On the edges of every document you produce in Microsoft Word, you select the margins. Both on the sides of the page and on the top & bottom.The wider the margins, obviously, the more space you have on the page. The smaller the margins, the more the page is crammed...
No, it's not Christmas.It's Wimbledon, which starts today.The image to the right is of Centre Court, the most famous venue in all of tennis.This year, they have added a retractable roof to Centre Court, making rain delays into a distant memory.What could be better?...
Two faces are pretty frightening, aren't they? That's how a lot of the world beyond the church perceives the world inside the church: as full of two-faced people. Hypocrites, in other words. So this Sunday at Good Shepherd, we'll talk about becoming the kind of people...
I recently heard a pastor-teacher say, "We can get so wrapped up in what God is doing through us that we neglect what God needs to do in us."So true. Guilty as charged.Pastorally speaking, it is easy to become enamored with all the things God does through us: lead...
Psalm 28:7 stopped me in my tracks recently:The Lord is my stength and my shield;my hearts trusts in him,and I am helped. It's the last line that gets me.Not "I hope to be helped." Not "I might be helped." Not "sometimes I am helped." Instead, a simple, powerful...
Yesterday's post ended with a question: what seen and unseen influences might have led me to sense that God was moving me towards pastoral ministry?I've thought about that question for the last several days.As far as I know, there were not any pastors on either side...
While in Lake Junaluska last week, I picked up and read a delightful little book by Fred Craddock called Reflections On My Call To Preach. Craddock is professor emeritus of preaching at the Candler School of Theology, the United Methodist Seminary at Emory University....
Paul Simon sang about The Boy In The Bubble on his classic 1986 album Graceland.You can see and hear it here. It's well worth your time.The bubble in the image to the right and on the song is designed to protect and to insulate. Of course in the case of serious...
For the next couple of days I am at Lake Junaluska, NC attending the 2009 meeting of the Western North Carolina Annual Conference for the United Methodist Church.That's a mouthful.It's the yearly gathering of every United Methodist pastor and one lay member per pastor...
You'll need your bible for this one.To find out how to pull off a church barbecue, check here: Acts 29:13.To read about the successful bake sale they had in Corinth, look here: II Corinthians 8:28-29.To get biblical instructions for a profitable yard sale, study...