Well, it is just around the corner, you know.So here are my five favorite Christmas songs from the sacred genre.  Which cuts out offerings by Burl Ives, Bruce Springsteen, and John Lennon.5.  God Rest You Merry Gentlemen.  I don't really like this one...

Yesterday our student ministries pastor, John Pavlovitz, delivered the sermon at the 8:30, 10, and 11:30 services.Why?  Well, he's a really good preacher.But there was another reason:  because I spent the 11:30 hour in our Corner Campus preaching a sermon to...

This week's Lake Wylie Pilot ran a nice feature on Good Shepherd.  You can read it here and find out what happened, what's happening, and what's fixin' to happen.

Yesterday I posted on a new understanding I've gained on Paul's much debated conclusion in Romans 11:26 that "all Israel will be saved."  And those words are really but a prelude to the doxology of Romans 11:33-36:33 Oh, the depth of the riches of...

Nearing the conclusion of his personal wrestling with the relationship between Jews and the church, Paul makes this enigmatic claim:And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written . . . (11:26)That verse and its wording have been the source of no little...

I wrote this post originally back in December of 2012. Since that time, I might have had a book or two -- no, really, just one -- vault to near the top of the list.  Here's a hint:   I love reading novels, sports books, and political history.  In that order. Yet...

. . . when it's in the bible.Philipians 3:8, as a matter of fact, which in most translations uses the much gentler word "rubbish" to translate what Paul literally meant as "excrement."  He was using vivid imagery to make a salient point:  all his...

The road gets bumpy, filled with cracks, almost impassible for cars, and what must be done?Repaving.It's true of my street and your street.And it's also true of Memory Lane.  Just when we get tempted to live there -- whether the memories be good or bad -- then...

One day earlier this week, I ate lunch with some friends who work at the church.It was a quick lunch, eaten on our campus, and surrounded by the bustle of the pre-school.But here's what happened.  I ate my customary lunch of sliced turkey (no bread), rice,...

While I am a very disciplined person, I have not always been a disciplined leader.In my years at Good Shepherd, I have gotten excited about new projects, taken us on different tangents, and been hesitant to reinforce the same few ideas time and time again.  For...