May the Holy Spirit burn bright in our hearts and lives this Pentecost https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Twz5d6dGKXs

What if it were your son?What if your unarmed son had been killed by armed men sanctioned by the government? Maybe your son had been casing housesMaybe he had been trying to pass a phony billMaybe he hadn't been doing anything but walking around in the color of his own skin. But whatever he did or didn't do, he was dead. And there was no justice. You called the police.You badgered the district attorney.You ...

I'll admit, I've been waiting for an reason to use this: The Doubting Believer Membership Community is officially launching tomorrow (September 1). You can try this community for 30 days for free anytime, but if you sign up before the end of day September 1, and you decide you want to stay on after 30 days, you lock in the $25 monthly fee for life.  So check it out. A monthly Bible study and ...

Download study below 13 Reasons Why you are Lovable and Capable 

Like many pastors this weekend, I scrambled to adapt/change/rewrite my sermon to make at least some attempt to address the events in Charlottesville.  It's not as poetic or as polished as I would like it to be, but here it is in audio and written form. Psalm 46  Acts 2:37-42  [podbean type=audio-square resource="episode=yswmd-6f22e5" skin="1" auto="0" height=315 ] Today kicks off a series on the sacraments. There’s two Sundays on Baptism and two Sundays on ...

I am not a fan of self-help books. I was scarred by a Zig Ziglar "I Can" course back in high school and have never fully recovered. I'm not even sure the following fall into that self-help category, but I have found myself illumined, amused and empowered by all of these foul-mouthed books. If you've ever found yourself stymied by other people's opinion, the belief that you are not good enough ...

Take a moment to read this beautiful and heartbreaking response to Trump's twee re: transgender people serving in the military. Please Be Advised   

One of our most popular posts during the Lift Up For Lent series was about the importance of hugs. If you need more reasons to increase your hugging, check out this post on Jen Reviews.  You owe it to your physical, spiritual and emotional well-being.

On Not Leaving it to the Stones Preached at a gathering of the Arkansas United Methodist Clergywomen May 4,2017 Luke 19:37-40 This passage marks the beginning of the end of Jesus ministry on earth. People have gathered to welcome him to Jerusalem, and they are so excited! They’ve heard about the healings. They’ve heard about the miracles. And here was the man behind it all.  They are shouting and singing and waving palms, and ...

Because the runaway hit series 13 Reasons Why is distinctly lacking in resources and alternatives for those who are dealing with mental illness, contemplating suicide or living with complicated grief, here are some sites that provide information, encouragement and support. Please pass along to teens and parents that you know. The Born This Way Foundation (the non-profit, not the Two-Faced cosmetic brand foundation) is working to end the stigma of mental health ...

No matter what your stance on immigration, can we please stop referring to people as illegal?  People can be in a country illegally or even be residents without proper documentation, but people, themselves, are not illegal.* No one has to apply to be a person. One might argue that application to be part of humanity should be required, but as it stands now, everyone who is born gets to be a person. It's important ...

Following  a message at our Saturday night service on taking Sabbath seriously, I made good on my commitment to turn off my phone, computer and television for 24 hours. I'm a little embarrassed that such action is a radical move for me, but here's what happened. I had to wonder about things.  What yogurt chain was the first one to start the self-serve craze? No idea.  Who voiced the fluffy white fru ...

On this inauguration day, we pray for a day when hope abounds in all our people when no one is viewed as suspect because of the color of his skin or the covering of her hair when everyone is able to make a living wage when there is healthcare for all when all children have full access to quality education when art and music and theater are valued and viewed as vital to our lives when women are given control over ...

For all the headaches and heartaches caused by social media, when people are at their best, social media is at its best. The youngest son of some friends of ours in the hospital following heart surgery. There have been some complications, and the family is in a holding pattern, waiting to see how everything is going to turn out. Waiting to see if everything is going to be okay. It's excruciating. While ...

Isaiah 6:1-8 It was in the year that King Uzziah died that Isaiah saw the Lord. King Uzziah was king for over 50 years. His death thew the Judeans into a time of transition and uncertainty. Their king of over five decades had died, his son who had served as his co-regent (or co-king) for 11 years would be on his own. The Assyrians, who were heavily armed and ready for battle, were ...

I am feeling heartbroken and hopeless in the face of continued violence against unarmed Black men in our country. This is the prayer I've been praying today. Hoping that prayer will lead to discernment and discernment will lead me to action. Dear Maker of All, I don't know how they do it. The mothers of sons whose skin is brown or black. How do they stand to let them out the ...

The third installment in the Strength Training series 1 Corinthians 9:24-25 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize?Run in such a way as to get the prize.  Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. (NIV) Luke 21:19 Stand ...

Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” ― A.A. Milne Isaiah 40:28-31 During my sabbatical I decided to do something a little out of the ordinary for a pastor’s sabbatical. I decided to focus on physical health…because ministry is demanding. It’s demanding spiritually, emotionally and physically. And our tendency in ministry (and not unjustly so) is to focus so much ...

The trainer I've been working with via web and phone works with all kinds of women. Some, like me, just want to be fit and healthy and feel our best. Others are in serious training for fitness competitions.  These ladies are hardcore, and they often get a lot of flack from family, friends and just random people about their choices. "Why are you spending so much time at the gym?" "Why ...

