Category Archives: Blog Posts

Ministry Matters published my sermon resource for the upcoming Christmas Sunday. In a world all-too-full of sad chidings, let us join the heavenly hosts in proclaiming good tidings: “Rejoice! For unto you is born this day in the City of David, a Savior—Christ the Lord.” “The good news is that Jesus wants more than aContinue reading “Pulpit Resource for Christmas Sunday”

It was a joy to preach at the Covenanting Service for Dr. Jason Byassee at Timothy Eaton Memorial Church in Toronto. After a distinguished career teaching at Vancouver School of Theology, Jason has come to this historic Canadian congregation to give them leadership into the future. Taking John 3 as my text, I reflected aboutContinue reading “Covenanting Service for Dr. Jason Byassee”

When Christianity Today selected some of the best Christmas sermons, I was humbled that one of mine was selected, a kind of anti-Christmas sermon of a sermon https://www.preachingtoday.com/sermons/sermons/2005/august/2084.html

It was great to join Bishop Ken Carter on Crackers & Grape Juice this week. He’s got a new book out titled God Will Make a Way: Spiritual Life and Leadership in a Contested Season. I hope you’ll listen, enjoy, and pick up a copy of Ken’s book! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/crackers-and-grape-juice/id1100507919?i=1000588548272

It was great to visit St. David’s Denton last week. You’ll find the sermon and a discussion of Listeners Dare: Hearing God in the Sermon below. I hope you’ll enjoy these! Sermon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzX6VM9cd0k&t=82s Discussion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jwq5DncxtLY

I wrapped up a series of conversations on Don’t Look Back: Methodist Hope for What Comes Next with the folks at Crackers & Grape Juice a couple weeks ago. We talked through the major themes of the book, and ended with Q&A on how we Methodists might move forward through this moment of division inContinue reading “Don’t Look Back Webinars”

I’m proud of my student, Smoke Kanipe, and his ministerial leadership. Here’s a sermon I preached at Smoke’s Shandon UMC in Columbia, S.C. last Sunday. My assigned text was Philippians 4:1-4, the theme for Shandon’s stewardship emphasis. Hope you will find it helpful as you think about disagreement and dissension in the church.

How often do we hear the pastor congratulate us on Sunday morning for being in church and participating in worship? In this sermon, I try and walk us through how this psalm explicitly defines God’s character and how it can make a difference in our lives by participating in the countercultural activity of attending worship eachContinue reading “Worship Attendance as Countercultural”

Over the next couple weeks, and beginning tonight at 7pm EST, I’ll be joining my friends at Crackers&Grape Juice for a three-part conversation on my book “Don’t Look Back: Methodist Hope for What Comes Next.” My hope for these conversations and for the book is that they are constructive, moving-forward talks in a time whereContinue reading “Don’t Look Back Webinar Series”

Luke 14:25-33 is, well, a daunting passage. We encounter Jesus’ searing words about hating family–even our own lives. Some might read this as too much of a cross to bear, but perhaps we can read this as “a gracious invitation to count the cost…to sign up for discipleship, to take up the cross and followContinue reading “The Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Year C”