Minister Of Mocha

“Paul, you are always on the go!” That’s what I heard the other day as I came home. My wonderful mother-in-law Betty was commenting on my busy schedule. As I sit back and look at it I can see that she’s right. It feels normal to me, but when I really think about it, I…

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the fact that this past weekend OU lost (while being ranked #3) and Texas won (against #10). Hook ‘Em Horns! (That’s for you Kayleigh!) And now, this… I-40… Last week on a Monday morning I began my western trek. As anticipated we racked up over 2000 miles…

As I watched the sunrise in Nashville I knew I’d see it set somewhere over the plains of Oklahoma. We are on a three day cross-country trek complete with U Haul trailer, in-laws in the back seat, outlaws in the front seat, forecasting rain as we go. It should be fun. It should be an…

This has been an interesting week. I got a surprise visit from my daughter in Portland. Because of the visit I found myself taking an unexpected trip to the airport on Sunday. I made the decision to invite my Mom to spend a little time with her first grandchild and to give me a little…

In the Bible we read that God is, among other things, the Great I Am. He was, is, and always will be that. Over the years, I have been given many labels in various circumstances. I have been “Teacher”. I have been “Son”. I have been “Brother”, “Husband”, “Father”. I have been “Daddy” then later…

This weekend I was able to participate in a kind of renewal for a dear friend. Like so many of us, he has been through some issues in the past. Since it is pretty much impossible to go through things in a vacuum, the people who have been around have either found out the facts,…

So the Minister of Mocha took himself a day off! Yup, I completely didn’t even show up for anything yesterday. Instead, I went with my family to San Diego for the weekend. It was a nice escape from the heat of Ridgecrest. We visited a good friend’s church and saw some inspiring things. We went…

Have you ever been sure of something only to have it go completely sideways on you? Sure you have. That was me last night at the Greek Theater in LA. Those of you who know me know that I am pretty good at trivia and that 80’s music is one of my strong suits. As…

The late, great George Carlin had a classic routine dealing with “Stuff”. We’ve all got it. I’ve been thinking about stuff lately – not the physical stuff that George talked about, you know, all the stuff we tote around. No, I’ve been thinking about the mental and emotional stuff that weighs us down. We’ve all…

I’m not sure if you’re familiar with the concept of the “horse latitudes”. Back in the days of trans-Atlantic sailing they would hit areas called doldrums. These were found around the equator where the prevailing winds tend to go calm. No wind isn’t necessarily a bad thing, unless you are counting on the winds to…