Month: January 2015

  • Robert Earl Keen Records Bluegrassy “Happy Prisoner”

    You may or not be familiar with Texan Robert Earl Keen as he has never been a mainstream country or pop artist, preferring instead to stay on the fringes and record his own brand of folk, roots, blues, protest, outlaw, alt-country (Americana) music. And like bluegrass, Americana generally gets marginalized by the major record labels…

  • On Not Using “R” Word

    “So how do you like being retired?” Having resigned my staff position at College Avenue Baptist Church last month, that’s the question I keep hearing from well-meaning folks who assume I’ve stopped working and have all kinds of free time on my hands. “I’m not really retired,” I insist. “I’m busy. I don’t have time…

  • Speed Mentoring

    This past weekend, our church held its third annual all-church retreat at a conference center in the mountains near San Diego. CABC@PineValley, as the retreat is known, is designed to bring all ages of the church together for a weekend immersion experience in community-building. About half of our church attended this year and by all…

  • Where is Your Keilah?

    A few months ago I attended a conference for aging baby-boomers called “Recalculate.” I had a chance to reconnect with some good friends from my YFC and Forest Home days, Bob and Carol Kraning, their son Kent and his wife Robin. The Kranings (both the elder and younger Kranings) were the featured conference speakers and…