As you may have read in yesterday's post, the highlight of our 254,000-meals-packed-on-a-Sunday was a conversation with a woman who earlier in life had subsisted on just such nutrition.Yet as full-circle-remarkable as that conversation was, the day brought a number of...

Numerically speaking, yesterday was extraordinary in the life of Good Shepherd United Methodist Church. 2400 people . . . prepared & packed & loaded . . . 254,232 meals . . . in just under five hours. We had a preposterous goal of 250,000 meals and by God's...

Here's what the Good Shepherd Worship Center looks like this morning:What in the world?  Are we cancelling church on Sunday?Hardly.We're getting for the people of Good Shepherd not to hear the sermon but to be the sermon.Later today, volunteer crews will bring in...

I have realized this week how often prayer functions in my life as something to get through.Many of you know exactly what I'm saying . . . prayer functions as the table setter for whatever is next on your agenda.At meal times, it's what you get through so that you can...

For the people of Good Shepherd, southwest Charlotte, northern York, and eastern Gaston Counties:Million Meal March FAQ Fed Up With Hunger SundayFrequently Asked QuestionsWhat Are We Doing On March 30 at Good Shepherd?We are harnessing all our Sunday morning...

You know what a cliché is, right?A word or phrase that has been used so often, and in so many different settings, that it has lost its original meaning.  Assuming, of course, it ever had an original meaning . . . which many clichés never did. Good communicators,...

My sermon yesterday needed to do two things:  1) serve the normal function of a Sunday message in terms of teaching, evoking, exhorting, and encouraging the people gathered for worship; and 2) drum up awareness of and enthusiasm for next week's Million Meal...

I've never done a "two-part" sermon before.Series, yes.Two-parts to get to the one whole?  NeverUntil this weekend.You'll see what I mean.  In a big, bold, radically impactful way.Completely IncompleteSunday. 8:30.  10.  11:30.  Food For...

Last night, I led the third of our four session Next Step group, which we promote as a "membership exploration class at Good Shepherd."This particular group has about 25 people in it, spanning in age from 17 to 70 and in experience from biblical novices to people who...

Here are a few questions running around in my head this week . . .1.  Based on the theory of Occam's Razor -- "among competing hypotheses, the hypothesis with the fewest assumptions should be selected" -- isn't it most likely that the Malaysian jet had a...