Throughout March of 2014, a group of churches in the greater Charlotte area will celebrate worship with a great instead . . . Instead of rows of chairs or pews in our sanctuaries, dozens of assembly line tables;Instead of a band or choir leading us in praise, a...
How Mission Connects To Discipline
Those of you who know me well -- or who just read yesterday's post -- know that I am a super-disciplined person.I complete projects well in advance, I show up to meetings and events early, I live by my routines, and I follow rules.Yet I am an undisciplined...
Top Five Tuesday — Top Five Things That Give Me A LITTLE MORE Comfort Than They Probably Should
A little over a year ago, I turned a "Top Five Tuesday space into a confessional of sorts -- I came clean on five of the ways I'm more than a little anal-retentive.In that same vein, I've noticed that as I get older, there are certain things in life that bring...
When An English Speaker Preaches A Spanish Sermon
While James-Michael Smith brought our English version of The Shadow Of A Doubt to a resurrection-worthy conclusion yesterday, I did the same with our Latino congregation.At 11:30, I crossed Moss Road -- en el otro lado de la calle -- entered our Corner Campus and was...
Shadow Of A Doubt, Week 5 — Doubt Reduction
This Sunday is the final episode of The Shadow Of A Doubt.By way of review, we've experienced the following together:When you are honest about where you are, Jesus is faithful to show who he is."To whom shall we go?" . . . the alternatives to faith stink!When...
Who In The Hebrew Scriptures Points To Jesus?
I learned something phenomenal this week.Something that I could have/should have learned earlier had I been paying closer attention to the nuances of Romans 4.Back to the question that is the title of today's post: Who in the Hebrew Scriptures Points To...
When Therapy Becomes Theology In The UMC’s Full Inclusion Debate
It happened again.I heard about a clergy colleague -- long considered to be on the conservative end of the theological debates roiling the United Methodist Church -- who has reconsidered his support of our denomination's official stand regarding same-sex intimacy,...
Top Five Tuesday — Top Five Steely Dan Songs
No one ever said Steely Dan was a normal band.Two guys from New York. Neither one a great singer. A style that mixes jazz, pop, rock, and reggae. Lyrics that are irreverent, elusive, and oh-so-70s.When I saw them at Blockbuster Arena; Verizon...
Where Doubt REALLY Comes From
I have known for several years that on some level behavior precedes doubt.In other words, we don't arrive at our shadow of doubt by objective analysis of relevant facts; most of us instead begin to act a certain way and then circle back around and develop some doubts...
Doubt’s Big Bang
The sermon is NOT about creationism, evolution, or intergalactic science.It IS about a BIG BANG, however.The Big Bang of doubt.What is the origin of doubt? Where does it come from and what keeps it going?When you answer that -- and we will on Sunday and I...