Blog Posts
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The Power of Hymns
Read more: The Power of Hymns“When they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.”–Mark 14:26 One Sunday morning, early in my pastoral career, while leading worship I became aware of a commotion in the sanctuary. Looking to my left, I saw that an older woman in the congregation named Frances…
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A Fearless Faith
Read more: A Fearless Faith“So with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people.” –Luke 3:18 One day during my North Carolina pastorate, our Clerk of Session invited me to accompany him to a golf tournament called the Masters. It’s held each April in Augusta, Georgia. I had ridden by the…
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Signs and Wonders
Read more: Signs and Wonders“Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus …talking with each other about all these things that had happened.” –Luke 24:13-14 A year or so ago, I stopped by a gas station on my way to the church. While I had been to…
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Talking About Death
Read more: Talking About Death“Thanks be to God, who give us the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ.” –1 Corinthians 15:57 On October 30th of last year my phone signaled an incoming FaceTime call. The name on the screen identified it as coming from my daughter-in-law, but when I answered it turned out to…
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Words of Healing
Read more: Words of Healing“Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed.”–James 5:16 Late in my junior year of college, a group of friends and I were planning our strategy for dorm assignments. Seniors in those days had first dibs in the room lottery. …
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The Second Time
Read more: The Second Time“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.”–Ephesians 4:32 In this blog, I am using the term “grace” in a broad sense. That is intentional and reflects my understanding of the variety of times when we receive a gift in those everyday…
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When We Can’t See It
Read more: When We Can’t See It“The LORD God helps me… therefore I have set my face like flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame.”–Isaiah 50:7 “When the days drew near for him to be taken up, Jesus set his face to go to Jerusalem.”–Luke 9:51 Ten years ago, a man…
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The Place to Start
Read more: The Place to Start“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son.” –John 3:16a During a clergy gathering years ago, I had the opportunity to visit Transitions of Columbia, South Carolina. That group helps move individuals from homelessness to permanent housing. Since its founding in 2011, Transitions has placed more…
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Perfect Love
Read more: Perfect Love“See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are.”–I John 3:1a Years ago, I was talking with a woman who owned a furniture store in the small town of my first pastorate. As a couple who lived…
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Just What We Need
Read more: Just What We Need“Jesus said to them, ‘Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.’ So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish.”—John 21:6 I met my wife at a hospital. I wasn’t a…