The bible is full of Anti-Heroes:  Pharoah, Nebudchanezzar, Cyrus, Pilate and my favorite, Demas.First, there's the name.  Alter the pronunciation just a little and presto! you've got some profanity in church.  Especially in the plural.I promise to be...

Here I am at four and a half years old, sporting both my Batman costume and my cast for my broken left arm. If you look closely, you can see the picture was taken on May 29, 1966.The Adam West Batman show had just come on TV, he became my instant hero, and so my...

As we were closing up the church at the conclusion of ministry programming last Sunday night, an energetic fourth grade girl starting talking to me about her "living relationship with Jesus Christ."Music to my ears. See, in the fall of 2011 -- after a year of talking,...

Have ever considered that question?If you were to add up all the times you've heard certain songs -- whether on the radio, in concert, or via turntable/cassette deck/CD player/iPodPhonePad -- which tune would end up on top?And it's not only frequency but duration that...

In preparing yesterday's message (which took place about six weeks ago), the flavor of the entire series got turned around.Huh?Well, in getting the first three messages ready, I had pretty pedestrian sermon titles (Signed, Sealed, Delivered may have been one of...

This week's hidden hero might just be my favorite of them all.(Well, until next week's.)I love the arc of his story.  From failure to redemption. From problem to purpose.From Pamphylia to Proclamation.To see what all that means, Sunday.8:30.  10.  11:30.

Although I have lived in and around Charlotte for a quarter century, there are still some typically Charlottean things that I have never done.Some fall into the category of "not yet."  Others, "never will."I'll let you try to figure out which is which.Here they...

If you are a United Methodist pastor today, it's because you survived the Board Of Ordained Ministry yesterday.Each of the Annual Conferences (Good Shepherd is in the Western North Carolina Annual Conference) selects its Board to evaluate, test, interview, and...

In case you weren't able to be in worship on Sunday and didn't see yesterday's blog-with-video, here is an architectural fly though of what's coming to Good Shepherd at Moss Road:And then here are the most Frequently Asked Questions about the project and the Beyond...

So yesterday was both a sermon and a major, mega church announcement.Gospel proclamation and congregational reveal all in one place.The first part of the message -- in which I tried to imagine what it was like to be the unsuspecting Archippus and to hear his name read...