Everything That Rises

Four years. Most people finish college in four years (I did it in three and a half, but who’s counting?). A lot of folks pay off car loans in four years. Four Years. How can such a span of time feel so incredibly short and long at the same time? I can remember being scared to death standing in that little apartment-turned-office in Kunming, my rising anxiety made all the more real by the dozen or so other people in that place making copies, signing papers, shuffling through bags to find passports and other documents. The only thing that kept me from going crazy was the same thing that always keeps me from going crazy, your mom. She knew what forms they needed to see, where I needed to sign. There was this flurry of paperwork it seemed, then, all of the sudden, without confetti, without the celebratory pomp and circumstance such an event demands, you came strolling in the room, holding the hand of a woman’s whose name I either never knew or have long-since forg...

*This is the only "studio" picture I can ever remember seeing of my Grandma.  I can’t really remember the last time I felt that way, but it was a feeling that snuck up on me this afternoon. Quietly, briefly, like a whisper in a crowded room from a familiar voice you thought was long dead. It wasn’t anything particularly notable. I was just lying on the couch, under a light blanket, under the ceiling fan, the blinds open with the afternoon sun struggling to break through the summer thundershower threatening to wet the hot concrete on the driveway. I don’t know what triggered it. Maybe it was the temperature, the particular way the couch pushed back against me, the right amount of sunlight, the time of day…but it hit me, that feeling I haven’t felt in so long, a feeling that seemed to belong to another person, in another time. There’s no real word for it. I’m not even sure if I can say it’s a universal feeling, but as I was lying on that couch I was suddenly, p...

Ten years ago today, I was ordained to the gospel ministry, an affirmation of my calling to serve Christ and his Church through the practices of pastoral, congregational ministry. If I knew then what I knew now… It hasn’t been easy, but then again, I knew it wouldn’t be. Like most things in life, people can tell you a hundred times a day the way things will be, but there’s still something within you that wants to prove them all wrong, something within you that wants to triumph over the challenges of the past and straighten out the difficulties of former generations. I suppose we might call that hope. I listened to mentors tell me about being threatened by church members, how they had been verbally and physically assaulted in their offices, sanctuaries, and church parking lots. I listened to stories of how people had come into pastors’ homes to threaten their financial security, how a “gang of three” was all it took to persuade a congregation of hundreds that the best thing to “kee...

"Will anyone rob God? Yet you are robbing me! But you say, 'How are we robbing you?' In your tithes and offerings!" -Malachi 3:8 Now, I know what you're probably thinking when you read that verse, "Here we go again. Another blog post/article/sermon about stewardship, about giving money to the church..."  Well, yes...and no.  Yes, because, well, whether you like it or not, your local church--the congregation to which you belong, the place where you gather with other members of that congregation, the various ministries, missions, and activities in which you and those other members take part--does not do all that it does on thoughts, prayers, and tax exemptions. It takes (I can almost hear people shifting in their seats at the thought...) MONEY, and do you know why it takes money? Because EVERYTHING costs money. The lights for the chandeliers and/or the praise band's stage...costs money. The air conditioning that's too cold fo...

I remember a time when I had come home for the weekend from college and found a folded, twenty dollar bill stuck in the driver side window of my truck. It was from my dad. That twenty and a cigar box of rolled quarters was just about the total amount of financial help I got from my dad for college. I remember him telling me once he wished he could have given me more to help pay for college. I don't think he's ever realized just how much he did help pay for college...and for so much more ever since. You see, I grew up spending weekends with my dad (he and my mom divorced when I was three), and a lot of those weekends I was holding the light so he could see where the oil leak was coming from, or I was holding the other end of the board so the saw wouldn't bind when he was cutting it, or I was the extra pair of hands to tote bags of sakrete. I was (sadly) the best help available when there was a leak in the roof or a chicken house to tear down for the tin. I've got a...

I’ve had more than a few “interesting” experiences in my time as a preacher and pastor over the last decade. Many of those experiences have been met with more than one “Amen!” from friends and colleagues in ministry who have experienced them as well. When we share about these experiences, eventually someone will say something like, “I just wish someone would tell church folks this, because  I know I can’t without risking my job.” Often church members only think about their pastor in “pieces,” that is to say they only see part of what their pastor does, and too often they judge their pastor’s ministry based on those isolated pieces. This creates expectations which are seldom (if ever) communicated and can often lead to conflict. So, I decided I’d list a few of those things your pastor wishes you knew but feels like he or she can’t tell you without risking termination or the loss of a church member (here’s hoping I don’t experience either of those things myself!). Your pas...

It's no secret that the Church is in decline. People are leaving or just not showing up in the first place. Mainline congregations are disappearing, and even the bulwark that was conservative evangelicalism seems to be on the downhill slide. What's going on? I've read or heard all sorts of answers to this question, and I think most of them are valid. They range from arguments pointing to the injustice of an institution that insists on preserving crumbling buildings while ignoring hungry children, to the ignorance of an institution that ignores widely held, modern scientific beliefs in favor of antiquated worldviews that were never really intended to be what modern science is, to the irrelevance of a an institution that claims love and forgiveness as its core virtues yet often promotes intolerance. I've heard others answer such questions by claiming that the real problem is liberalism/conservatism, a distancing from "old time religion," or the melding of re...

I recently had the privilege of preaching on the national radio program,  Day1   (formerly "The Protestant Hour"). Day1 is a great program, a place to hear some of the best Mainline, Protestant preachers. You can find my sermon and interview  here , but I hope you'll browse the site for greats like Tom Long, Fred Craddock, Barbara Brown Taylor, and many more.

