All Blog Posts (73)

Yesterday was a day full of meetings. I don't know about you, but I'd rather do just about anything than go to a meeting. Yet, life is full of them, so I try to make the best of it, remain as pleasant as I can, and pray the leader doesn't end with a "Q & A" time. Why would I pray that? Not because I don't want people to get their questions answered, but because invariably, it turns into some know-it-all trying to impress everyone with his/her knowledge on the subject, when we all just…

The crispness is in the air. School is in session. Apples are in season. Leaves are changing color and falling from the trees. Fall is here. And with it...a return to routine.

Personally, I like routine. I like to get up at the same time everyday; eat at the same time everyday; go to work at the same time, go to bed at the same time, etc, etc. I like to lay out my year each fall. Bible study here, choir rehearsal there, scrapbooking every other week, the occasional dinner party,…

I've decided that self-help books, tapes, seminars, etc, are sinful. Yes, I said sinful. Even the Christian ones are a waste of time. Now, this is just MY opinion. I don't think I need any more SELF help. That's pretty much how I got into this mess in the first place! I need GOD help! Perhaps I need to stop trying so hard to become something or somebody I'm not, and focus on becoming the person God intended for me to be. Maybe I need to stop trying to be like…

I've been watching and listening to all the talk about the tenth anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center. I think all of us remember where we were and what we were doing that day. I remember going into choir practice on the one year anniversary and preparing to preach for an ecumenical service to follow. An elderly gentleman in the choir laughed at me and said, "You kids. You're so shocked by all this. You didn't live through Pearl Harbor. You didn't live through WWII. You act…

As children all over America are heading back to school, I'm reading articles about some of the brightest minds out there telling us that schools are not the best way to educate anymore. What? The founder of facebook is encouraging high schoolers to drop out and forget about college. Think tanks like TED.com are indicting education for killing creativity. Are we creating a fast food model of education where conformity is the name of the game and college begins in kindergarten? School systems…

Last night I watched a PBS documentary on the 50 year career of Peter, Paul and Mary. I have to admit they are my heroes. I learned to play guitar with their songs. The simple chords structures are perfect for a beginning guitarist. Yet, as I was learning songs like If I Had a Hammer, Blowin' in the Wind and The Times They are A-Changin' I was also learning a mind-set. I was too young to really understand the civil rights movement or the Viet Nam war, yet I did understand…

I heard a story once. I'm not sure of it's origins, or even if I'm telling it correctly, but the lesson made an impact on me. A couple had been married for a number of years. They had a large family, a modest home, and seemed by all accounts to be happy and healthy. People often asked them the secret to their successful marriage. The wife would reply, "When we got married, I told him I would forgive him for anything he did - except for one thing." She would never divulge to anyone, not even…

I was having a bad day. Yes, that's right, the Pastor was having a bad day. I am human. Just like everyone else, I have bad days. Nothing catastrophic happened. I overslept. I didn't have time to exercise. I was foggy-brained at work. I forgot to pack my lunch. I was drowsy, hungry and ill. When I got home, things weren't much better. The dog stinks and needs a bath. The husband is annoying. The dishes are piling up and it's HIS job to do them. I finally get to sit down to watch a little TV…

I have a 12-year-old Basset Hound/Corgi mix named Bubba. I've learned many lessons from my friend Bubba. I guess one important one is how to like dogs. I didn't, until I met the Bubbers. He stole my heart within about 24 hours of coming home with us. He's actually my girls' dog, but when they moved out, somehow he didn't.

Bubba is Mr. Mello. Captain Laid Back. When other dogs bark at him, he just looks at them as if he's thinking, "I would bark, but why bother?" I think he's saving…

I am currently reading the Book of Proverbs. It never ceases to amaze me how completely modern these aphorisms are. I could ALWAYS use more wisdom and joy in my life, and less foolishness and sorrow. This got me to thinking. What if old Solomon were around today? What adages might he glean from life in the twenty-first century?

