-
THE PRESENCE
When I was in my mid-twenties, I worked part-time as the youth pastor at my home church. It was the late 90s and having a “contemporary worship service” every Sunday morning was passing from being “a fad” to being “a must-have”. My Pastor tasked me with pulling together a worship band. Even though I had no musical ability whatsoever, I knew the teens well and some of them were musicians. Plus, our new contemporary service was going to be aimed at the their type – young and hip. The band came together fairly easily. We had a drummer, a guitarist,…
-
BACK TO SCHOOL
I am excited to announce that Melissa is returning to the classroom! For most of the last two years – since our return from Haiti – Melissa has been working as the director of the education team at Clarity. It was important work – overseeing the sexual risk avoidance curriculum in local schools and the team of educators teaching it. It was also stressful work. A large government grant brought opportunities to sharpen the program, but it also brought its share of tensions and demands. So, when an opportunity to reenter the kindergarten classroom came up a few weeks ago,…
-
WRECKING BALL
One time my dad was asked to join the Trustees Committee at a church where he was a relatively new member. If you’re not familiar with church lingo, the Trustees oversee building maintenance and repair. And this particular church building was, shall we say, “historic”. It had some serious issues and the cost to renovate was going to be more than a stretch for the tiny congregation. Now, Dad was always a straight shooter and didn’t hesitate to state his mind. He told the chair of the Trustees, “You don’t want me on that committee.” The chair asked, “And why…
-
ABSENCE
I had the opportunity to preach this morning at Hope United Methodist Church on Galatians 2:10, where Peter, James, and John send Paul on his way asking him only to “continue to remember the poor”. It was my first time to be back in my mother’s church since she passed away almost three years ago. I underestimated how it would hit me emotionally. Melissa began wiping away tears as we sang the hymn just before I stood up to preach, and that couldn’t help but trigger tears of my own. If you didn’t know my mom, you might not know…
-
RILING UP THE CROWD
The 8th chapter of John, from verse 12 through 59, is a record of a long discussion between a large crowd (made up of disciples, Pharisees, and assorted onlookers) and Jesus. But “discussion” is too mild of a term. This was an argument. On His part, Jesus wanted to focus on the Father who sent Him, how the truth sets people free from sin, and how hard it was to convince them that He was sent by God. He said the reason they didn’t recognize Him as the Messiah was precisely because they didn’t really know God Himself. (Which was…
-
THE RULE
With my recent posts on a believer’s responsibility to warn others about the wages of sin, I feel the need to clarify that I am not suggesting rudely shouting into other people’s faces or shaming anyone. When my wife and I lived in Pensacola, Florida two decades ago, there was some local church that encouraged its people to do “street preaching” – a practice which I am not against in theory. But these folks took the most offensive approach possible. They would stand on the corners of busy intersections and shout through megaphones, “GOD HATES YOU!” Strangely…
-
I HATE TO TELL YOU …
A few questions for believers to consider: If you are like me, you were nodding along with the first four questions, maybe giving an “amen!” or two. But then #5 gave you pause. “Wait a minute – It’s not my place to judge other people!” And that is correct. We are not the judge. But that doesn’t mean we can’t anticipate the verdict. And then give appropriate warning before the Day of Sentencing. In fact, giving warning is in the Believer’s job description. It goes against every overly-tolerant bone in our modern American bodies, but it’s true. Need to see…
-
SERMON PROJECT
It’s midnight and I just finished a big assignment for one of my doctoral classes. I had to take a 650 page book containing 60 sermons from John Wesley and summarize his teachings on 21 different doctrines across those sermons. My final paper was 20 pages single-spaced. And now I am cross-eyed and ready to drop into bed. But I have enough energy to make one observation about this project before I sleep: originally I assumed this would be a rather fruitless exercise. But over the last few weeks – even though I disliked how it the deadline was always…
-
EXPECTATIONS
Years ago I sat in a small circle of teens and adults anxiously preparing to process the day’s events. We were on a mission trip and the team was not getting along with each other too well. Much of the turmoil was coming from friction between the adults. Our meeting was being delayed by one of these adults who had decided to take an evening shower – either not knowing or not caring that everyone else was waiting for her. As the youth pastor, I was not about to start our meeting without everyone present, especially when we were struggling…
-
A 1ST CENTURY ARGUMENT
When Nicodemus (who had visited Jesus by night) confronted the other Jewish leaders about their willingness to break the law by condemning Jesus “without first hearing him to find out what he is doing” (John 7:51), they didn’t have to think twice about their answer. And their argument is so very modern: “Are you from Galilee, too?” – Quite the snarky opening, huh? Calling their opponent’s motives into question is a great place to start your debunk. “Look into it and you will find …” – This is the original “Do your own research”. “That a prophet does not come…