Some time ago, I received an email from a friend at Good Shepherd. My friend is in recovery from alcoholism, so that is a frequent subject of our conversations together, and he knows how much joy I get from his journey to sobriety. Here's part of his email: I wanted...
This past weekend was a good weekend for SMU sports. First, their football team beat the University of North Texas (um, formerly called North Texas State University) 65-35. Second, their graduate Bryson DeChambeau won the U.S. Open golf tournament. My delight with...
Yesterday's message ... Hinged on a subtle yet unmistakable pattern in Ruth 4; Pointed out Ruth's mic drop ending of 4:17 ... the Moabitess is in the lineage of King David. Really, Ruth begins in anarchy and ends in monarchy; Suggested that "town gates" in ancient...
I have found myself wanting to get carried away like Paul recently. What do I mean by that? Scattered throughout his letters, there are times when Paul becomes so exuberant about the subject at hand that he simply gets carried away. It's almost always when he is...
One day several years ago I was the Rivergate shopping center when a man approached me to strike up a conversation. "You came to my house a couple of years ago to invite us to church," he said. "And I just want you to know that we've been coming ever since." Now: that...
Late last week, while working on an upcoming social media post related the power of analogy in preaching, I stumbled across a stunning discovery: a Dawes album I didn't know existed. I have written at length here and here about my new-found Dawes love, but I thought...
Yesterday's message ... Covered Naomi's plan and Ruth's brilliant execution of it from Ruth 3; Trusting in the interpretation of Sandy Richter, treated that encounter as Ruth's proposal to Boaz; Recognized that a life in which "image is everything" is hollow indeed;...
My friend and fellow Good Shepherd Staffer Shannon Schauber recently took a trip to Hilton Head Island, SC. While there, he took a tour of the lighthouse at Sea Pines Plantation, noticed this tennis-related display therein, decided I would probably know something...
Yesterday my friend Fabian Avigliano sent me this message: What is the big deal about October 4? It's when Good Shepherd returns to live, indoor worship as a community. The times are changed. The setting will be different. The expectations altered. But the Gospel...
Julie and I spent the early hours of Labor Day hiking alongside the Catawba River. Which, of course, got me thinking: what are some good songs that capture the movement and mystery of rivers? Here they are: One. River, by Jason Isbell. This is the newest -- and best...