It's an understatement to say I'm looking forward to what will happen Sunday. We've got: One of my favorite sermon titles ever, "A Dirty-Minded Church." And it has nothing to do with what you think it has to do with. My friend Chris Macedo leading us in song...
Earlier this week I learned some thing from my friend Todd McMichen who works with our friends at Auxano. Todd pointed out the similarities -- and differences -- between bumper cars . . . . . . and roller coasters. (By the way, that is the new Fury 325 at Carowinds.)...
Every United Methodist pastor and teacher should read page 140 of Thomas Oden's A Change Of Heart. I'm not much for "oughts" and "need to" . . . but I really, truly believe all of us in Wesley's tribe ought to read this page of this memoir. Here are some of Oden's...
At one point during the Memorial Day weekend, Julie asked me, "is there any place you've never been that you'd like to see?" And, of course, that question -- asked on Memorial Day -- got me thinking about those national landmarks that for a variety of factors I have...
This sermon's title comes from a man in Monroe, North Carolina named Buster Broome. Buster died about 10 years ago or so, but before that he was a carpenter with an uncommon level of common sense, and I was his pastor for nine years at Mt. Carmel Church in that small...
So we are in Week 2 of the series BrainWashing and here’s why: I really & truly believe that SO MANY of your problems today – relationship breaking, church hopping, temper losing, Jesus doubting, sexual dysfunctioning, political paranoia-ing – come first of all...
Riley and I spent a few days earlier this week in Austin, Texas, visiting my 99-year-old mother as well as an assortment of siblings, nieces, and nephews. I wanted my mom to see Riley in the aftermath of his graduation from UNC-Chapel Hill AND I wanted to see her at...
I had a conversation not long ago with someone about what makes a song "Christian" . . . or not. You know how I have concluded many people answer that question, consciously or not? If it is released by a Christian music label and gets played on Christian music...
It's not the top five Steve Winwood songs. It's the top five songs in which he sings. Because whether it was the front man (boy, really) for The Spencer Davis Band, the lead singer for Traffic, or his solo career, Steve Winwood's voice could carry a song. Let me...
My only regret with BrainWashing is that I didn't do it about five years ago. But one day last year I had a brief Facebook post on something along the lines of the sermon below and Chris Macedo told me, "We really need you to tell us stuff like that." So I did. So I...