Only Human, Week 6 — The “Human Racing” Sermon Recap

Here's why I liked what we got to do yesterday: 1.  We had a Campaign that had nothing to do with pledging money and everything to do with pledging prayer time; and 2.  We rescued Psalm 46:10a from its Hallmark card safety and repositioned it dangerously into the...

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Only Human, Week 6 — “Human Racing”

Inspired by Fred Craddock, involving an Operation Christmas Child Radical Impact Project, including a stellar sermon from my friend and colleague Devin Tharp, Only Human has been one of my favorite series. And now it culminates on Sunday with "Human Racing," a message...

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Here I Raise Mine Ebenezer

The hymn Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing has this puzzling line: “Here I raise mine Ebenezer, hither by thy help I’m come . . .” What in the world is an Ebenezer? And how do you raise it? An Ebenezer stone comes from I Samuel 7:12 where the prophet raises a large...

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A Calvinism Conundrum

Here's a question I recently thought of regarding conversion, Calvinism, and predestination. It's based partly on my early faith experience as a 17-year-old and then partly out of an Ephesians-based bible study. Here it is: Do Calvinist Christians (great people, great...

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Everywhere I Went . . . There I Was

So this happened yesterday: What was all that about?  Well, Laurel University is an intimate, picturesque, undergraduate institution with a distinctively Wesleyan approach to its theology and practice. After all, its name until 2011 was John Wesley College and many of...

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Only Human, Week 4 — The “Human Being” Sermon Rewind

On a weekend in which we wrestled with sub-human acts across the globe, in the Good Shepherd Worship Center we focused on what it means to be a human being. Specifically, I tried to make a connection between the feel good generosity event known as Operation Christmas...

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