It's Monday morning.Time to take stock of the week ahead.More than most, this week to come has an intriguing blend of the urgent and the important, and balancing those two has always been among my most difficult challenges in ministry.Here's a glance at some of what...

Sometimes just looking at something isn’t enough.Sometimes you need to look inside it.An X-RAY allows you beneath the surface, to the places you can’t see with the naked eye.It exposes the deeper truth; the reality of your circumstances.It helps you know exactly what...

Yesterday, I confessed that I am just now learning how to read the New Testament epistles accurately, and as an example took you through the first fourteen verses of Ephesians.Once readers make the proper distinction between the "we" and the "you," they are...

I have been reading the New Testament for a long time, but I realize that I am only now learning how to read its epistles correctly.And to read the New Testament well, you need to read the epistles (Romans, I & II Corinthians, Galatians, et al) accurately.Here's...

You know it when you hear it.A voice that calls a sporting event, reports the news, speaks over an advertisement, or proclaims the gospel -- and does so with the kind of depth and resonance that makes you want to hear it again and again and again.Usually that kind of...

We started worship yesterday (September 8) with a look back at what God had done when the church "went home" the previous Sunday.After a montage like that people were in a mood to sing to the Lord and then to listen to his word. Then, as the service concluded 60...

This weekend marks the return of our First Serve outreach.Good Shepherd ServeTeams will fan throughout our community and engage in works of mercy, justice, love, and helps.You can find your place to serve here. We believe that serving in love is vital evidence of a...

On a recent workday, a Methodist-preacher-colleague and I were having a conversation about church structure.  Committees, boards, budgets, and the like.Hardly riveting stuff, to be sure.Yet some enlightenment emerged.Here's why:  both of us realized that we...

. . . for getting it just right.  Again.Here's Inland, the latest single from the album of the same name:Don't be surprised if you hear this one at church sometime in the near future.

Given that this is US Open time of year, last week's Charlotte Observer ran a story about the rather unusual -- OK, bizarre -- routines, habits, and superstitions that pro tennis players bring to their games.For example, Andre Agassi went commando in his first match...