On November 20, 2010, our second son, Vincent Wing Seun Stringer, died at the age 18 months following a 6-month battle with liver cancer. That night, I wrote the first of many blog posts working through my grief, attempting to grapple with what just happened. For the next year, I posted a public entry into my "grief journal" on the 20th of every month.

Today makes 10 years since the passing of my dad, Dr. Ronald B. Stringer. I was barely 25 at the time, married before kids, whatever that was like. Much has happened since October 11, 2005. To mark the occasion, here's an excerpt from my essay, Pulling Teeth published last year in the book, Father Factor.

Say the word "seminary" and you might evoke strong opinions. To go or not to go? A worthwhile investment or a financial burden? Spiritually enriching or counterproductive? Is seminary an essential preparation step for pastors or has it become obsolete? Is XYZ seminary too liberal or too conservative? These are today's juicy questions about seminary. But on another level, they miss the point.

Being a Third Culture Kid has its pros and cons. Pros: global travel, cross-cultural exposure, international awareness, and geographic adaptability.Cons: answering questions about where you're from and determining where on the planet you belong. Indeed, TCK life is a mixed bag full of goodies.

She was only nineteen, apparently old enough to experience homelessness, single motherhood, domestic violence and the judicial system. As she sat quietly in my cubicle, I tried to obtain some basic information, the colors of her designer handbag echoing louder than any voice in that cold, sterile building. My task: Help her find a job before her welfare benefits expired.

The church is no ordinary organization. We know this intuitively, as even the word 'church' can provoke strong reactions. Many of my postmodern peers seek deep spirituality, but resist the concept of church, preferring instead to identify as spiritual but not religious. Comparing the church to other kinds of organizations is tricky.

A couple months ago, a rare opportunity arose. My wife, who is employed at our neighborhood Lutheran church, took a trip to visit her family with our son for 2 weeks. With no official church responsibilities during this period, I suddenly had the freedom to partake of wild and crazy weekend indulgences I’ve always wanted to try.

Raise your hand if you grew up evangelical. Does anyone remember those CCM store displays attempting to lure customers with comparisons like, "If you like Sting, you might like Steven Curtis Chapman" or "If you like Jewel, you might like Rebecca St. James"?Among the peculiar realities of growing up evangelical was navigating the strange dichotomy of "Christian vs. secular" spheres of product consumption, exemplified most vividly in the realms of commercial music and book distribution.