Wayward Son

Musician. Composer. Recovering perfectionist. Minister-in-transition. Lover of puns. Hijacker of rock song references. Questioner of the status quo. I'm not really a rebel. Just a sincere Christ-follower with a thirst for significance that gets me into trouble. My quest has taken me over the fence of institutional Christianity. Here are some of my random thoughts along the way. Read along, join in the conversation. Just be nice.

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Coloring Outside the Lines

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Categories: food for thought

I’m an artist. But I’m not an artist in the visual sense. I’ve never been able to draw well, and I was never big on art class in school because the stuff I made was all horrible compared to the people sitting next to me.

Like almost all kids, crayons and coloring books were a staple of my entertainment–the thing I did when I was supposed to be “quiet.” I’m not gonna say I didn’t enjoy coloring a little bit–I was especially proud of my gillion-color special super-duper Crayola set with names of colors I was too young to pronounce–but there was a problem.

This is a preview of Coloring Outside the Lines. Read the full post (1013 words, estimated 4:03 mins reading time)

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The Elusive Variable of Time (part 3)–Judge Not

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Categories: food for thought

Read part 1 here, and part 2 here…

As you know, I’ve been processing the role of time in our spiritual walk over the past couple of weeks. I’ve talked about how it can be a point of frustration for us when we are trying to understand the timing of God in our walk of faith. In the last post, I shared a bit of my own story, and how my own faulty theology about the timing of God and waiting on the Lord may have cost me some key opportunities. To conclude this series of posts, I’d like to talk a little about the ways in which time actually serves as our friend.

This is a preview of The Elusive Variable of Time (part 3)–Judge Not. Read the full post (1340 words, 1 image, estimated 5:22 mins reading time)

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The Elusive Variable of Time (part 2)–Faulty Theology

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Categories: Meanderings (look it up), My Story

In my earlier, incredibly rambling post about the elusive variable of time, I mentioned that I’d try to make things more tangible by sharing an example of how faulty theology about time can be a bad thing….using an example from my own life.

This is a preview of The Elusive Variable of Time (part 2)–Faulty Theology. Read the full post (2068 words, 1 image, estimated 8:16 mins reading time)

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The Elusive Variable of Time (part 1?)

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Categories: General

I’m not sure where this is going to go–I just know if I follow this thread to the end, it will probably involve several posts. So bear with me while I find my way and figure out whether this is a “thing” worth exploring.

I’ve been thinking about the concept of time and the role it plays in our lives, in our theology, and in our sense of destiny. (I know–I spend too much time thinking. How spacey can a guy get?)

This is a preview of The Elusive Variable of Time (part 1?). Read the full post (925 words, 1 image, estimated 3:42 mins reading time)

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Swapping One Form of Religion For Another

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Categories: food for thought, religion

If you’ve read this here blog for any length of time, you’ve probably figured out that I strongly dislike religion. By that, I don’t just mean the many different types of so-called “false religions” in the world (in my view, all religion is false, including the one we’ve made out of Christianity). By “religion,” I’m basically referring to any set of beliefs and/or practices that takes precedence in our minds and hearts over simple relationship with God.

This is a preview of Swapping One Form of Religion For Another. Read the full post (1107 words, estimated 4:26 mins reading time)

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Deep Stirrings of the Soul

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Categories: How I am, Meanderings (look it up)

I haven’t figured out why this is, and I don’t know if this is true with everyone, but there seems to be certain seasons of the year when my family’s life is prone to transition and change. Late summer/early fall seems to be one of those seasons; I’m not sure I can even recall how many times we’ve encountered a major life change during the months of August, September and October. And for some strange reason, December 19 is a huge day on my historical calendar; it’s remarkable how many significant life events have happened for me on December 19. But I digress…

This is a preview of Deep Stirrings of the Soul. Read the full post (523 words, estimated 2:06 mins reading time)

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Unprecedented

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Categories: weather

Photo: Twitter @cmullervy

I suppose it’s mere coincidence that the title of this post sounds similar to the title of my last one “Unpersuaded” (though the meanings are much different). But given the extraordinary circumstances surrounding me right now, there’s not a better word to use–and it’s definitely appropriate to back off of theological and spiritual ramblings to talk about some very real stuff happening.

Unprecedented. It is a word that I have heard repeated numerous times on the local news here in Denver as we have watched the clouds rain historic amounts of water upon mountains and plains in a very short period of time. After historic drought, and consequently historic wildfires, we now have historic flooding.

This is a preview of Unprecedented. Read the full post (918 words, 2 images, estimated 3:40 mins reading time)

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Post From the Past: Un-Persuaded

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Categories: Meanderings (look it up)

While I’m still recovering from a great time away, here’s another post from the past that I feel deserves repeating. Find out why I am un-persuaded, and how I got that way. Enjoy!

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I am a skeptic by nature, but I am not a cynic.

It is difficult to persuade me; but once I am persuaded, it is difficult to un-persuade me.

Once I am convinced of something–even if it ultimately proves to be wrong–I tend to hold onto that belief until it draws its last breath in my life.

This is a preview of Post From the Past: Un-Persuaded. Read the full post (789 words, estimated 3:09 mins reading time)

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Post from the Past: Superhero Christianity

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Categories: awesomeness, food for thought

In preparation for a much-needed vacation, I won’t be posting here for a few weeks. But I thought it would be cool to dig up a few “posts from the past”–some posts from my earlier blogging days that have been buried deep in the archives. This original post “Superhero Christianity” goes back to the very first month of this here blog: January 2008. I’ll be back with some fresh posts after Labor Day. –WS

This is a preview of Post from the Past: Superhero Christianity. Read the full post (755 words, 1 image, estimated 3:01 mins reading time)

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Pondering the Things to Come

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Categories: How I am

I’ve found myself really asking God some important questions over the past week or so. My heart has been stirred on a few levels because I’ve come to realize that I’ve fallen into a bit of a rut.

Ruts are sneaky sons of guns, especially for creatures of habit like me. I enjoy having a routine, but after awhile, you look up from what you’re doing and realize the rut is dug so deep that all you can see are the walls of dirt on either side of you.

This is a preview of Pondering the Things to Come. Read the full post (476 words, estimated 1:54 mins reading time)
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