David Dollinger

A few years ago, I was taking a course on "Spiritual Disciplines" down in Indianapolis at our denominational ministry center. It was a great class. During those days, you could count on reading 100 pages a night out of textbooks, and work on a lengthy report (not kidding). But in this class, Mike Conkle gave us an unusual assignment. He wanted to show us that everything in our life is spiritual. So we were to do something that we really enjoy, and do it in the presence of the Lord. Now I am in a class with a bunch of good Free Methodists. One guy says that he will go on a prayer walk, another says that they will fast, while another one says that they will spend all night in prayer. I announced that I was going to a hockey game. My professor tells me to enjoy it in the presence of the Lord. After chapel and dinner, I notice that I was running late. So I drove over to the Conseco Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis because that is the home arena of the Indianapolis Ic...

Hi, my name is David, and I am a pastor. (Hi David!) I never intended to be a pastor. It just happened over a period of 21 years. I know I dont fit the mold of what people think a pastor ought to be. I dont wear a suit. I dont sit around holding hands with needy people. I dont end every sentence with "God bless your soul." I still listen to secular music. I do crack up once in a while when I read the bible and remember a wise crack from Sam Kinison. I prefer to dress casual. And I really enjoy hanging out with the sinners of this world. It gets even better when we discuss spiritual things. It seems to be the chic thing right now to rip on the traditional institution that we call church. And why not? It is so easy to do it. There are so many churches filled with dysfunctional people. It's almost comedic. I mean there are people who are in leadership roles in a church that could never, ever obtain such a role in the secular world. I feel that we got so wr...

One of the universal truths in the world is "Death brings life." You see it in many facets. The healthiest foods we eat were once connected to a lifesource. It's like you pick that grape from the vine, it dies. But yet the fruits and vegetables that we eat carry the nutrients that our body needs to stay alive. Meats were once alive. And yet, when we eat meat, it provides the nutrients that we need to stay alive. It's like to say, "that strawberry died for you" or "that cow died for you that you may have life." It's only healthy foods. There is nothing in a Twinkie or Mountain Dew that died for you. It's true in sports. For the Red Wings season to stay alive, the season for Columbus must die. For us to experience life, something has to die. In John 10:10, Jesus tells us that he has come to give us life and give it to the full. If that is not true, then Jesus is a liar. So the best possible way to live is the way of Jesus. By the way, Jesus...

As a wrestling coach, one of my biggest thrills is coaching someone to their first victory. Sandusky High School in Michigan is a small school that does not have a feeder program like many other schools have. We didn't have any depth either. So if you joined the team, you are on Varsity. So when guys start wrestling for us, they have no experience whatsoever. It makes their first year a tough year. Nick was a 189 pounder as a first year sophomore. He still had a little baby fat on him, and he was taking on juniors and seniors who have a lot of experience and are built like men. Nick lost his first 20 matches mostly by pin. He was getting a little discouraged. In wrestling, they have a term for this: bait. Nick finally got his first win at the Bluewater Invitational in Port Huron. He took a guy down with a head and arm throw. He had him on his back, but they went out of bounds. So the referee had them go back to the center with Nick on top. The ref blew the whistle, and I screamed, ...

I have been in the ministry since 1995. I have experienced some real highs in ministry and real lows. It's easy to praise God and sing all the happy songs when things are going real well. But when things don't go so well, it seems that our joy is robbed. I find myself falling into a bad, even evil mindset that when things aren't so good, that God owes me. That is called entitlement. It's toxic and from the pit of hell. I have found entitlement to creep in on me in three different ways. (1) I find my self saying that God owes me because I gave up a comfortable job to go into full-time ministry. (2) When things aren't going so well, I want to remind people of my resume, and all my successes. I tend to forget those successes were mine to enjoy in him. (3) When things aren't going so well, I go back to old wounds of the past. In each of these cases, I want to remind God that he owes me. It sounds silly doesn't it. Maybe I am the only one who has done this and no...

A few years ago, I was doing some simple grocery shopping at Jerry’s in Sandusky, Michigan. It’s a good grocery store with an express lane to check out. I grabbed some milk, bread, and eggs and then proceeded to the express lane. I was standing in line behind a gal that had 19 items in her cart. You know how I know that she had 19 items in her cart? It’s because the gal in line behind me counted the items and proceeded to throw a massive fit. The sign for the express lane says “12 items or less.” It really didn’t matter much to me. But to that gal behind me, you would have thought that we were dealing with someone who drove 55 mph through a school zone. She lambasted the poor high school aged girl at the checkout for allowing this injustice to happen. She even announced to the manager that her husband was a lawyer and he could slap an injunction on Jerry’s market so quick that their heads would spin. I offered to let her cut in front of me. (I thought maybe she was upset because she is...

Years ago when I was in high school, I went to a teen club with some friends in Waterford Township. There was a girl across the dance floor who was amazingly hot. To quote Thin Lizzy, "I mean she was steamin." My friends pushed me and prodded me and finally shamed me into asking this girl to dance. Now it was my senior year of high school, and I have had girlfriends before, but I never just walked up to a girl and asked her dance, nor have I tried to strike up a conversation.The walk across the floor seem to be a mile long. I felt like every eye in the room was on me. And as I tried hard to not hyperventiliate. But yet I did it, I asked that girl to dance. Does anyone else know this feeling? She now has control of where this relationship will go. She could either accept my invitation or reject it. She now has control of where this is going. It's the same with God. In Philippians 2:5-8 it says, "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in v...