Tag: Fear
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Connecting through Courage: a sermon preached at the First United Methodist Church of Orlando on July 26, 2020.
Fear dehumanizes people. It turns people into monsters to be avoided, instead of people with whom meaningful connections can be made.
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“How are you doing?”: the many moods of an introverted pastor in an age of coronavirus
Like you, I suspect, many friends and colleagues have recently asked me, “How are you doing,” as we endure this strange season of coronavirus. Of course, I’m asking the same of them. It’s an understandable question. These are strange, unprecedented times, for all of us.
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We’re ALL afraid…
Every mass shooting reignites the same debate over guns – gun owner rights vs. gun law reform. Before I go any further, I should confess I don’t own guns, and I don’t like guns. I never have, and likely never will. I don’t feel a need to own one. In…
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“I am” or “I am not”
When I’m specifically asked about my association with Jesus – by friend or foe – I want my response to be consistently faith-affirming, truth-filled, love-laced, unwavering, and invitational!
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Faith in the Rear View Mirror
I doubt. I worry and fret. I get scared. The “what if?” scenarios consume my thoughts, far more than my prayers. My prayers, themselves, lack the confidence of a man whom God has blessed as much and as often as me. I possess too little faith, and far too much…
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Bravery
Bravery’s hard. Bravery requires risk and vulnerability. Bravery requires facing the likelihood of danger. Bravery requires stepping out of the shadows, and into the light. Bravery requires facing the possibility of failure and defeat. Bravery requires the courage to be real, to be exposed.
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