I was standing on the corner one day last week waiting for my wife (which seldom happens), when an older lady walked by carrying a fishing pole complete with reel, line, and weights. She wasn’t carrying any fish, but it was obvious she was serious about fishing. Just on a whim I spoke to her, […]

God builds churches with broken people. Have you noticed that? I mean, they look so nice lined up in those straight rows…they have all pretty much passed the sniff test – no smoke on their breath. They’ll be glad to talk to you about all the stuff they’ve stopped doing. But then when you get […]

You may have grown up as I did, singing a stately old song, “In the Sweet By and By.” Great song. Love it. Still sing it. But there’s a new one I think I like even better. The title is, “In the Sweet Here and Now.” (Truth is, it hasn’t been written yet; I’ve only […]

Mt. Vernon Congregational Church in Boston was known as a great church in the 1860’s, and its pastor, Dr. Kirk, was known as a great preacher. A youngster from the neighborhood named Dwight often wandered into the service for lack of something better to do. He liked the music, but being in his mid-teens he […]

A dear friend of ours agreed to drive her grandson to a town a couple of hours away so he could catch a bus. He had finished his basic training as a Marine and was now to report to his new duty station. At eighteen he hadn’t really decided what part of the Christian faith […]

I once made a lady very angry. I had only been assigned to this church for three months or so and had agonized with the Board over what was evident to all. No baptisms for five years, virtually no young families in attendance, a dwindling pool of people who could provide leadership. You know, those […]

Ruthie and I were recently sitting in a church service and the worship leader began to lead the congregation singing softly, “Holy Spirit, You are welcome in this place…(repeat)  Omnipotent Father of mercy and grace, You are welcome in this place.” (If you know the song, I invite you to pause reading and sing it […]

I pray for me a lot. I don’t mean I pray for my stuff, I mean I pray for my heart. Here’s the deal, there are things I’d like to have – important things – and I pray about those. We’d like to sell our house…it’s on the market. I pray about that.  We’d like […]

I just spoke to a dear friend who, with his wife, lives in New Bern, NC. If you followed the saga of Hurricane Florence you will recognize the name of that city of 30,000 which was not only the first capital of North Carolina, but also has the dubious distinction of being the birthplace of […]

If, when I say Happy Hour, the sound of clinking glasses and bawdy music come to mind, you and I are thinking about two different settings. Merchants of misery attempt to make their brew seem desirable by disguising that interlude – often just after working hours – as a time of happiness. But true happiness […]