To say yesterday's sermon was a departure from the norm is an understatement. First:  it was not a one-pointer.  It was a three-objectioner. Second: it hopped around the bible instead of digging into one particular passage. Third: we did a responsive reading of...

You may not be the most interesting man in the world.  You may not even know him. But you've likely encountered some objections to the Christian faith. You might even have some yourself. So that's what we'll look at this coming Sunday. And this message represents a...

I found this Grave Memorial online last week. This is my grandmother on my dad's side! A few interesting things about this notice, her name, and the migration of my dad's family: 1. Her maiden name was Nancy Virginia Talbot.  People often ask me where my name came...

Many of you might remember Billie Jean King, a tennis heroine of yesteryear who won Wimbledon six times while also beating Bobby Riggs in 1973's "Battle Of The Sexes." What you may not know is that for all her accomplishments on court, King had a notoriously poor...

Every pastor has had a frustrating day.  A frustrating week.  A frustrating season. But how can your typical pastor turn frustration from an episode into a way of life? Voila!  Top Five Ways To Guarantee Ministry Frustration.  Because life's too long really to enjoy,...

This edited version of yesterday's sermon wasn't especially biblical.  For the second week in a row, I did not drill down into one passage but instead borrowed liberally from a few of Jesus' interactions with people in both Matthew and  John. And it wasn't overly...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BFUxiNWHEA&feature=youtu.be   Every Life Counts When we say we are inviting all people into a living relationship with Jesus Christ, does all mean all? It does. No exceptions. Every life counts because every life will last...

The 21st Century American church -- and in particular, the United Methodist tribe of which I am a part -- has become all-too-adept at hand-wringing. We hear an anecdote, read a survey, or watch a television show in which the message of ancient, creedal Christianity is...

Every Sunday, Good Shepherd includes space for "Prayer requests and answered prayers" on the back of its Connection Card. This Sunday we received one of the best ever: What an amazing praise I have to report.  I attended the Healing Service on Monday and was prayed...

Most of you have never heard of them. They enjoyed a brief run of minor popularity in the mid-80s, had Bono sing on one of their songs in the early 90s, and then gave another tune to Al Gore to use in his presidential race of 2000.  And then, with barely a whimper,...