Dave is a swell guy... I first met him as a freshman at Point Loma Nazarene University with my roommate Byron. Dave was our RA, the guy tasked with being our surrogate mother when we got homesick. There may have been a time before this that we had all met, but I don't...

Politics. Everyone's favorite subject. Before I share with you a story about being a rookie pastor during last year's election, let me share with you where I come from politically. I’m grew up in a conservative church and community in Pennsylvania . I moved to...

Hey... I'm Byron... If you read the intro that was posted about me on this blog (here) you will maybe understand why my name is the hopeful cynic. I have been a pastor off and on since I graduated college in 2009. I have a love/hate relationship with the church. The...

When I was somewhere around 5 years old, my older brother took me to the back room of my grandma and grandpa’s house and led me through the “sinner’s prayer.” We came out of the room very excited that day and as I think back to it I can’t help but chuckle a little....

Will has already been a guest on this blog (here is his first post), but since he is like a brother to me he has gotten the family treatment... AKA he did me a favor and I didn't show him proper appreciation. Isn't that how family relationships work? Seriously though,...

There are few events in life where we have the ability to remember with absolute clarity where we were, what we were doing, and what we were thinking.  The common ones that most people experience would be things like: graduating from high school, getting married, or...

I went to college with Ryan. We both played rugby (though I can't remember if we played at the same time) and we had at least one or two classes together. He married a woman who I sort of grew up with name Megan. I was a punk to Megan growing up. Byron and I both were...

Being an associate pastor during a pastoral transition prepares you in a lot of ways for lead pastoring. During that transitionary period in my previous assignment, I presided quite a few funerals over a short period of time. Sometimes it was difficult as I didn’t...

Moose is a swell guy. He started as a friend of a friend. That mutual friend was a guy named Byron. Read some of his life here. Moose also knew my other friend, Byron's older brother Will. You can hear more of Will's story here. Byron regularly told me about this guy...