I work on two messages per week . . . researching and writing one that I will preach in eight to ten weeks and then internalizing one that I will deliver on the upcoming Sunday.  For some reason, I’ve never gotten the two confused. Of all the doctrines that different...

Here I am with Laura Raiford, helping to celebrate her Master's In Christian Counseling degree from Gordon-Conwell Seminary here in Charlotte. It's actually a journey that started in 2002. At that time she was Laura DePalma, somewhat new in her faith, and made an...

Yesterday's message: Hinged on two architectural details in John's description of the New Jerusalem in Revelation 21;Poked a bit of "fun" at the all-too-Methodist combination of inflexible methods and flexible message;Gave shoutouts to Thomas Oden (T.O. for short in...

Here is my kindergarten class picture from the spring of 1968. You should be able to identify which one is me. I remember I had a crush on the teacher, but I can't remember her name. Maybe Marc Whitman Taubenfeld can help me out.

One of my friends who is quite open with me about his journey out of addiction and into recovery told me of a phrase the recovery community uses: The Spiritual By-Pass What is that? It's the desire on the part of many addicts to receive ONE prayer, ONE pill, or ONE...

Our photography team caught this moment during a recent Good Shepherd worship gathering. It's that moment where, just before I pray and preach, I invite the congregation to lift their bibles (or their worship programs or phones or iPads ... wherever they have the...

Yesterday's message ... Reiterated that Revelation CAN'T mean to US something that it did not mean to THEM;Assured listeners they don't need to spend any time worrying about the identity of '666' or the look of the 'mark of the beast';Instead pointed out that the...

How's that for the title of a blog post? I am one of twenty-four authors asked to contribute a chapter to a new book about the murky future of the United Methodist Church. Called Where Do We Go From Here?, the book is the brainchild of Kevin Slimp, the President of...

This past Monday evening, we had our monthly healing service at Good Shepherd. And the most interesting thing happened. A woman who is actually a member of another United Methodist Church in Charlotte came and as the service wound down, she made her way to my prayer...

Some years ago, I turned a "Top Five Tuesday space into a confessional of sorts -- I came clean on five of the ways I'm more than a little anal-retentive. In that same vein, I've noticed that as I get older, there are certain things in life that bring me little more...