Take Off Your Shoes

Get out of your comfort zone to experience God in new ways.

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Cherokee Proverb (from Elizabeth Goble)

One of my relatives posted this Cherokee proverb on Facebook yesterday:
“An elderly Cherokee was teaching his grandchildren about life. He said to them, ‘A fight is going on inside of me. It is a terrible fight, and it is between two wolves. One wolf is evil–he is fear, anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, [...]

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Papa’s Funeral

I said that I planned to post my message from my grandfather’s funeral, and here it is. Before you read it, however, I should tell you that Papa did not want a traditional “sermon” at his funeral. This was because he had seen some of what I call “ministerial malpractice” at funerals (i.e., preachers condemning [...]

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I’m Still Here

Perhaps you thought I had disappeared, since I went a couple of months without blogging. On the contrary, I’m still here.
December was a happening month for me.
Death claimed my last living grandparent. Papa died on December 11, and I officiated his funeral on December 16. (I plan to post that funeral speech soon.)
On December 19, [...]

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Flag Football and Faith

Today we enjoyed a church-wide flag football game. For a while this morning, I thought the wind might complicate our playing, but it did not.

Here are a few lessons I learned from flag football this afternoon:

1. Athletic events can nurture intimate fellowship among Christians. In addition to talking and drinking water together, we also get [...]

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Transitions

In my last post, I mentioned that I was planning to speak at Spartanburg Methodist College Tuesday night. I did, and God blessed my time that evening with the SMC community. 62 students were in attendance, plus the chaplain and me. The students seemed to pay attention, and they responded with some good questions at [...]

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What Churches of Christ Believe

A few weeks ago, the chaplain at Spartanburg Methodist College invited me to speak on campus tonight about “what Churches of Christ believe.” I was excited about the opportunity, but the task was daunting in many ways. First, the topic covers enough information to take up several books, but I have only about half an [...]

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Concern About Abuse

In my sermon Sunday morning, I briefly mentioned abuse in my childhood. Today someone expressed to me some concern about it, so let me offer a short note of clarification.
The abuse was NOT inflicted on me by either of my parents, nor was it their fault in any way. They would NEVER do anything remotely [...]

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Introduction to Steven

As many of you know, I am working toward a second master’s degree. I am scheduled to take History of Christianity 2 at Abilene Christian University this spring semester.
The professor asked the class members to post Facebook responses to these questions: “What is your name and what would you like to be called? Where [...]

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On the Road Again

I wrote this today while traveling from Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, to Singapore. Now it is only about seven and a half hours until my flight.
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Trees of the tropic, houses of Asian architecture, and hills of green pass by my second-story bus window on the way from Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, to Singapore. I’m settled in with [...]

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