Yesterday morning I prayed that the people of Good Shepherd would have a "painful enlightenment" through the sermon. I believe that prayer was answered. Here's what people needed to realize . . . The people you GET mad at are not the ones you ARE mad at. (Yes, I just...

Franco Harris' "Immaculate Reception" is one of the most famous plays in NFL history.  Here's the clip, complete with audio by the late Curt Gowdy, whose distinctive voice I still miss: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMuUBZ_DAeM   The pass was intended for...

This rather improbable picture was taken at the United Methodist Publishing House in Nashville.     As I mentioned in Tuesday's post, I spent several days last week in Middle Tennessee at the New Room Conference.  While there, I wanted to visit with the...

Have you noticed how everyone is sorry for their sin . . . after they get caught? The repentance gear seems to kick in once the light exposes the dark places of people’s lives. Jimmy Swaggart’s tears, Mark Sanford’s press conference, and Ted Haggard’s apology all come...

I spent four days last week in picturesque Franklin, Tennessee, surrounded by 700 like-minded pilgrims from the Wesleyan world, at the second annual New Room Conference. When I say "pilgrims from the Wesleyan world" (pretty nifty to put quotes around something I just...

Yesterday's sermon had a couple of departures from the norm. For one, I read the entirety of the Scripture immediately before the sermon.  It's a long narrative from 2 Samuel, shocking enough in its content that you don't need any other introductory material. Second,...

In its Question Everything issue, TIME magazine asked Andy Stanley, "is monogamy obsolete?" Here's his answer: Cassette tapes are obsolete. Monogamy is more like an endangered species. Rare. Valuable. Something to be fed and protected. Perhaps an armed guard should be...

For my 12th birthday, my father sprung one of his best surprises ever on me and bought me Paul Simon's There Goes Rhymin' Simon. The summer before that birthday, he and I had driven from Dallas, Texas to Knoxville, Tennessee for a tennis tournament (the National Boys'...

Carly Simon said it this way:  "Anticipation . . . it's making me late, it's keeping me waiting." And some things in life are more full of anticipation than others.  Some days and some events are so full of excitement and promise that waiting for them to arrive really...

There was much to anticipate as we opened up Mad People Disease.  I title a like, a promo video I love, a topic that hits close to home, and a series of messages that have felt very good in preparation. And then for this week, I landed at a bottom line that wasn't the...