by bob | Mar 30, 2021 | ireland
A few years ago I was on retreat and part of the event included a trip to Glendalough, which is one of my favourite places in Ireland. While there, the retreat leader (not Irish) said that Irish monastic cities had low walls compared to monasteries in the rest of...
by bob | Mar 13, 2021 | Rethinking Church
I was in a Zoom Call earlier this week where the question “What is the future of mission post-Covid?” was asked. While I have some thoughts (of course I do), I actually have a lot more questions. First something I am quite sure of… We are not going back to...
by bob | Mar 11, 2021 | The Table
Although we don’t record our monthly Sunday worship gatherings, I figured I would try recording the message/devotional part & post online. If you are interested (it is only about 11 minutes :), you can find it on the Table’s...
by bob | Mar 6, 2021 | personal reflections
When I was a college student (pretty much right at the start of purity culture) it was common to hear things like: Christians should not marry non-Christians.orYou should not have sex before marriage. And whenever those types of statements were made, the...
by bob | Dec 7, 2020 | family stuff
About a week ago, our house alarm started going off around 5 pm on a Friday afternoon. The house we bought last year has two alarm systems installed. One is monitored, the other is not. The one that is not monitored was the one going off. Trust me, it is an awful...
by bob | Dec 5, 2020 | fun
Last year M & I both guessed correctly who the person of the year would be. I figured we’d take a stab at it again this year. When I asked her who she would pick, I was impressed that her top two picks were “Biden or Dolly Parton.” And then she...
by bob | Jul 3, 2020 | thoughts on church
A week or so ago I shared an image of a Testimony Generator on a social media platform that shall remain nameless. It reminded me of an experience I had shortly after Liz and I moved to Ithaca, NY. The churches we were involved with back then placed a big emphasis on...
by bob | Jun 26, 2020 | family stuff, Uncategorized
When you are the parent of a special needs child, you often find yourself the recipient of all types of advice from people. (I wanted to say “well-meaning” people, but I’m not feeling that generous today.) Some parents, who have raised kids without special...
by bob | May 30, 2020 | culture
Although we are a continent away, Liz and I have been grieved as we watch the news from our home country. Like many of you have experienced profound sadness and outrage. The murder of George Floyd. The videos out of NYC and Minneapolis of white individual threatening...
by bob | May 4, 2020 | thoughts on church
As the Table – Dublin is getting off the ground, I wanted to repost some of what I’ve written over the past few years…specifically regarding church planting. I’d love to get your thoughts. ::originally posted 8 October 2015:: I spent most of my life in Upstate NY. It...
