When does Christmas come to town? For me, it’s at Jingle Jam. If I haven’t told you lately, I had a great childhood. My parents made every birthday, every holiday, really every single day special for my brother and me. I am so grateful to them for all the amazing memories. But I’ll share a secret…Christmas was my favorite. I …
I think my kids are learning a different language at school, and I don’t mean French, Spanish or Latin. Gen A (the generation born in or after 2010) has thrown convention to the wind and collectively decided to change the meaning of words entirely or come up with completely new words through a combination of abbreviations and slang. Here’s a …
One of the struggles I have with holidays as a pastor is the fact that there is little left to say that hasn’t already been said better than I can say it. In the seasons when I’ve been a solo pastor, I secretly dreaded Christmas, Easter, and every other special day on the calendar. All the good stuff has already …
I have the worst memory. More specifically, I have the worst long-term memory. It’s easy to remember where I’m going in a sermon or facts and figures for a meeting (obviously maps fall in this category!). It’s an entirely different story when it comes to childhood memories, collegiate adventures or life with two under two. I’m sure there’s a reason …
I recently rediscovered a collection of letters that my father wrote during his time overseas during the Vietnam War era (he served in the Air Force in parts of Thailand). It’s a fascinating, strange, wonderful and heartbreaking thing to read letters from a loved one who passed. To be frank, it took me a little off-guard because I’m surprised at …
The Bible has a lot to say about pride. ‘Pride’ or ‘proud’ appears about 120 times in the Old and New Testaments, and not much of it is positive. James offers a representative sample: “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6). The general sense of scripture is that God hates pride and we should do …
Forgive me for stating the obvious, but it’s been a while since I experienced Halloween as a child. I don’t have many clear memories of Halloween, though the one when I lost three teeth on a giant Sugar Daddy sticks out. But I have faint impressions that have endured through the years. I remember a big, spooky house in Savannah …
My extended family loves asking each other hypothetical questions just to see where the conversation will take us. Some are silly, some are serious, some are curious. An oft-repeated hypothetical around our dinner table is some variation of the following: “if you could have lunch with anyone on earth who is not part of your family and not named Jesus, …
“The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the fullest.” – John 10:10 This past weekend, we went to Copperhill, TN for our annual Student Fall Retreat. We took a bus of teens to go whitewater rafting, horseback riding, and play all kinds of games. You can …
It’s not too much of a stretch to say that we’ve been working toward October 26th since 2023 began. From the Art of Neighboring to Unreasonable Neighboring, we doubled down on Jesus’s commandment to love our neighbors. We’re committed to the notion that Jesus was referring to our actual neighbors – the people who live next to us and who live right here …
