No, it's not a sermon on Margaret Thatcher.It's not even a sermon on Meryl Streep playing Margaret Thatcher.But it is a sermon on a lady leader whose story has everything to do with iron.And I think it might be one of the more unsettling sermons we've had...
His Word The Last Word
At the conclusion of Sunday's worship gathering, we gave people an chance to pick up a His Word The Last Word card as a sign of a "surrendered brain."What is HWLW?It's a legacy of the ministry of Dawson Trotman who founded The Navigators student ministry in...
Top Five Tuesday — Top Five Bob Dylan Songs
A couple of weeks ago, I went down to Austin, Texas to visit my mom in advance of Mother's Day. While there, I also spent time with two older sisters and two older brothers.As you may know, Austin is the music hub of the southwest. Home to musicians and...
Bishop Patronizes Continent
In a May 17 column posted on the United Methodist Reporter site, Bishop Minerva Carcano of the Desert Southwest Conference offered her assessment of the recently completed 2012 General Conference. As many of you know by now, that Conference retained our...
Royal Pains Launch — The King Of Bling
Scripture records that when the children of Israel cried out for a king to lead them, the Lord tried to get them to change their minds.But the people would have none of it. The nations surrounding them had kings, and so should they.So God gave them what they wanted –...
When Verses Obscure Scripture
You might look at the title to this post and think, "What?! The verses ARE the Scripture!"No. They're not.The division of the bible into chapters and verses is a much later development. You can read some of that story here. The original...
Encouragement By Ice Cream
For the last couple of weeks, I had been telling the staff to clear their calendars for Tuesday, May 15 at 1:30 p.m. for a Surprise Extravaganza.I was most disappointed when one of our team members did not re-schedule the cruise he is taking with his wife this...
Top Five Tuesday — Top Five Tears Of Joy In Sports
Bubba Watson's tear-filled celebration upon winning this year's Master's sparked an internal question: what are my favorite "cry" moments in sports?To make the list below, the tears must be those of victory, not of defeat. They may well contain some...
What Methodists PRACTICE Or What Methodists BELIEVE?
If you ask most people who are even remotely connected to church life -- Methodist or otherwise -- "what is it that distinguishes the Methodist church from any other church?" you'll get answers that focus on the practices of our denomination as opposed to...
Courageous Week 5 — Profiles In Courage
For this final message in Courageous, I'm moving out of the story of Joshua and his leadership of the messy family known as the children of Israel and moving into Paul and his leadership of the messy family known as the church at Colossae. And it's a topic that...