else that can happen today. This is our last night at the lake. Sometime tomorrow (er, later today) we’ll head back to town. Because it is our last night, I realized […]

Daily Grat: Time Lapse Sunset

March 18, 2010.Reading time 1 minute.

OK, I’m gonna declare that this is different from my “daily grat” of the other day. My favorite time of day is thirty minutes before, and an hour after, sunset. Last night, I sat out on the dock and took pictures with my Treo. Then, I put them together in a time lapse movie, with […]