If you've been following this blog at all, you know that I'm an enormous fan of the fiction of Ann Patchett. State Of Wonder and Bel Canto are two of the most beautiful and most engaging novels I've read in years. In The Getaway Car, a little e-reader memoir...
Last Tuesday's "Top Five" became more like a Top Twenty-Six, as I listed my person GOAT songs for a whole host of music artists. But then, of course, I realized I forgot to include quite a few bands and quite a few songs. Even from some artists and tunes I like A...
Yesterday's message ... Addressed the truth that when bitterness runs in families, it ruins them; Dug into the generational forgiveness we see in Genesis 33 and Genesis 50; Concluded in way that moved from exhortation to exaltation; Led to this bottom line: You can...
A Good Shepherd friend and I were emailing earlier this week, and our conversation drifted into the different personal styles of some of the pastors on our staff. Specifically, we were talking about how easy or difficult it is for those of us in pastoral work to tell...
It's HARD to stay connected with the congregation and the community during the various Covid shutdowns. It is especially challenging for our Family Ministries Team, those who minister to parents, children, and volunteers alike. That's why I was pleased to get...
We all have them. Our favorite songs for each band/artist. In modern terms, our GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) songs from the musicians who have influenced and enriched us. Here's a long list of mine: Led Zeppelin: Over The Hills & Far Away The Eagles: Take It To...
Yesterday's message ... Launched a series that was not in my original 2020 sermon planning: "It Runs In The Family." I figured that this would be a good series of messages to give while families are still in quarantine together; Noted some personal ironies in me...
It Runs In The Family Just think of all the things that run in families. Just think of all the things that run in your family! Skin tone, hair texture, eye color, verbal tics, facial expression, walking styles, high blood pressure, good judgment, male pattern...
Earlier this week, I had a Zoom meeting with a United Methodist colleague in which the topic of conversation was preaching. As part of the Simplify The Message ministry, some of my friends in the Western North Carolina Annual Conference invite me to give guidance to...
In "Just My Luck," a melancholic ballad that revisits a chance encounter with a lost love, the Dawes Band offers this insight: I spend my whole life moving forwards but understand it looking back I am sure I've heard that song dozens of times (the same is true of...