We upgrade our phones, our computers, our cars, our homes, and even our memories. But what if all those upgrades are merely shadows of the real upgrade? The kind of upgrade that warms our worship, focuses our faith, and matures our minds. That kind of upgrade is embedded in the book of Hebrews . . Read the full article…
June 21st marks the first official day of summer and as such gives me pause to consider a preacher’s ambiguous relationship with that season. On the one hand, I love summer: the weather is hot, the water is cool, and shoes are optional. On the other hand, I hate summer. Why? Because ever since my Read the full article…
There are so many things I can’t do. For example, not long ago I had an excellent idea for how to conclude an upcoming worship gathering. The problem was that I had very little idea of how to take that idea from conception to implementation. So did that make me an “idea” person or merely Read the full article…
Early next month, I will begin my 23rd year of full-time ministry in the Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church. Whew. From 1990-1999, I served at Mt. Carmel & Midway Churches just outside of Monroe and since 1999 I’ve been here at Good Shepherd. This time of year almost always gets me Read the full article…
During yesterday’s sermon, I told the people of Good Shepherd about something we had considered in recent years regarding the flags of the world. “Wouldn’t it be cool,” we thought, “if we could place on the Worship Center platform a flag for each of the different nationalities represented at this church?” It would be a pretty Read the full article…