• An old Arab proverb says, "Take heed that your tongue does not cut your throat." I'm thinking if Sol spent much time around Washington, DC that one might…

A school superintendent in Michigan has written a public letter to the editor asking the governor if his school can become a prison instead. This may at first seem extreme, but after reading the letter, it has some merit. Nathan Bootz, Superintendent of Ithaca Public Schools, reasons that "schools are the one place on Earth that people look to fix what is wrong with society by educating our youth and preparing them to take on the issues that society has created." He further points out that…

Romans 5:3-5 says, "We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance.   And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.  And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love." (NLT)

Perseverence, translated endurance in the New Living Translation, is something we don't…

Ever have one of those days? Everything at work today went wrong. You were put on hold for 2 hours, 45 minutes and 6 different recordings. Two co-workers called in sick, and you had to cover. One person was already out on vacation. You were stressed to the max and counting the minutes, no, seconds until time to go home.

You finally made it to your car to find a new ding in your driver's side door. You opened the door only to be greeted by the solar oven inside. As the steering wheel…

There used to be these books.  Maybe you remember them. The Gospel According to Peanuts, the Charles Schultz cartoon strip. The Gospel According to Larry is more recent. Seems everybody has a gospel to share. There's Biff, Jesus' fictitional childhood friend. Coco Chanel. Even Harry Potter is weighing in. Those words "the gospel according to..." seem to be a great marketing tool.

It occurred to me the other day there is another gospel-sharing tool out there. The Gospel According to…

I like to eat at Stacks in Waxhaw every chance I get. The food is good and there's plenty of it. They don't whine over special orders. I have a special waitress. And I deliberately go at odd times, so it won't be crowded. It's a good place to mull over a sermon with a good cup of decaf. It's a good place to hide out and get my weekly column done on time so my editor and I can stay on friendly terms (insert smiley face emoticon).

Recently, I happened to be one of only two patrons there…

No Power At The Church. The email hit me like a slap in the face. I knew what she meant. It was really quite responsible of her. Dana, the director of our Weekday Children's Ministry, posted immediately to all affected by the power outage Tuesday morning that the church was closed. We couldn't legally or responsibly have children on the premises without lights, or telephones, or emergency exit signs, etc. She placed signs all over the property for those who, without electricity, could not…

I don't know how to feel about the news of Bin Laden's demise. For sure, I'm glad he's no longer living in the lap of luxury while his victims and their surviving families continue to suffer. Should we have killed him? I don't know.

The Bible is solidly ambivalent on the matter. Certainly in the Old Testament there was plenty of righteous killing. The Israelites slaughtered seven tribes of Canannites to take over the Promised Land, arguably with not only God's blessing but also with…

Easter lasts more than one day. Lots of people don't know that. In fact, there is a whole season of Easter in the church celebrated from Easter Sunday to the Day of Pentecost. It's sometimes called the Great Fifty Days. The word Pentecost actually comes from the old English Pentecosten which means "Christian festival on seventh Sunday after Easter" (taken from http://www.etymonline.com). So, it's all about Easter! Everything starts at Easter for the…

I have an annual Holy Week ritual. Actually, it usually begins about the Saturday before Palm Sunday. I begin to listen to Andrew Lloyd Webber's Jesus Christ Superstar. Each year I choose a character from the drama to become - to live into, if you will. Through the years, I've been Mary Magdalene, Pilot, Herod, a person in the crowd, Caiaphas, Peter, John, Simon the Zealot, a leper, etc.

I've been doing this long enough that I ran out of characters! This year there was no one…

I don't get it. All this fascination with blood. The popularity of vampires, werewolves and the like. Young people choosing blood as an accessory, a condiment (supposedly fake blood, but even so euw!), and a form of entertainment. I find it quite disturbing.

I've often found it quite disturbing that we talk so much about blood in the church. Saved by the blood. Power in the blood. I'm too squimish about such things. I prefer to go straight from Palm Sunday to Easter, frankly,…