As a psychology major I recall reading a research study that determined people think about themselves and their own life 97% of the time. Given the exponential “Duh!” factor, it had to be a government funded grant. Assuming these numbers are accurate the upside, if you’re an extremely paranoid person, is that people only have [...]

From 1999 through 2007 in addition to my day job I worked for the Phoenix Suns Team Shops. As part-time jobs go, it was great fun. Known then as America West Arena, the building was home to the Suns, Arizona Rattlers arena football team and, until they got an arena of their own, the Phoenix [...]

(“The Beautiful Dirty Beat” is a piece written and presented for a creative worship night of the same title at Turning Point Community Church in November 2010. Click here for a listen to the live recording. Oh and, if you’ve got the speakers for it, turn it up nice and loud to hear that sweet bass guitar. Credits: [...]

In the early 1980′s during my years at Northwestern College I lived in Colenbrander Hall. Dan and Dave were identical twin brothers who lived on my wing. It took me forever to tell them apart but they were always gracious. Two of the nicest guys you’d ever have the pleasure of knowing, they were also [...]

During my studies at Phoenix Seminary I was a full-time graduate student, worked full-time on staff at a church and had a couple part-time jobs. It was a gloriously exhausting season of life. One of my part-time jobs was a cleaning business. A single newspaper ad stating that I had been “trained by meticulous Grandmothers” [...]

It’s not what I expect to find when I take out the trash. Laying on the ground at the foot of the dumpster is a clear glass vase filled with a dozen red roses. Complete with all the greenery and Baby’s Breath, there is a red and black teddy bear lashed to the vase with [...]

  Years ago I had the privilege of enjoying an 8-day Caribbean cruise to Martinique, Barbados, St. John’s, Antigua, St. Martin and St. Maarten, San Juan and the Virgin Islands. God’s creation is on display in each of these beautiful places. It’s a trip I’ll always remember. If you’ve ever wondered whether cruises are as much [...]

Under pressure? Feeling squeezed? Me, too. Do you like it? Me, neither. Pressure. Squeezed. Pressed. In the vice. However you describe it, I hate it. So how about we just eliminate it? No more pressure. Badda boom. Badda bing. It’s gone. While waving my mental magic wand, I thought about what life would look like [...]

You’ve probably heard about it in the news this past week. Pat Robertson, ordained Baptist minister and former Republican presidential candidate was asked a question on his “700 Club” TV show. Robertson was asked what advice a man should give to a friend who began seeing another woman after his wife started suffering from Alzheimer’s. [...]

During a Phoenix Seminary class in 1994, Dr. Norm Wakefield gave us a bookmark. I’ve had it in my Bible every day since. One side reads: “The terms and conditions of a relationship determine the nature of the relationship.” This is true. For example, think about the employers you’ve had in your life. Managers like [...]

In 1993 I was living in LeMars, Iowa, population 9,000 and the home of Wells Blue Bunny Ice Cream. It was the biggest town I’d ever lived in. It had an all-night grocery store and a McDonald’s so I thought it was the big time. You can imagine that when in August of that year God [...]

You’ve seen them in video arcades and every parent’s least favorite kid place, Chuck E. Cheese. Known in the business as “coin pushers”, they are the games which you drop a quarter or a token (that in the end will cost you way more than a quarter) into the slot in a strategic attempt to [...]

In the summer of 1995 I was in Iowa visiting my parents. We were enjoying a day at Lake Okoboji and had stopped at a local cafe for lunch. The store had a small area where they sold books and gifts. One of the items on the rack was a book on cassette tape titled, [...]

Sometimes we just have to laugh. As Frederick Buechner wrote, “Laughing is better than crying and maybe not even all that different…(because) no matter what the immediate occasion is of either your laughter or your tears, the object of both ends up being yourself and your own life.” Several months ago while driving on Loop [...]

My twin daughters Annie and Emma are 10 years old. You can’t tell by looking at them now, but they were preemies. Born seven and a half weeks early they weighed 3 pounds 9 ounces and 3 pounds 14 ounces. I’d never held babies so tiny. Head to toe, they were exactly as long as [...]

Our parents said it to us at some point after we learned to talk. We say it to our kids at some point after they learn to talk. We hear it (or say it) when attitude takes on, well…an attitude. “Remember who you’re talking to.” I reminded my daughters of this the other day. All [...]

My cousin Jack serves as pastor of Buffalo Springs Community Church, just outside Lubbock, Texas. When he started there he was told they had a tradition of the pastor doing a children’s sermon during the service. Turns out the tradition had begun only six weeks before he got there. But he accepted it as part [...]

What are you signing your name to? Some years ago my friend Duane Cross and I were in the Chicago area attending a preaching/speaking conference at Willow Creek Church. Before going to O’Hare to catch our plane, we spent several hours at the Chicago Art Institute. If someone gave me a ticket to anywhere in [...]

Have you ever tried to make something be what it can never be? Annie and Emma are in the back seat at Sonic Drive-In, enjoying an after school snack while we sit with engine running. It’s unseasonably cold this week. So cold that there is no one dining at the outdoor tables, the same tables [...]

As a kid I was blessed to live just down the road from all my Grandparents. My Dad’s parents lived a half mile away. My Mom’s folks were a whole 2 miles away. The close proximity allowed me to spend lots of time with all of them. When I was a kid I would play [...]

The wall mounted mirror is behind the door so you don’t see it when you walk in. Only when you walk out. Even then, I never paid any attention to it. On this particular day life was pouring in more than usual. Like the way I used to feel shoveling through a giant drift after [...]

It began as a desperate act of self-preservation. In December of 2007 I’d been living in Lubbock for several months after 14 years in the Phoenix valley. I was a not by choice divorced single Dad living in a place I never wanted to live. Somewhere in the middle of the month I realized that [...]

Most Sunday evenings you’ll find me somewhere having coffee with friends, doing my best to finish out the weekend while staving off the coming work week. On this night my friend Allen Weathers, worship pastor at Turning Point Church, and I were at IHOP enjoying the java and conversation. Our server, we’ll call her “Lori”, [...]

It’s about a quarter till five at United on 50th and Q and every line is at least three carts deep. It’s not always a given that the Express Lane is faster. Most of us would rather push a cart than carry a basket so I check each one to see if maybe someone only [...]

(Every once in awhile I post a column that I have a fair idea is going to rile some people up. This may be one of them. For those I rile and for those who smile, the email address is: thompson1963@gmail.com  You’ve probably never met my cousin Jack. If you ever do, you’ll like him [...]