jskogerboe.com :: one thing

It seems every Hollywood movie marketed to main stream adults these days has one thing in common…  a bed-room scene. I’m talking about that poignant moment in every film when the tension in the plot line is cut, and heart-strings are pulled, and we begin to truly empathize on an emotional level with our protagonist.  They [...]

May 9, 2010.  Living Hope Church in St. Michael-Albertville, MN.  This was our Mother’s Day message, but let’s be honest…  Moms deserve this kind of encouragement every week.  Am I right, or am I right?  Moms, we love you.  God knew we needed you, and His perfect design had you in mind.  I hope this message fills [...]

The first memory I have of Auntie Natalie is eating frost she had scraped out of the freezer on the farm in Karlstad, MN, out of a plastic glass with a metal spoon.  Like a naked snow cone.  And listening to a Steve Martin album in her bedroom.  I must have been five or six, maybe.  [...]

Hey all a y’all family men out there…  I know how you roll.  In a 2009 Toyota Sienna minivan.  THAT’s what I’m talking about. Thank you Church on the Move and a tip of the hat to my Twitter friend @wiseacre for bringing this to my attention. This is pretty much a documentary on my life, [...]

Jump in pool to cool off.  Get out and drip dry while reading.  Repeat as necessary. This was my agenda for  most of last week on a family vacation on Hilton Head Island, SC.  No worship practices to plan.  No PowerPoint presentations to prep.  No sermons to prepare for.  Just sun, and family, and the [...]

  When I was a kid, my parents didn’t want us to watch Scooby Doo.  They thought it would leech our brain cells by its very nature:  predictable, ridiculous, low-brow, bad art.  They foresaw our IQ dropping steadily every Saturday morning, ultimately resulting in our academic failure at some institution of higher learning, thereby ensuring [...]

“Do you promise to care for this child as your son, to love and provide for him, and to welcome him into your family?” The emotion hit me like a truck, and I wasn’t expecting it.  This felt very much like my wedding vows to Amy fifteen years ago.  I cried then, too. Back then [...]

House lights down.  Spots up center.  Brightly dressed kids grouped around the front of stage mics. Levi’s big moment… “He has perfect pitch, doesn’t he?!” YES!!  AWESOME!!  Way to SELL it kid!  Never before has a six-year-old NAILED “He has perfect pitch, doesn’t he?!” with such nuance… such finesse… such aplomb. I rise from the soundboard I’m [...]

March 14, 2010.  Living Hope Church in St. Michael-Albertville, MN.  This is part two of a two-part series exploring the character and nature of God.  The Bible tells us both to FEAR God and “do not be afraid.”  The Bible describes God as a Righteous Judge, holy, dangerous, and unapproachable…  And He invites us to call [...]

The Tooth Fairy is real. I have never waivered on this point, and I never will.  Santa Claus, as everyone knows, is a hill of beans.  The Easter Bunny, the Great Pumpkin, Leprechauns, and Peter Pan… all lies.  But I contend with my children on a regular and ongoing basis for the veracity of the [...]