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...
Top Five Tuesday — Top Five Things That Give Me A LITTLE MORE COMFORT Than They Should
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...
Brave, Week 2 — The “What I Made The Devil Do” Sermon Rewind
Yesterday's message .... Hinged on the Lord as "hurler" and Satan as "hurlee" in Revelation 12;Suggested that many times when we claim "the devil made me do it" it is actually avoiding responsibility for things we got into all by ourselves;Landed at a bottom line that...
When A Good Thing Happens To A Good Man
One of my best preacher friends is starting a new ministry position this week. Claude Kayler, who served as the founding pastor of Good Shepherd from 1991 - 1999, was recently named the Chief Ministry Officer of the Intentional Growth Center in Lake Junaluska, North...
Good Shepherd + Good Hope = Revival
Here I am with Joseph Fulk, the pastor of Good Hope United Methodist Church near Lexington, North Carolina. That church invited me to start their revival series this past Sunday night, so after launching the Brave series here in Charlotte, I journeyed up I-85 and...
Top Five Tuesday — Top Five Questions To Ask In Growing Self-Awareness
Self-awareness prevents self-destruction. And a lack of self-awareness hastens it. I believe that self-awareness contains an essential understanding of how you come across to others -- and it can be a thin line indeed between being appealing and annoying. So here are...
Brave, Week 1 — The “Everyone Needs A Hand To Hold On To” Sermon Rewind
Yesterday's message ... Opened the Brave series, a series that is itself based on the book of Revelation;Explained that the genre of Revelation is more Virtual Reality Tour than it is Crystal Ball Study;Contrasted John's use of "was, is, is to come" and "Alpha and...
“Brave” Begins!
Brave One thing is certain: we live in uncertain times. On the inside, our nation is sharply divided along political, religious, and ideological lines. On the outside, wars and rumors of wars form the drumbeat of the nightly news. Outrage is the currency...
The Massively Small
One day awhile back, I took one of our staffers along for a pastoral visit with a family in the early stages of grief. As some of you know, it's the kind of work that I find challening but invigorating. On the drive back to the church, my Good Shepherd colleague and I...
A Podcast On The Chip & Gary Tennis Show
Chip Hooper and Gary Plock were All-American college tennis players at the Universities of Arkansas and Texas back in the 1970s. I had heard of both, knew neither, but was aware they were really good players. Through the miracle of social media Gary has befriended me....