For the next couple of days, Good Shepherd will be hosting the Leading Edge Children's Ministry Conference.What is the Leading Edge? It's the collection of the 100 largest United Methodist churches in the country in terms of worship attendance.  (I think Good...

Not too long ago, I received a message from my friend and colleague Dennis Sult that a couple in our church had suffered a miscarriage.The grief was multiplied by the fact that the loss of the baby occurred relatively late in the pregnancy.Mom and Dad asked if someone...

I mentioned in Sunday's message that among those things about which I have no doubt said "I love that" is my car: a navy blue 2009 Nissan Maxima.I think it's good-looking, and I know it's roomy, reliable, and quick.  It's for sure the best car I've ever had.But...

From the time I arrived at church (7:10 a.m.) until the time the first service began (8:30), I was a petulant brat.I had misplaced a couple of my props (see first paragraph below).  I didn't actually need them as we could have simply projected pictures of...

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.