“Children should be seen and not heard.” “Go sit at the kid’s table.” Did you hear things like this when you were a child? Maybe you were taught that you should sit quietly and not interrupt the grownups who were talking.
Crossroads: The Storms of Life
June 28, 2021 by
I was always terrified of storms as a child. The thunder scared me the most, and my mom could never convince me that the thunder couldn’t hurt me.
Connections 07.04.2021: Finding Home
June 27, 2021 by
For many of us, “home” feels like the safest, most comfortable place. It’s our favorite place to be, and that’s mostly because of the people who are there with us.
Meditations on Mark: Family in the Kingdom of God
June 16, 2021 by
Few wounds cut deeper than those inflicted on us by our families. I have known plenty of otherwise strong and accomplished adults who still carry in their spirits the pain of broken relationships with parents, siblings, or children. This is an indication of the family’s importance in God’s plan for humanity.
Crossroads: Good Friday, A World in Ruins
March 29, 2021 by
Have you ever had a week start off well, but by the end of it all hope seems lost? Terrible things happen all at once, and you just aren’t sure how you’re going to make it another hour, let alone another day.
Connections 01.31.2021: Not Taking Evil for Granted
January 24, 2021 by
Jesus’ miracles had a purpose: they announced that God’s reign in the world had arrived in Jesus. So when Jesus cast evil spirits out of people, it was an announcement that God’s power to defeat evil was with Jesus.
Evangelical Common Worship on National Holidays
November 11, 2020 by
In general, we come to common worship from a week in which a secular society has tried to shape our identity as something radically different than what Scripture says it is.
Meditations on Mark: The Soldiers’ Cynicism
April 8, 2020 by
One wonders what prompted the soldiers in this passage to act like they did. Why are they so mean and hateful towards Jesus? This is their first interaction with him.
Recognizing Presence
November 13, 2019 by
“What is the best part of your job?” Most of the time when I tell people I’m a chaplain in a children’s hospital, they respond with a tilted head.
Formations 06.16.2019: Choose Your Next Words Carefully
June 9, 2019 by
I am an adjunct university professor, which means I assign research papers. I am also an editor, which means I often regret assigning research papers.
Crossroads: Palm Sunday
April 15, 2019 by
I wonder if Jesus felt that odd mixture of anticipation and disappointment when he entered Jerusalem. He enters Jerusalem triumphantly, riding on a donkey, with people spreading out their cloaks on the road and others waving branches in the air, shouting, “Hosanna!”
Formations 01.27.2019: Naysayers and Detractors
January 20, 2019 by
The other Synoptic Gospels at least give Jesus a chance to get going before people start resisting his message. True, Matthew tells of Herod’s attempt to destroy Jesus while he was still a toddler, but Jesus never took flak for the things he said and did until he dares to heal a paralyzed man’s sins in chapter 9.
Formations 01.13.2019: The Point
January 6, 2019 by
My wonderful daughter isn’t on the autistic spectrum, but I bet she can see it from wherever she is. Over the past seventeen years, I have learned that there is often a very thin line between the traits of a gifted child and the traits of an autistic one.
Formations 01.06.2019: Jesus Is Baptized
December 30, 2018 by
At the time of writing, forecasts indicate that the rain out my parents’ window will continue for another week. I tend to take overcast wintry weather in stride, but this is bad news, at least for my drive home to Macon. Mark, however, proclaims good news and its beginning (v. 1).
Connections 11.18.2018: Insight for Divisive Times
November 11, 2018 by
The United States political and religious climate is nothing short of divisive, often in devastating ways. Within my own extended family, there have been threats of withholding contact due to political and religious differences. One person asked how the other could claim to be a Christian while holding a particular point of view.
Connections 11.04.2018: Jesus Drops the Mic
October 28, 2018 by
According to my findings after a Google search, the term “mic drop” originated in the 1980s when entertainers would try to better each other. As one performer finished his rap or comedy sketch or speech, he’d drop the microphone as if to say, “You can’t top that.”
Connections 02.25.2018: The Most Important Question
February 18, 2018 by
Growing up in a Baptist church in the South, I frequently heard three questions throughout my childhood and adolescent years. Most of my church-related activities during these years centered on the theme of salvation.
Connections 02.18.2018: Making His Paths Crooked
February 11, 2018 by
I have a thirty-minute drive from Yatesville to Macon every morning and a thirty-minute drive from Macon to Yatesville every afternoon. My route takes me through the countryside, so it’s a pleasant journey. The only problem is that I travel east in the morning and west in the afternoon, so I’m always driving toward the sun.
Connections 12.10.2017: What Would John the Baptist Say?
December 3, 2017 by
The other morning I got out of bed before my wife did. When she came into the den a few minutes later, she found me eating my oatmeal and watching the CBS Morning News. The first thing she said was, “Good morning!” The second thing she said was, “Has there been another one yet today?”
Connections 12.03.2017: Wake Up!
November 26, 2017 by
In the Gospels, I identify much more with the disciples than with the people who are in awe of Jesus, scared of him, or threatened by him. The disciples, like me, are comfortable with Jesus. They feel secure enough in him to question his ideas, criticize his actions, and even fall asleep when he wants them to stay alert.
Crossroads: Good Friday
April 13, 2017 by
Have you ever had a week start off well, but by the end of it all hope seems lost? Terrible things happen all at once, and you just aren’t sure how you’re going to make it another hour, let alone another day? We’ve all had bad weeks, and perhaps you have had a week so terrible that you just couldn’t go another step.
