The Gospel is history, it's not philosophy.The Gospel is history that shapes you, defines you, and redefines you.The Gospel is history that begs to be told.  And re-told.  And re-re-told.The problem comes when we allow either philosophy, religion, or...

The Gospel is a story you just have to hear.And it’s a life you’ve just got to live.And it contains promises you’re privileged to share.Based on material from Pastor J.D. Greear, Gospel is a series that finds the heart of the Christians faith and dwells there...

In my occasional dark nights of the soul, I wonder:  "is what I'm doing anything other than some motivational speaking on a Sunday morning?"Seriously: do people come to Good Shepherd or to any church simply to have their ears tickled and the hearts touched? ...

I was speaking with a young woman recently about her upcoming baptism.She had gone through our self-study guide -- a series of questions that takes the candidate through the bible to see what it and not church tradition actually says about baptism.Her answers and...

In honor of tomorrow night's Presidential Debate -- you know about it, right? -- I thought I'd take a trip down my own memory lane for today's Top Five.It's my five most personally memorable presidential elections.  Some of the decisions we made as a nation...

It was an interesting weekend in my family.First, my wife Julie had been given tickets to the Ryder Cup in Chicago.  So she took her father, Ted Munoz, up north where they spent Saturday following the likes of Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker around the course at...

Lowlife is not just a Sunday series.It's Monday through Saturday as well.It's why we've had Lowlife Serving Options each Saturday of September as a way of being the message rather than just hearing the messages.This Saturday, for example, you can help either with a...

Think of all the things that get our double takes:Beautiful people.Sunsets on the beach.Sunrise on the beach.Mist rising from the mountains.The colors in a kaleidoscope.A city skyline at night.Beautiful people.And James throws in this line early in his sermon: ...

It happened again.Just this week a woman who was reluctant to come to a Methodist church because she had heard how theologically liberal the denomination has become . . . told me she decided Good Shepherd was the church for her when we lifted...

This past Saturday I watched a bit of the game between South Carolina and new-SEC-member Missouri.Along with new conference membership, Missouri has a new helmet design.  And it is just plain awful.My first thought was "what in the world is THAT on the...