Everything That Rises

(I thought that title might get your attention.) Here's a list of recent "signs of the end times": 1. Earthquake in Japan that damaged nuclear power plants. 2. Tornadoes ripping through the South. 3. Flooding in other parts of the South. 4. Droughts in Texas. 5. Osama Bin Laden was killed with a shot to the head (it's likely he'll be back from the dead soon, so stay tuned to Fox News and TBN (maybe occasional shows on the History Channel) for the latest on the Anti-Christ). 6. Abortion is legal. 7. Rob Bell wrote a book about heaven and hell. 8. Do I need to keep going or have I "scared the hell out of you" yet? I suppose I could quote all manner of Bible verses backing up each of these "points" to prove that we are indeed living in the "end times," but what would be the point in that? Apocalypse-loving Christians have been shouting from pulpits and soap boxes that we live in the "end times" for generations. They've poin...

This is a re-post I thought might be appropriate in light of recent events in the "evangelical" and "emergent/emerging" world (and I just don't have the time at the moment for a new post). Hell. The word "hell" is mentioned only 13 times in the Bible (that is the New Revised Standard Version of the Old and New Testaments, excluding the Deuterocanonical books, for those of you keeping tabs). Eleven of those times it is in fact Jesus who speaks the word, which is the Greek word Gehenna (if you'd like to learn more about Gehenna and the history behind the word, you can click here). To give you a sense of perspective, while the word "hell" is translated some 13 times in the entire Bible, the word translated "poor" is used some 25 times just in the four gospels of the New Testament (of course in both cases this excludes allusions to the ideas of hell, poverty, etc.). Hell has been the topic of some of my more "theological" ...

Hey folks, I'm starting a new blog for sermon manuscripts. You can check it out here .

I've been feeling like a tightrope walker without a net lately. As many of you who read this know I'm a Baptist, though not your ordinary Baptist in the South (and by no means a Southern Baptist). I tend to believe that the ecclesiological organizationof the Baptist tradition (i.e. congregational governance, autonomy, etc.) is more in line with the freedom and equality found in the gospel. I believe that the true mark of a Christian is a real, living, and personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I also believe that those who claim such a relationship are called to spread the gospel to unbelievers throughout the world. With that being said, one would think I'd have no problem fitting in with my Baptist brothers and sisters. Ah, but how fooled we all are to think that the beautiful simplicity of unity in Christ is enough for unity in kingdom work. While I strongly believe those thing I've already mentioned, I also believe that women have an equal opportunity in the shari...

I'd like to say that I've been angry at God lately, but I always feel like that's a bit cliche and dramatic, so I'll just say I've been angry lately. Maybe it's the holidays; truth be told I haven't really looked forward to Christmas since I was kid. I can't get behind the idea of buying gifts for people you hardly know or even buying things for people you do know who are completely capable of buying things for themselves. Maybe the entire notion of gift-giving is lost on me, but I absolutely hate the unnecessary stress of having to decide what to buy for people. Maybe it's the added stress that comes with my vocation around this time of year; there are more services to plan, more sermons to write, more people to see, cards to write, calls to make, people to help. Don't get me wrong, it's times like this that I love my calling and love the change it brings to the lives of others, but it truly heaps stress upon stress. Maybe it's some of t...

As a minister I think about church a lot...I mean A WHOLE LOT! It's my life, my vocation, my passion of sorts, so it's natural that it would occupy my mind most of the time. Lately, however, I've been thinking more intentionally about church. I haven't been thinking about the usual stuff (sermons, events, Sunday school lessons, etc.); I've been thinking about why we even do church in the first place. Why does the congregation I lead even bother to meet? We are in a county of Alabama where there are at least 85 or so other congregations that are not too dissimilar from ours in terms of worship style, general practice, and doctrine. There are well over 100 churches in and around our city doing good things--"getting people saved," feeding hungry mouths, giving people gas money, etc.-- so why is it necessary that we exist? Is it even necessary at all? Of course, I could easily extend that question to myself. There are hundreds of Christians in and around my c...

I'm sorry the A/C is too cold... I'm sorry the A/C isn't cold enough... I'm sorry the fellowship hall isn't clean enough for you... I'm sorry the sermon was too short... I'm sorry the sermon was too long... I'm sorry you didn't know about the meeting mentioned in the newsletter, bulletin, and the beginning of the service... I'm sorry that some of the youth were playing tic-tac-toe during the service, while another baby was crying... I'm sorry I didn't do that the way you think it should've been done... I'm sorry if other members of the staff/congregation don't do things the way you'd like them to... But here's the deal... You can stop complaining... You can take a more pro-active role in the church... You can do more than offer your two cents... You can actually stop practicing your faith on the sidelines, critiquing everything that I do, or telling me about everything you think is wrong with everyone and everything el...