A little known fact about Advent and Christmas: in Christian thinking, Jesus first appearance is designed to heighten our anticipation for his second. What does that mean? What will it look like? What about all the books, charts, and graphs that we can buy that tell...
My message from Tuesday night's Christmas Eve services ... Began with our congregation standing and reading Luke 2:1-7 out loud and together;Pivoted on Paul's affirmation in Philippians 3:12 that Christ Jesus had first grabbed on to him;Was about 2/3 the length of a...
Yesterday's sermon ... Came from a not-very-Christmasy section of Scripture, Romans 8:35-39;Taught that in Paul's life, Paul's "hypothetical" list of separators in Romans 8:35 was actually anything BUT hypothetical;Talked about the relentlessness of our son when it...
Lionel Richie may have sung it, but Paul wrote about it and I'm going to preach it. God's "with-ness" can't be separated from his "love-ness" which, as you'll see, is stuck on you. What does all this have to do with Christmas? Only everything. Check it out. Sunday....
In the aftermath of Sunday's sermon in which the bottom line was God shakes you up to send you out a Good Shepherd stalwart approached me. "Thank you for that sermon," she said. "I always thought that it was Satan who gave me cancer but after the message I think maybe...
My Good Shepherd friend Susan Salzman brought her daughter Brooke Cantrell (right) and granddaughter Makaylah Cantrell (left), and they got a kick out of a certain photo collage that's part of our lobby gallery:
Disclaimer: I am having a good week. I am content in ministry and think Good Shepherd is in a good place. Please don't read this post as a sign of impending crisis in ministry. Having said that, I've been thinking about posting on things I can't do as a pastor for...
Yesterday's message ... Featured an altered title and a changed bottom line from the original. The changes happened on Thursday of the week, which almost never happens;Reminded the people of the church that Luke is an investigative journalist (as Luke 1:1-4 makes...
Here I am serving in the final round of the Texas State High School Doubles Championship. I was a sophomore, my partner was senior Chris Doane, and we were in the process of beating Sammy Giammalva & Mickey Branisa from Houston. In the way high school tennis...
So what's the more profound role for a person in my role: pastor or agitator? If you say pastor, then you'll believe that the most effective leader of a local church will care for souls, pursue healing, and excel in the ministry of presence. If you say agitator, then...