. . . because it was. This photo was taken for a Good Shepherd Church Pictorial Directory shortly after we moved to Charlotte and I started at Good Shepherd in the summer of 1999. Julie and I are now empty nesters. Our daughter Taylor, 26, works in corporate...
On Monday night, I headed up to Mooresville, NC (just north of Charlotte) to take part in a LifeGroup meeting connected to West United Methodist Church. Why would I drive an hour to sit in on a bible study associated with another church? Because the group's curriculum...
I have been leading small group Bible studies for years now. And I've done it in enough places & with enough people that I know: even the best of groups need good curricula. I currently lead two Bible studies -- or, what we call LifeGroups at Good Shepherd. ...
How to do a sermon encouraging people to "read the bible" without giving a trite message encouraging them "read the bible'? Answer: start with a classic of early contemporary Christian music, throw in some obligatory Led Zeppelin and Lynrd Skynrd, tie it all into...
So this week's sermon is called Guiding Light. Which, of course, was the name of a soap opera. Which is kind of ironic since the purpose of the sermon is to show you how to keep your life from becoming one. Sunday. 8:30. 10. 11:30 (Moss Road) 11:30 (Latino, Moss Road)...
Like most pastors these days, I like to preach my messages in series. I have found that thinking "serially" harnesses my mind's creative bent and I have discovered that serial preaching best captures the attention of those who attend our church . . . and those who...
I've been at this for eight years now. Five days a week. Virtually without fail. Here's my very first post, promoting a 2008 series on the book of Revelation called NUMB3RS: https://simplifythemessage.com/2008/05/numb3rs/ So I love my blog. Until I hate it. Here...
Ah, the 1990s. Grunge music. Seinfeld. Bill Clinton. Pete Sampras. Michael Jordan. It's not long enough ago yet that people are necessarily nostalgic for a return to that decade. Julie and I were in Monroe, North Carolina, I was pastoring Mt. Carmel & Midway...
A little over a year ago, while I was in India, I read a magazine article about a cricket hero in that land. And the title of the article was The Light At The Beginning Of The Tunnel. Immediately I knew: sermon series. And so, a year later, series idea has become...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_QzEl78i_A The Light At The Beginning Of The Tunnel In the middle of life’s struggles, the path forward seems endless. We wonder if the darkness will ever give way to light. A lot of times, we believe that if we just...