Today we pray for moms We pray for the moms who bake cupcakes, wait in car lines, pack lunches, juggle sports schedules and preside over petty playground squabbles. We pray for the moms who struggle to feed their children, worry for their safety and hope for a better tomorrow. We pray for the moms who give up their children and the moms who lovingly make those children their own We pray for the moms who stay at home ...

Dear Parents, As you know, standardized testing is coming up next week. We here at Rydell High are so proud of what our students learn and accomplish every day, and we want to ensure that these tests (as ridiculous as they may seem) accurately reflect what we know the young men and women of Rydell are capable of. You can help us! a) Tell your child not to worry about these tests. This is ...

I have gotten a bad rap. I’m not even in Luke’s version of the nativity story and yet, in Christmas pageant after Christmas pageant for the last 2000 years, I’m made out to be the bad guy. I mean, I’m no Herod, but still…I don’t come off looking good. Somehow, I became the guy who turned poor Joseph and great-with-child Mary away from the inn so that her baby had to ...

They've already started doing promos for season 20 (20!) of The Bachelor. Ugh. I can't stand the concept of this show or The Bachelorette. The shows are demeaning, mean-spirited and just plain creepy. I really don't understand how they're even legal (seems a case could be made for prostitution). If I could ever muster the anger or time or energy to protest a television show, it would have to be ...

With all the talk of refugees and who our country will and won't welcome, I can't help thinking about the Rev. Dr. Jim Mosley (whose name graces the tabernacle at Ferncliff Camp and Conference Center, affectionately know as the J-Mo) and his saint-on-earth of a wife, Joanne. Jim was my pastor growing up. Back in the day, Westminster Presbyterian Church in Hot Springs provided a nice home in a rather well-heeled neighborhood ...

I love pie. I love movies about pie. If you haven't seen the 2007 movie Waitress with Kerri Russel and Nathan Fillion, you should check it out. I love this song about pie in the John Travolta movie Michael. Comedian Jim Gaffigan is a fan of cake and says that pie just can't compete. "Put candles in a cake, it's a birthday cake. Put candles in a pie, someone's drunk in the kitchen." But everyone ...

James 1:17-27 Martin Luther really hated the Book of James. He called it a “right strawy epistle… for it has no gospel in it.” And you can see his point. Jesus Christ, is mentioned only twice in the whole book. There is no mention of the cross. There nothing about Jesus dying on the cross to pay for our sins. There is no mention of baptism. Nowhere does James talk about grace. ...

The Lord Helps Those Who Help Themselves Isaiah 10: 1-4 2 Thessalonians 3:6-16 Throughout the week here at First Pres, we get people dropping by asking for assistance. To be honest, after almost 6 years here, I have still not been able to come up with a good system for us to determine who to help and how we will help. We’ve tried a number of ideas and introduced several different processes, but There ...

Privileged shock is a complicated emotion. That's the feeling that White people get when we hear that another Black church has burned. We are horrified at the hate, and yet we know that our shock does not come with the fear that accompanies the horror of our friends and neighbors whose skin is darker than ours.  We know that we are angry, but we know that we aren't ever going to feel what ...

Ephesians 1:3-14 Back around A.D. (or C.E.) fifty-something, Paul arrived in Ephesus and began spreading the good news. He got the Jesus movement going and helped the folks there form a church over the course of about two years, then he went on to stir things up in other places. But not to long after he left Paul got word that the people with new hearts for Christ were back to ...

Thanks to some of our handier members, a few of the things that haven't worked so well at the church have been fixed. The sliding doors in the youth room now actually slide and can be closed completely. The light above the back interior door to the fellowship hall has not only been re-instated (there was just a hole where a light fixture used to be), but also has a ...

Both of my parents have counseling degrees, and my father had a private counseling practice for nearly 40 years. When I was a child, my mother was the director of the county mental health association at the height of the transactional analysis era or the have-you-hugged-your-kid-today decade. So when someone at school was mean or just a pain in the butt, my parents would always remind me that the reason they ...

It’s time to come clean. In light of what is happening in Baltimore tonight and what has been happening around the country, it’s time to share my story of racism...or what I like to think of as racial cluelessness... but it's still just plain racism. Back when I was in seminary at Andover Newton Theological School, I was the editor of the school newspaper, The Protestant. It was a play on ...

I have always been the dumbest of the smart people--you know, the person who lands in the advanced or accelerated class or program and then struggles to keep up. My interests and activities lean more toward the low (rather than the high) brow. So I certainly don't have all the answers. But lately, it seems as if people who are rumored to be far smarter than I am have forgotten ...

Mark 8:31-38 You probably have to be at least as old as I am to remember this, but those of you who are, hark back to 1981 when The Greatest American Hero premiered on television. It starred William Katt, Connie Selleca and Robert Culp. It was the show where Michael Pare made his debut before hitting it big with the cult classic Eddie and the Cruisers. That gives you an idea ...

Mark 1:29-39 In these 11 short verses in the first chapter of Mark, Jesus has a lot going on. He’s healed Simon’s mother-in-law, then before the day is over, he’s healing all sorts of people and casting out demons right and left. The next day he goes out preaching to folks and casting out even more demons. He is a busy man who has many people making many demands on his ...