The other day a colleague asked me what was my favorite activity of the Advent and Christmas seasons. Quickly I replied, “The Christmas Eve Candle lighting and Holy Communion.” The other Pastor said she liked that too. But neither of us said why we liked it. So I thought about it. And here is why. There are people who come to the Christmas Eve worship that I only see at that time. Yep. That’s right. I like the people who show up... Read more

Locally, there has been some argument over whether or not the Hamilton County Commission may begin meetings with a Christian prayer. Since I have been in the ministry for quite a while now, I am not surprised that the issue has been raised. What I find most interesting is the difference of the respective ages of the people involved. Most of those who demonstrate in favor of the policy of prayer before Commission meetings sport middle-age waistlines and graying hair.... Read more

Some events occur in an individual life that may have important implications only later in his or her life. I believe the times has come in my life as a Christian and a pastor to tell the story of a specific persecution I suffered with two friends who are homosexual. First, I will relate the event. I was in a car with my then girlfriend and one of her best friends, a gay man. The car was being driven by the... Read more

A dear friend of mine told me the other day that in his mind I was a man of faith not a Christian. Why not? Because faith motivated most of my actions. Why not rather say my Christian faith motivates my actions? Because to him Christian is a negative term. Christian as a negative term. I am reminded by the author Anne Rice who following a spiritual awakening that led her back to her Roman Catholic roots decided later not... Read more

How many of us are tired of hearing the redemption testimony? You know the one I am talking about. The allegedly former reprobate stands up in church and delivers a long drawn out speech about how much fun they had until God took a hand in affairs and made them see the light. It gets tiresome when you watch people dry their eyes and shout amen and praises to the almighty during these times. One gets the impression that such... Read more

The whole getting ready for Christmas stuff begins in October for me. That is my excuse for not posting more. A real question has crossed my mind. “Why are people’s identities caught up in belief systems?” I will be working on this some more. Stand by. Read more

A few weeks ago, some members of the church I serve and me took part in the Tennessee River Rescue. Yes. We got T-shirts for our three-hour effort and won a prize for the most unusual find. Our little group wore special church related T-shirts. We hoped that it would be a witness to our church’s work in the community. A cub scouting family worked with us at one of our sites. We were as we hoped asked about our... Read more

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about The Jesus Wars. Yesterday a colleague spoke about a debate with someone over the purpose and actions of the Council of Nicaea (which really touched off the whole set of controversies that councils were called to discuss. I see a pattern with these discussions. Jesus asks his followers “Who do you say that I am?” We respond with St. Peter’s confession, “The Messiah of God” (St. Mark’s gospel). However, for those of... Read more

The quarterly bible study that two of our Sunday school classes use included a study of the book of the Judges. One teacher said he was glad that part of this quarter was over with because of the dismal cycle of the fall of the people into oppression, the outcry to God for relief and the divine response to bring a champion (judge) to the fore to deliver the people.  It can make one wonder if people ever really get... Read more

Reading Philip Jenkins’ The Jesus Wars allows me to re-evaluate my seminary discussions of the fifth century AD time period. Often, the picture of Jesus I would take away from these lessons was of a monstrous figure. I don’t mean to say it made Jesus either horrible or scary in any way. Rather, it was the difficulty I found in the resulting confusions. Jesus was one being from two substances with corresponding natures and more than one will – who was... Read more