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Adding, Subtracting, Replacing, or Integrating?
Learning – via reading, watching instructional videos, taking a class, attending a lecture, by trial and error – is more than simply adding information to what you already know. Ideally, what you already know is improved, deepened, corrected, or enhanced by new, nuanced information or inspiration. We aren’t merely data…
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What (or Who) is Normal?
There’s not another you, or me, in the entire world. We have different DNA. We have different finger prints. We have different personalities, dispositions, temperaments, capabilities, tastes, struggles and varying strengths and weaknesses. We certainly have different life experiences. There’s never been another you or me in the history of…
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How’s the water?
We exist in God, and God in us. God is as close as the air we breath. Every step we take is on holy ground, as every step we take is with God. God is everywhere we go, and there’s nowhere God isn’t.
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Ashes, Water, and the Sign of the Cross
Ashes remind us of our mortality and dependence on God for life. The waters of baptism remind us of new birth, new life, and the promise of resurrection. The symbol of the cross reminds us that God entered our fragility, in Jesus, even unto death, and overcame it.
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Stop the Unsanity! Can We?
There was once a time we could respectfully “agree to disagree” on many things. Not any more. And, that’s a problem. A big problem.
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Advent 2020: Who or what are we waiting for?
The word “advent” literally means “arrival.” Thus, the Advent season is about the coming of the Christ Child, and the less emphasized subject of his eventual return in glory. Advent is a time for planning, preparing, and anticipating a particularly important arrival. It is a season of looking and longing…
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Thankful…ish
On this 2020 Thanksgiving Day, I am truly and sincerely thankful…ish. I’m am deeply thankful to God for so much, and for so many. For the rest – for all that I’m less than grateful for – I’m praying for patience and endurance.
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Pandemic-Induced Ministry Fatigue
What’s going on? Why am I, and other pastors, struggling to find our footing in the midst of this strange season?
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“Joseph” – a sermon preached on September 13, 2020, at The First United Methodist Church of Orlando.
Hatred, jealousy, and family dysfunction led to Joseph becoming a slave. But, God was working too. Because God was with Joseph, even in slavery, even in Egypt, God used Joseph to save nations, including Israel.
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“Tower of Babel” – a sermon preached on August 30, 2020, at The First United Methodist Church of Orlando
The Tower of Babel, as well as recent events, serve as reminders of our deep brokenness, especially along racial lines, and of just how far we’ve traveled away from the Garden of Eden, and the resulting conflict between humans. This story is our story too.
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