Perhaps you have heard the challenge to “Be the change you want in the world”. Have you ever been presented with exactly what was needed to enact a much-needed change, but you just couldn’t pick it up? All you could do was admire it, analyze it, but you just couldn’t claim it for yourself. Change [...]
Recently I came across a video recorded by someone sitting waaaaaay up high in the endzone at a University of Tennessee home football game. Neyland stadium was packed, and as the camera panned the crowd of over one hundred thousand orange-clad Vol fans, they began singing “Rocky Top”. At the bottom of the video was [...]
If you were rendered silent for approximately nine to ten months, what would you do with the silence? As a part of your Advent devotional time, I invite you to read the first chapter of the Gospel of Luke. There you will find the story of a priest named Zechariah and his wife, Elizabeth. They [...]
Advent is the beginning of the Christian liturgical year. More than just ''getting ready for Christmas" it's a season of spiritual discipline and reflection in preparation for celebrating the Incarnation, the coming of Jesus, the Word made flesh, into human history. Traditionally, the church challenges us to focus upon scriptures that emphasize the need for God to do [...]
Creative writing is something I’ve always enjoyed. Nowadays it’s confined mainly to devotionals like what you are reading now. For the previous twenty-four years, my creative writing was focused on crafting the substance for worship elements such as sermons, prayers, and liturgy. I’ve never written a book or a song, but there is one common [...]
This past Sunday I had the pleasure of spending the morning with the good people of Bethlehem United Methodist Church in Franklin, TN. I was graciously invited to preach during their season of emphasis on stewardship. It’s that time of the year! It was a joy to be a part of their two morning worship [...]
Do you remember the following lament often heard as a reply or observation in the early 2000’s? “It is what it is…” I don’t say it as much as I used to. I’ve discovered I don’t always like how it comes across. It can be interpreted as an acknowledgement of reluctant acceptance, or imply that [...]
I just returned from Tucson, Arizona, attending my first annual meeting of the National Association of United Methodist Foundations (NAUMF). Leaders and staff from the 47 Foundations in the UMC gathered to experience worship, attend continuing education opportunities, hear reports and testimonies on our collective and individual ministries, and to make new or maintain collaborative [...]
Do you spend much time in the Old Testament law books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy? They are the primary source of the early, foundational accounts of God’s law being revealed, interpreted, and applied. Moses making trips up Mount Sinai to commune with Yahweh, and eventually coming down with stone tablets, tend to get [...]
If you attended college away from home and lived in a dorm, think back to your favorite place to go for off-campus eating. It had to be open late and have good food that was also cheap. In the late 80’s in Jackson, Tennessee that place for me was Village Inn Pizza. Like my alma [...]
Foundation