The Walking Dead
April 11, 2017 by
Let me start off by just laying it out there. The title of this sermon is “The Walking Dead.” I do not like scary movies or TV shows. At all. “Well, Chris, that’s silly. Scary movies aren’t real.” I know that. I know that the odds of being chased by a chainsaw-wielding maniac are infinitesimally small.
Connections 05.22.2016: Like a Child
May 15, 2016 by
My older daughter, Samantha, is eleven years old. Though reserved and quiet around new people, she is at least polite, and she becomes more animated when she gets to know them better. As a baby, though, her encounters with new people went a little differently.
Crossroads: Palm Sunday
March 21, 2016 by
I love celebrations. In particular, I love birthdays. I love finding the perfect present and celebrating who that person is. I love my birthday as well, but it’s always a little odd to me.
Connections 03.27.2016: The First to Know
March 20, 2016 by
When I was seventeen, my church put on an Easter play that one of our members wrote, paraphrasing directly from various Scripture accounts of Jesus’ last week, his death, and his resurrection.
Poor Happens
March 15, 2016 by
Poverty is not (proof of) sin.
Poverty is not a character flaw.
Poverty happens to people.
Connections 03.20.2016: Good Intentions
March 13, 2016 by
I believe Peter, who could be the patron saint of those who mean it until it matters, was serious when he told Jesus he’d never desert him and wouldn’t deny him even if it cost him his life….I have a theory about what happened.
Connections 03.13.2016: Safety versus Sacrifice
March 6, 2016 by
We draw ever closer to Good Friday—the day when we honor the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus, who gave up everything for all the people of the world.
Connections 03.06.2016: Powerful Faith
February 28, 2016 by
I’ve kept a prayer journal for years. Somewhere along the way, I started writing down the Jesus Prayer as the first line of my daily entry: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”
Uniform 12.27.2015: A Generous Gift
December 20, 2015 by
I have a confession to make. There was a time when I thought Christmas was about me. Now, don’t think I was worse than I was. I knew that Christmas was really about the birth of Jesus.
Uniform 03.29.2015: Whom Do We Celebrate?
March 22, 2015 by
A couple of weeks ago, cities all over the nation celebrated St. Patrick’s Day with parades. People wore varying shades of green, and some dressed like leprechauns. Four-leaf clovers were everywhere.
Formations 03.22.2015: In the Garden
March 15, 2015 by
In “a place called Gethsemane” (v. 32), Jesus prayed to be spared the agonizing death he knew was coming to him. In his prayer, he confessed faith in a God who could do anything: “for you all things are possible” (v. 36).
Formations 03.15.2015: Soul Food
March 8, 2015 by
Last month, Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois hosted its annual soul food dinner honoring the accomplishments of black people both living and dead. More than 150 people attended the event.
Formations 03.08.2015: “The LORD Has Anointed Me”
March 1, 2015 by
“Messiah” comes from a Hebrew word meaning, “anointed one.” We get the word “Christ” from a Greek word with the same meaning. To say that Jesus is the Christ or the Messiah is therefore to say that he is the Anointed One.
Formations 03.01.2015: Prepare for the Worst
February 22, 2015 by
It may be tempting to get lost in the maze of end-times teachings that often accompany a text like this. For you and your class, it may be just as easy to dismiss the entire thing as irrelevant speculations with no clear application to the world in which Christians live.
Formations 02.22.2015: Firefighter/Paramedics Hampered by Skewed Training Priorities
February 15, 2015 by
David Givot is an attorney and a former paramedic. In a recent article, he raised the question of whether the ongoing training offered to firefighter/paramedics is suitable to the nature of the job they actually perform.
A Guide to Four Types of Bible Study Learners – Mark Wingfield
August 13, 2014 by
Have you heard the story about a time long, long ago, in a faraway place, when adults gathered for Bible study and everyone in the class studied the same thing at the same time and learned the same way? Yeah, that day is gone—if it ever really existed.
Uniform 05.25.2014: Boiling It Down
May 18, 2014 by
I’ve been told that the entire Christian faith boils down to two instructions: “Love God, and love people.” That sounds so simple—too simple. And I’m not the first person to think that.
Crossroads: Parades
April 13, 2014 by
Parades can be fun. As I child, I remember watching parades on television. There was always a great sense of anticipation: “What will be the next float? Who will be on it? Will it be bigger or brighter or better than the last float?” I also remember going to parades in my younger years.
Uniform 04.06.2014: Caring for Sacred Space
March 30, 2014 by
Like many people, I can get pretty sentimental about buildings. When an old, unused gym on my college campus was torn down to make way for green space, I was saddened that people would no longer get to see the tiny gym where the Mercer Bears played basketball for many years.
Crossroads: Feeding the Five Thousand
February 24, 2014 by
Growing up Baptist, I went to many potluck dinners. Whether it was Homecoming, two services meeting together, or just a random Sunday after church, we had a lot of potluck dinners. Chances are you know how these work—every one brings a dish (so you end up with 20 desserts and not much meat) and no matter how many people you have, there always seems to be enough food.
Formations 02.16.2014: Our Deepest Need
February 9, 2014 by
I was struck by the subtitle of an article I recently encountered on psychosomatic illnesses. The article, by Roanne FitzGibbon, is titled “Psychosomatic Symptoms: You May Be Healthier than You Think.” The point of the article is that psychosomatic symptoms are a real thing. It isn’t just “in your head.”