One of my favorite verses is Mark 9:24, where a father who has asked Jesus to heal his son has the honesty to say this: Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” I love it! I have faith and no faith. I trust and I don’t. I’m...

I know a preacher is in trouble whenever he or she says, “Webster’s defines ___________ as __________________.”  Why is a dictionary reference a sure-fire sermon killer? Because in preaching you should never define a word with more words. You define a word...

It's Wimbledon week which means I am both easily distracted and lacking in any objectivity. I want Roger Federer to win his ninth. Whenever he plays, I want him to win. I'm not alone in this. Will Skidelsky wrote a laugh-out-loud memoir called Federer And Me: A Story...

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...

I have recently realized that much of my bible reading is in order to prove a point.  If I am in a religious or political or cultural debate with someone, for example, then I'll just pull out my Scriptures, point out the relevant verses, and voila!  Point proven....

It's not too much of an exaggeration to say I cut my ministry teeth on hospital visitation. Whether it was Clinical Pastoral Education in seminary or a heavy dose of the "ministry of presence" during my time at Mt. Carmel UMC in Monroe and even now to a team of people...

Yesterday we closed the Escape From Average series with what we call internally a "movement" service. Rather than a straightforward music set followed by preaching, we had a service flow built around some different worship elements. We interspersed music and prayer...

If a Sunday goes well, we do less talking ABOUT the Scripture and more experiencing OF it. In fact, that's one of the more urgent points in the forthcoming book, Simplify The Message, Multiply The Impact. (See how I did that?) It releases on Feb. 4, 2020. Anyway, as...

Mark 4:35 – 5:41.  A perfectly designed and built section where faith and art meet.  Remember: chapters and verses were not original to Mark or any other book. The first story of Jesus in the boat with the storm sets up the question of questions:  “Who...

I came across this story recently from a Good Shepherd mom regarding her eight year old daughter named Addy who is a student in our Summer Camp. An amazing bedtime conversation with my 8 year old: A: Mom, do you know that today is my spiritual birthday? Well, it was...