O God, set your blessing on us this day.  Confirm in us the truth by which we rightly live.  Confront us with the truth from which we wrongly turn.  We ask not for what we want, but for what you know we need, as we offer this day and ourselves to you and to you, through Jesus Christ our Savior, Amen. from the Iona Abbey Worship Book Read more

There’s something about the dawning of a new year that always makes me think about change.  It’s inevitable, I guess.  As the calendar registers a new number that I will certainly get wrong for the entire month of January everytime I write a check, I can’t help but wonder what’s ahead and, honestly, wish I could see a little bit around the bend. Before, when I was younger and more apt to face the unexpected with a sense of adventure,... Read more

Our Christmas Eve at Calvary was beautiful and wonderful and so, so Calvary.  The activities of Christmas at Calvary never fail to amaze me in their ridiculous strangeness and, simultaneously, in the holiness that inevitably infuses them all.  And, after seven years of Christmas Eves at Calvary, I can’t imagine why any of this would surprise me.   We started late in the afternoon Thursday with decorating the stable.  “The stable” in our case would be a large structure conceived and... Read more

Reflections for Advent, especially if this is a hard one for you, posted here.  Advent blessings, everyone. Read more

We recently completed a preaching class for laity here at Calvary.  One of the assignments for each participant was to write an essay addressing the question, “What is good preaching?”  Without exception, all the essays were well thought-out and quite insightful–reading them made me wonder what I possibly had to teach participants!  From time to time I will be posting some of these essays, as I think you will find them thought-provoking as well.  Special thanks to Susan Sevier for... Read more

Since I am the one always blathering on about community, it seems ridiculous that the events of the last few days have shocked and amazed me.  Well, you know what they say about the blind leading the blind–I guess in the case of Calvary Baptist Church it’s more often the blind leading everybody else who can see just fine, thank you very much. I realized early Thursday morning that my lofty goal to move this weekend with the help of... Read more

All of you pastors out there who regularly lament the disinterest and apathy of congregations, all I have to say is: be careful what you wish for. I help facilitate a small group on Wednesday evenings here at church.  This fall we’ve been studying a different theological term each week—defining it, understanding its scriptural context, and exploring how it shows up in our own lives.  I worried a little bit at first: What if people weren’t interested in theological terms? ... Read more

I’m sharing my thoughts all over the place these days.  Recently I pontificated on the new Coen brothers’ movie, A Serious Man, on the Associated Baptist Press website: http://www.abpnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4547&Itemid=9. Read more

This notoriously bogus excuse from elementary school came back to haunt me the other day, when I printed out my sermon manuscript Sunday morning just before leaving the house only to discover my 10-page manuscript had somehow become one page plus one sentence. Rushing to get everyone to church, which is common for me on Sunday mornings, I had little (no) time to explore my computer to find out where said sermon manuscript might have gone while I slept.  For those... Read more

I fainted in church Sunday. Fainting in church has always been a secret fear of mine.  I’d always imagined, when it inevitably happened to me, that it would happen at a very inopportune time—like, in the middle of preaching or while I was standing in a full baptistery. Honestly, I did feel rather woozy during the sermon itself, but it wasn’t until I was already standing at the back door shaking hands with visitors that I knew I was a... Read more