As mentioned last week (ironically you’re not having deja vu) the San Francisco 49ers will play the Kansas Chiefs on Sunday, February 2nd, which is also Groundhog Day. So I think it will work like this: If Tom Brady sees his shadow Sunday morning, the Chiefs will win. If he does not see his shadow and stays out of bed, then it will be the 49ers. That’s how I feel things will play out. I’m sure that Brady will get a Super Bowl ring in either case. Continue reading
Anytime one prepares a presentation, much like a written report, article, blog post or thesis paper, there are several iterations that could become the final product. Some ideas don’t go anywhere, better ideas take their place, maybe some good talking points came from brainstorming that ended up not being developed. You may even produce more than one version and have to make a decision but in any case there are always things researched or outlined that are left out of the final product. If lines or scenes are cut from a film you might find out about them in the director’s cut or by playing the DVD commentary. Since my goal is to post new material to my blog once or twice a week, I have a creative outlet for unused sermon material. Continue reading
Family selfie with the Wienermobile. I mentioned last Saturday we were on our way to see this piece of Americana. They were giving out coupons, stickers and of course winnie whistles. I’ll include some more pics at the end of the post if anyone should care to view them. Continue reading
When I showed my mother the new Bible I got for Christmas (part 1 if you haven’t read it) she mentioned needed a new Bible. Mom still carries the same Bible that Dad gave her back in the late 1980’s. She keeps it in a cover which may have been replaced a time or two. The Bible inside is over 30 years old and has pictures, newspaper clippings and notes from grandkids stuck in between the pages here and there. She wanted to know if my new Bible was a “real Bible” or something else. I knew exactly what she meant. That comes from spending a lifetime with a KJV only husband/preacher. Continue reading
I was ordained as a minister at Pleasant Hope Baptist Church in Silver Creek, GA back in March of 2004. My pastor at the time, Mike Jones, had already asked me what version of the Bible I would like to receive at the ordination service. We were new to full time ministry, serving as state missionaries in Kentucky, and I had recently been introduced to the English Standard Version (ESV) by Michael Spencer. Mike Jones presented me with a thinline ESV, bound in black, which I carried on a regular basis for the next nine years in Kentucky. I preached from it in chapel, led BCM, taught Sunday and preached as pulpit supply as well as reading through it from cover to cover a few times. We “came home” in 2012 and visited a few churches before joining Trinity in Calhoun, where I was soon active in Sunday School, helping with church youth, preaching on a regular basis and eventually leading men’s ministry (still referred to as Brotherhood in some areas). After 15 years of regular use my trusty Thinline was looking worse for wear, the spine held together with some very distinguished looking black duct tape if I say so myself. Continue reading
This is a follow up to Dumping the Screen is Not the Answer. If you have not read that post please click here (before or after reading this post).
When I wrote about how screens are not the problem with worship I used an image from The Paperless Hymnal. I’m going to share a link to their website with the understanding that 1) I have not purchased or used their products and 2) this is not a paid endorsement. I like the idea of having the words and music projected onto the screen for all those people that miss being able to read the music and follow along during worship.
A big screen is merely a vehicle to deliver information. If the information is creating a problem with your worship service, you need to project something else. If your old hymnal was a theology textbook, and your millennial praise and worship leader keeps giving you mind numbing repetitive choruses, the problem is not that projection ruined your worship experience. Screens and neither good nor bad, neither is a hymn book good or bad. If you want to sing congregational hymns steeped in good theology it shouldn’t be a problem, with or without physical hymnals. You may have a problem getting it past your church leadership but that’s another issue entirely.
I see memes on Facebook that say things like “Throw the screen in the trash.” My friends share links to competing articles promoting the virtues of digital projection and also what we lost when we stop using hymnals. I don’t think we have correctly identified the problem. Continue reading
Seeing is no longer believing. I know that used to be true. Today anyone can make a fake sign and even real news articles sometimes have misleading headlines when you see them on social media. Sometimes satire websites, such as Empire News or the Christian site Babylon Bee, publish articles that are confused for real news and then get shared without the disclaimers. Take everything with a grain of salt unless you can verify through multiple sources. “If knowledge is power, then the internet is filled with completely useless power.” -Abraham Lincoln Continue reading
This morning at church I preached a rare topical sermon. I wanted to point out two things, first that all expositional sermons have a topic and secondly that even when offering a topical sermon I do so in an expositional manner.
What I really said – or tried to say, perhaps almost said – was that I would deliver a topical sermon in an exponential manner. Exponents, you know from math class. If the sermon multiplied exponentially that would mean the longer I preached the more of it there would left to preach. It would never end. Not what a congregation wants to hear at 11:30 on Sunday morning.
You can listen to the Never Ending Sermon at the Unity Baptist website. Don’t worry, the actual run time is only 36 minutes. There should be a link in left-hand sidebar to Storms of Life. This funny moment brought to you by a tongue tied preacher. Writing can be edited; live and in person just happens.
Most of the country either has been or will be affected by this weather system. In the South that means heavy rain, thunderstorms and a few tornados, further north snow and ice. Stay safe, check on your neighbors, we hope to see everyone back next week. Continue reading
The Master's Table 