While cleaning out some of our file cabinets recently, I came across a file containing many of my old Trentonian columns, including this one on a pair of brothers you may have heard of: Erik and Lyle Menendez. Say WHAT?! At the time, the Menendezes lived in Hopewell,...

Yesterday, sixteen United Methodist clergy from the Western North Carolina Conference began an eight month journey with me into Simplifying The Message And Mulitplying The Impact. This is the second year that I have been able to lead this project and as a lot of you...

This past Saturday, Julie and I traveled over to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, to join our son Riley and his wife Natalie for the UNC-Miami overtime thriller. Being there as father & son got me remembering some of unique places my dad took me when I was growing up....

Yesterday's message ... Began with a Guns-N-Roses shoutout & demonstration; Contained three more science "experiments"; Included a very brief "I pray in tongues" confession (something I've done at church several times before); An almost hidden Don Henley lyric...

I think every pastor longs for those Sundays when you set the table, sit back, and watch God work. It seems like that's what happened LAST Sunday as we opened up "Thank God For Science" by looking at "The Wrong Question." Many of you were alternately tearful and...

Over the last couple of months, my Men's LifeGroup and I have been reading through the letters of Paul. We all read the same chapter each day -- at least, we're supposed to! -- and then I send an email with some thoughts and guidance on context, history, and genre. If...

A Good Shepherd friend recently took a trip out west and brought this back as a memento for me. It's nice to serve a church filled with people who "get" how you think, talk, and live.

Sunday's message began and ended with the subject of GOATS -- Greatest Of All Time. I explained that just because Genesis 1 is the GOAT of creation hymns, that doesn't mean it is the GOAT of scientific explanations of the universe's origins. That's not its intent....

Yesterday's message ... Revolved around genre, history, library, and art in its understanding of Genesis 1; Acknowledged that many people hearing it had left the faith or were considering leaving the faith because of a perceived conflict between Genesis and science;...

Thank God For Science  For a long time, it seems, people have been presented with a choice: Believe in the bible.  Or believe in science.  You can’t do both. Just think about all the dilemmas! How old is the universe? When did life begin?  Where did the human race...