This week, I'm travelling with the youth from my church to camp in Virginia. Today, on the way to camp, we stopped for the day in Washington, D.C.(by the way, there is way too much to see in just one day). And now, as I'm finally ready for rest after a packed day in our nation's capital, I thought I might share a thought or two about what I experienced today. I was reminded that the true greatness of our country is not found in arrogant attempts at proclaiming such greatness, but in the humble ways in which so many women and men in this great land have fought (not only themselves but for) their sisters and brothers. They have not only fought on the battlefields of war. They have fought in the countless courtrooms of our nation seeking justice. They have fought in the state houses to pass laws to govern this great nation. They have fought from the Oval Office seeking to make the true and fair decisions that held the power to alter the course of human history. They have ...

To use as few words as possible, the simple answer to this question is “yes.” As a person of faith, particularly a person who follows Jesus Christ (a victim of the death penalty, mind you), I am of the conviction that every person is a bearer of the image of God. This is an ideology expressed by those who stand against abortion in the “pro-life” movement. I’m afraid, however, that most of their “pro-life” sentiments end at the maternity ward. It is my belief that being “pro-life” means I am against (unnatural) death, whether it be abortion, war, murder, or even the death penalty. The death penalty stands in stark opposition to being “pro-life,” because it is a practice that unnaturally ends the life of another human being. Furthermore, as a Christian I am convinced that the attitudes and reasoning behind the death penalty stand in contradiction to the teachings of Jesus. We still live with the motto “an eye for an eye…”, but Jesus says to us “if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, ...

*This is my most recent response for the "Religion Roundtable" for The Anniston Star (to be published 2/2/2013)             It is difficult for any of us living in the Western World, on this side of the Enlightenment, to find reality in something like demon possession. We live in the reality of science and medical research. If we see someone exhibiting behaviors that could be understood as demon possession, we chalk it up to a mental illness or perhaps a chemical imbalance. We have even looked back at Holy Scripture and the instances of demon possession in an attempt to explain them away as ancient misunderstanding of other illnesses. Now, I am not discrediting medical research or science (in fact I think more people of faith need to embrace science), nor am I looking to explain away the witness of ancient Scripture. I believe demon possession is a real thing, even in our Western, post-enlightenment world, because I see it all arou...

*This is my most recent response to a question for The Anniston Star's "Religion Roundtable."* The short, simple answer to this question is “no.” Frankly, it’s hard (if not impossible) to say what ALL religions believe and practice. Given my experience with other religions, however, I would say that in some ways many religions do in fact share the same goals of worship, service, and proclamation (sharing their faith with others). Of course, the fundamental difference among religions is the divinity they worship, serve, and proclaim. As a Christian, I put my faith in the Triune God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), made manifest in the person of Jesus Christ. As a Christian, it is my goal to worship, serve, and proclaim God to other through both my words and my actions. My friends of other faiths share similar goals, though they may put their faith in a different deity or understand God differently than I do. We have similar religious goals, but our source of faith ...

So it's been a week since the horrific shooting took place in Newtown, Connecticut, and in these past seven days rhetorical shots have been fired by anyone with an opinion who cares to make it known. I've kept quiet on the issue, mostly because I've been keeping to myself during a time of transition. Now, however, I feel as if I have to put my thoughts down somewhere, and this blog is as good a place as any. First of all, let me say that I don't own a gun--well, technically I own a gun, but it's in the attic of my dad's house where it's been since I was about 18 (I fired it maybe five times). To be more precise, I don't currently keep a gun in my house, and I never plan on keeping a gun in my house. Now, before any of you who found this blog by a simple Google search for the word "gun" begin typing out your irate response about the virtues of gun ownership, let me say that I am not opposed to people owning guns and keeping them in their homes ...

(This is an actual picture from Interstate 65 in Alabama) Yesterday I came across this post by Matthew Paul Turner in my blog feed. Now, if you click on the link, you'll notice MPT didn't write anything; he just let the ridiculousness of the picture speak for itself.  This morning while reading my local newspaper online, I read this letter from a reader. Sadly, the writer of this letter is not in the minority of those in the South who still have some whitewashed image of what the South used to be.  As a Southern native, born and raised in the deepest of the deep South in "Lower Alabama," I have spent my life surrounded by the confederate flag and those who will (quite literally) fight to defend everything for which they claim it stands. There are the usual claims of defense: "It's about heritage...it's a sign of Southern pride...it's a symbol of tradition and history..." Regardless of what response you hear, it is almost always preceded...

So, earlier this week I came across this unfortunate video: To say I am disgusted by this is an understatement. However, we live in a culture of outrageously expensive weddings (weddings many of us claim are "sacred"), enormous Bar/Bat-Mitzvahs, and ridiculously lavish "sweet sixteens," so should we really be surprised that there are people who have "stylish adult baptisms"? As a Baptist, I practice believer's baptism (as opposed to infant baptism). I view baptism as an extremely important and meaningful step in following Jesus. It is not a social event. It is not simply some societal right-of-passage. Baptism is first and foremost about following Christ, so it is impossible for me to justify having such a lavish and expensive "event" for what is supposed to ignite a life of following the one who preached "blessed are the poor." While my complete disgust with this is beyond words, it has caused me to reflect on another practice ...

Recently I was asked,  “What’s the most important lesson to teach your children?” Here's my response. As one who has yet to experience the joys of parenthood, I can only tell you what I hope will be the most important lesson to teach my children. There are so many things our children need to know, so many things that they must learn in order to navigate the tumultuous waters of this life. There are also so many forces that act to shape and influence our children that are simply beyond our control. If there is one lesson I hope my children (and anyone who knows me for that matter) learn from me it is simply this: God loves you and wants you to love him and everybody else. It seems like such a simple thing to learn, but I find myself still struggling to learn such a simple, deep truth each and every day. It is the most important lesson to teach our children and ourselves. CPT