At 12:59 am on December 26th, 2004, just one day after Christmas, the world experienced the largest earthquake in 40 years. The main difference between this earthquake and so many others was this one took place underwater in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of Indonesia’s Sumatra Island. The quake registered 9.0 on the Richter … Continue reading Faith in the midst of Storms
As many of you know, I continue to do some Adult curriculum writing for the United Methodist Publishing House. Those of you familiar with the Adult Bible Studies quarterly may or may not know about the Daily Bible Study companion resource that follows the same themes but gives each student a daily Scripture, meditation and … Continue reading Daily Bible Study – Summer 2013
In less than 24 hours, I will be flying to El Salvador with a Duke Divinity School teaching team to join Methodist pastors at the Central American Pastor's School in Ahuachapán (the five participating countries that have a border agreement for easier transportation include El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua). For the second … Continue reading Evangelism 101
This year, I am preaching a sermon series for Lent and Easter titled "Renounce and Affirm." Though many of my series often depart from the RCL (lectionary), this one actually follows it from the First Sunday in Lent through Pentecost. Podcasts of these sermons can be found here. This past Sunday, however, we did not … Continue reading Sermon Blogging – “Say No to Spiritual Short-cuts”
Last month, on Sunday, February 12th, I was privileged to speak at Elizabeth City's annual Unity Service. The service is coordinated each year by the Elizabeth City Ministerial Association, and I came at the invitation of their current president, Rev. Shawn Blackwelder, who currently serves as pastor at Riverside UMC. Below is the text of … Continue reading Sermon Blogging – “What kind of day is today?”
This year, along with some of my now routine Lenten disciplines, I have taken on something new: pottery. It is one of those rich, biblical metaphors that I have always wanted to learn more about, and secretly always wanted to try. I have also always suspected that I would learn something new about "throwing a … Continue reading A Different Lenten Practice
What does it mean when something on the internet goes "viral?" I don't know the precise definition some might give, but I am quite sure that Jefferson Bethke's "Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus" YouTube video should qualify. It was uploaded on January 10, 2012, and as of this posting seven days later, it … Continue reading Why I love Bethke, love Jesus, and love “Ole time religion”
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