What other kind of list could I possibly compile for Valentine's Day? And no, "Feel Like Makin' Love" didn't make the cut. Nor did "Whole Lotta Love." Or even "Love Gun." To make the list, a song has to have at least a little subtlety as well as the recognition...
Oh, what fun it was to deliver this message. I had the multi-faceted privileged of . . . Digging deep into Romans 5:1-5; Showing a clip from a pro tennis match I won in 1984 (yes!); Letting people know that "Jaws" is not a good date movie; Leading a demonstration with...
The Path Of Most Resistance The heaviest weight. The hardest class. The highest mountain. Those difficult challenges are the ones that make us and mature us. The greater the resistance, the stronger the result. And it’s the same with what we call a living...
A lot of you know that I spent they years 1990-1999 pastoring in Monroe, North Carolina, a medium-sized town about 30 miles south and east of Charlotte. As is typical of United Methodist pastors, I served two churches at the same time (called a two-point charge): ...
Not long ago, I received an email from someone who attended Good Shepherd for a season and then had to move to another part of the country. Anyway, part of his email said that he and his family still remember and use the phrase “forgiveness is learned, so teach it...
If you know me at all, you know I like my routines. Actually, I love them. Honestly, I live by them. And so in the middle of all that, there are five things above all others that I just never get tired of. Here they are: 1.Listening to Don Henley's The Boys Of...
How to make a sermon on fasting interesting? Or relevant? Or fun? Well, I'm not sure I accomplished any of the above, but I did make it practical. We distributed a very clear Call To Action at the conclusion: a church-wide fast on Monday, February 6, complete with...
It's Super Bowl Sunday. It's Scouting For Food Sunday. ( See below.) And yet it's the Sunday we wind up Creatures Of Habit with a message called "The Not Eating Habit"? What in the world is that about? Sunday. 8:30, 10, 11:30 on Moss Road. 10, 11:30 on Zoar Road....
When I am walking in the flesh — meaning, not rigorously & consistently connected to the Holy Spirit — I can fall into a trap. The trap that says all my thoughts needs to be verbalized. As if I’ll lose it if I don’t say it. Sarcastic thoughts. Condescending...
Here's Psalm 2:11 Serve the Lord with fear and celebrate his rule with trembling. Yikes. I sense that few people celebrate the Lord's rule. More object to it. Still more re-fashion it to suit their own agenda. Even more simply ignore it. And yet the call to...