Author: Robert Austell

Worry and the Value of Practice

  What do you fear? For some it may be close to the surface and easy to name.  Others may have to think a little harder. Having trouble with that?  Let me prime the pump a bit: spiders, snakes, the dark, being alone, a certain person, your boss, your parents, your kids, the future, the Democrats, the Republicans, losing something, never finding something, not making a difference, not leaving a legacy, terrorism, terrorists, violent people, sickness, getting old, losing your ability to think clearly, losing your health and mobility, losing… Continue reading Worry and the Value of Practice

i don’t have enough for that!

  I’m so busy.  I don’t have time to exercise.  I have so much to do AND I only slept four hours last night. I have thought and said and done all those things in my life.  But I’ve also realized the futility of borrowing health from the future to get through the present.  And (probably) because I’m a pastor, I have seen correlations between my attitudes on exercise and sleep and my attitudes on giving.  Therefore, I want to suggest that giving is a spiritual discipline that is as… Continue reading i don’t have enough for that!

truth landing

  We are no longer to be children, tossed here and there…but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ… (Eph. 4:14a, 15) Consider this online exchange from the past week (names have been changed for privacy’s sake). Timothy:  Here’s my newest hymn, written this afternoon and sung to the tune of [a familiar hymn]! Reggie:  This will certainly not be timeless; it is destined to pass away and look very dated.  Those who will be singing hymns… Continue reading truth landing

new name true name

  Years ago I was playing a name game with some elementary-aged children at church.  I asked each child to say their first name, preceded by a word that described them and started with the same letter as their name.  So we had “marvelous Mary” and “sweet Sarah.”  I was “royal Robert” or something like that.  And then we got to Brock.  Brock was about six years old and was VERY quiet and timid.  When we came to him, he just looked at me and didn’t say a word.  After… Continue reading new name true name