1/23/2023

In the 2018 Super Bowl, Tide laundry detergent had what was arguably the most brilliant advertising campaign of any company that year. Actor David Harbour shows up in what appear to be various archetypical commercials imitating a car ad, a beer ad, a perfume ad, an insurance company ad, a soft drink ad, a jewelry ad, and more. After the first few fake ads he stars in, he points out that in every ad on TV, no one ever has any stains on their clothes. At the end of the commercial, he poses the question, “Does this make every Super Bowl ad a Tide ad?” After watching this ad campaign, I jokingly asked myself if the story of Jesus’ transfiguration is a Tide ad, when we read that “his clothes became dazzling white.”

1/18/2023

As Lent swiftly approaches, what practices might you encourage folks to consider over the 40-day journey?

12/12/2022

Were it not for the title, it would be hard to tell that T.S. Eliot’s “Journey of the Magi” had anything at all to do with the Epiphany story. There’s no mention of the gifts, the mother, or the child. And, as one of the Magi recalls the scene upon their arrival in Bethlehem, he spares only a single line to describe the scene—“it was (you might say) satisfactory.”

12/9/2022

Maybe it is too easy to memorize Micah 6:8b. It is not hard to memorize or turn into a cross-stitch piece, or to put on poster. It is the low hanging fruit of memory verses. Many will remember seeing Micah 6:6b on the wall in a grandmother’s kitchen. Some will still find it underlined or highlighted it in their study bible. Micah 6:6 in poster form in Sunday school classroom after classroom forever and ever and ever. “What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”

11/9/2022

Many of you are reading this having made your way through another stewardship season and dedication Sunday. Some of you are energized by a hopeful and positive congregational response. Others of us are feeling anxious and defeated because, by all indications, difficult ministry decisions are going to have to be made in the months ahead. All of us find ourselves at the beginning of another Advent with its mix of joy and seemingly endless demands.

11/9/2022

Advent is a season to dwell in anticipation for the birth of the Christ child. Try as we might, we are reminded repeatedly that Christ will come no matter how prepared (or not!) we are. It is a paradoxical season in which we must anticipate the birth of Emmanuel even as we know, deep down in our hearts and very beings, that his arrival is inevitable.

10/20/2022

Thank you. Thank YOU. Thanks. Thanks so very much. Thank you again. Thanks for your generosity. We can never thank you enough: thank you.  

Wow. Just writing that sequence made me smile. Imagine being on the receiving side of imaginatively conceived and wholeheartedly conveyed lavishly generous thanks-giving.

9/23/2022

The Revised Common Lectionary readings in the month of October provide a great opportunity to reflect on gratitude and generosity which could facilitate a stewardship campaign.  As I was preparing this lectionary preview, I stumbled onto the lectionary reading for Canadian Thanksgiving Day, which falls on October 10, 2022. It provides one of my favorite expressions of our call to generosity in words attributed to Moses in Deuteronomy 26:1-12: 

8/22/2022

A dear friend passed away in July. He was just 55 years old. Just writing that pricks my eyes with tears.

I could tell you that my heart sings when I think of Kevin meeting Jesus, and that I am overjoyed when I think of him in heaven.

But that’s not how I feel.

8/19/2022

As a culture we have no shortage of things to celebrate. We love to celebrate in these United States, and nothing has had an ability to damper our appetite for such activity. We celebrate everything: marriage, divorce, the birth of babies, graduations, holidays, made-up holidays, church anniversaries, pastors’ anniversaries, Reformation Sunday, and more. Did you know that September 4 is Eat an Extra Dessert Day? I think you get the point. We love to celebrate.

7/22/2022

There is a shirt I have seen many Black and brown folks wearing that says “I am my ancestors’ wildest dream.” Possibly based off this powerful Teen Vogue article (https://www.teenvogue.com/story/i-am-my-ancestors-wildest-dreams), the saying represents the idea of folks who have been historically marginalized declaring their own existence as the proof and product of the faith of their ancestors, a persistent, resistance-filled faith hoping in “things unseen” despite systemic oppression and hardship.

7/22/2022

This summer, I have spent time at the Presbyterian Association of Musicians Worship and Music Conference in Montreat and supported the General Assembly meeting both in-person and virtually. My kids attended church camp at Living River in Alabama and they attended the Montreat Middle School Conference at Maryville College. As I am reflecting on our summer, it strikes me that we as a church are so blessed by so many people who give graciously of their time and talents.