Looking AroundWe have several friends who have been church shopping for more than 10 years. Actually, we know lots of people like this. Most seem to be under 40, and constantly in search of just the right blend of hip worship music, sermons that encourage without threatening, and a latte bar that serves biscotti with … Continue reading Church Shopping or Settling Down to Imperfection

I have received a tribute from an old friend that I am not even close to being vaguely worthy of. My old (well, he is not that old) friend Rob Asghar has penned a kind post about John Wooden, the most famous of all college basketball coaches, and me. Coach Wooden and me...can you imagine? … Continue reading They Called Him Coach

Forty days until the Most Remarkable Day in History. Mark Roberts shares meaningful thoughts on Lent here, from which I quote my favorite portion: Throughout my pastoral tenure at Irvine Presbyterian Church I’ve put ashes on hundreds of foreheads. It’s both a strange and a wonderful thing to do. It’s strange to tell people, in … Continue reading Beginning of Lent

Baby Back Ribs with Lemon Confit Marinade First off, go here to find a great list of the winners of the first awards for best evangelical blogs, including my friend Mark Roberts. Now, on to more cooking, chopping, and grating. Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised … Continue reading More Yummy Church Cooking

Jamie Oliver has never seen a recipe like ours! In the several weeks I have been blogging, I have been carefully avoiding the largest issue in the spiritual life of our family. You see, we Norris family are a somewhat, sad yet hopeful, wandering yet found, happy yet pessimistic, conflicted yet at-peace bunch. We are, … Continue reading Recipe of a Homeless Churchie

I submitt this, as a retort to those who say I am humorless, and do not provide sufficient discussion of ways in which to survive percarious natural hazards.

By the NFL's desire to be more wholesome than apple pie, and by the grace of God, we are delivered from aberrant halftime show drivel this year! I also must thank the Lord for the invention of the Digital Video Recorder (DVR) which allowed our family to have a relatively normal day at soccer games … Continue reading Hey Jude, No Wardrobe Malfunctions!

I just read a wonderful story about the meek, and their inheritance of the earth. The author is Carolyn Arends (a Canadian - to whom I am partial, because I married one), a song writer from British Columbia, whose work I admire for being real, honest, and God-honoring. Go have a look, and read a … Continue reading Carolyn Arends – The Bargain

This is worthy of reading and reflection. In a world increasingly set upon the idea that "God is dead", our children have much to teach us - about Him.

In March of 1956, Winston Church gave a speech at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri with this remarkable quote: From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe. Warsaw, Berlin, … Continue reading Can God Move Mountains, or Walls?