Yesterday's message ... Started my favorite kind of series: based on a biblical book seen through a cultural hook. In this case, the book is Ruth and the hook is the Beatles; Hinged on the exegetical & historical work of doing what Sandy Richter calls "bridging...
Help! I Need Somebody! And not just anybody, right? We all have a longing for connection, for relationship, for the ability to need people and to be needed by people. So: how do we live into that reality during this unique season of our lives? And what do the answers...
On Throwback Thursdays, I often dig up old tennis photos, and those photos usually feature my backhand or my serve. Those were my two best shots. And then I found this one. A forehand at last: The photo was taken during a practice session on the day before...
I've had a sense through the years that churches in general and this church in particular need to take more care to avoid enabling unhealthy behaviors. With the best of intentions, we can reinforce behaviors and patterns in people that do much more harm than good. For...
Many times, WITH THE BEST OF INTENTIONS, we offer advice that is actually counter-productive. We lean on tried and true cliches to encourage people facing life's dilemmas, and if they follow OUR ADVICE / THE WORLD'S CLICHES disaster is likely to be the result. Here...
Yesterday's message ... Was delivered TWICE -- once to our live outdoor service at 8:30 and then via livestream at 10 a.m.; Speaking of the "live" service, during the preaching of it the connection of "genealogy" and "generosity" came to me, spur of the moment, so I...
God has been very good to us during the "It Runs In The Family" series. I have sensed that many of you have begun to live its truths and principles inside your homes. This Sunday the series winds up with "Deep Pockets," a look at what we want to run in our families...
I am moved by the self-awareness of poet and memoirist Patricia Lockwood. Here’s how she words it in the best-selling Priestdaddy: I consider myself on an anthropological mission, much like Margaret Mead. I have discovered that this makes almost anything bearable – it...
Last week, one of Julie's friends took a hike in the North Carolina mountains and decided to bring some reading material with her. I approve of the choice. In fact, she told Julie that this reading in this locale clarified faith for her in a way nothing had before....
This Sunday, August 16, 2020, we start a new chapter in the middle of this surreal season at Good Shepherd: a simplified outdoor worship service at the Moss Campus at 8:30 a.m. Wha-what? Yep. We are committing to the next seven Sundays at least -- August 16 through...