One of the interesting things about serving this church is who recognizes me out on the street in Bethlehem. People at the contemporary worship service don’t have any trouble, because what I wear in that service is, more or less, what I wear in “normal life.” But people from the traditional service sometimes have a […]
There was a member of my church when I was growing up in Atlanta whom we’ll call Miss Leslie. I didn’t know her well; I knew she was in her 80s, that she lived alone, and that she had been retired so long that I had no idea what she had done for a living. […]
She draws the door shut softly behind her, wincing slightly at the sound of the latch clicking. She draws the hood further over her head, glances down the road, and then sets off walking; quickly, but not too quickly. It was important to hurry, but it was also important not to be seen hurrying. That […]
When I was a kid, sometimes when I was meeting grown-ups for the first time, they would sing my name to me. I thought it was pretty odd, myself. I mean, even at 7 or 8 years old, I had met my fair share of people, and not once was I tempted to sing their […]
A couple of years ago, my wife Tammy was out of town for the weekend, and I had been traveling a lot for my job in theological education at the time, so while she had gotten a lot of one-on-one time with our son Liam, I had not. So Liam and I were both looking […]
Our New Testament lesson this morning is one of the most familiar stories in the Bible. Through much of church history, it’s been referred to as “The Parable of the Prodigal Son,” and it’s another one of those teachings by Jesus that people know even if they have very little exposure to Christianity as a […]
One of the enduring issues in American culture is what we should and should not be eating in order to live healthy lives. The problem is, the answer to those questions not only changes constantly, the same foods literally go back and forth between the categories; what was considered healthy becomes dangerous, and vice versa, […]
One of the most tiresome things about being a pastor is how we are portrayed in the movies or on television. I know it seems petty, but it’s real. I don’t if we have the worst stereotype of an occupation onscreen, but it’s certainly up there. Lawyers, of course, are a popular punching bag, but […]
Every year, different groups collate the most popular things that people give up during Lent, based on surveys or social media mentions. The whole tradition of giving something up for Lent, as you may know, comes from our New Testament story this morning, where Jesus fasted for forty days in the wilderness. And while individual […]
Are you a beach person or a mountain person? That’s one of the great divisions in our society today; perhaps not quite as bitter or deep a division as cat people vs. dog people, but real all the same. But I’m going to take a bold stand here today and declare that I think you […]