Drive-By Pastoral Prayer Time
This week, a pastor sat in a chair at the local park with a sign that read, “How Can I Pray for You, Today?” Over the next couple hours, he had a couple of dozen people come through seeking prayer or just looking for a
Teaching Old Dogs (and Pastors) New Tricks
How does a technologically-challenged person like me shift from closing the church for meetings and — in one week — go to online streaming? Very carefully.
Spring Without Easter
There’s a famous line in C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe where a character laments that because of the White Witch’s rule over the land of Narnia, it is “always Winter but never Christmas.” But, what about a Spring without Easter?
Taking a Stand in God’s Sovereignty
One of the challenges we face in understanding God’s sovereignty is that God may allow certain things to happen that we do not understand, and we must reckon with how these things can become challenges to our faith and understanding of God’s power.
If Only…
By the time you read this, an area in Newton County, Arkansas, once known as Dogpatch USA, will have been auctioned off to the highest bidder. After years of weather damage and decay, the former amusement park will be sold off for what it is
When We Get Our Crisis Backward
In the disorienting last few days, it feels our society is reading Exodus 32 backward. We’ve started with a plague, moved to inappropriate revelry, and now seek to worship a statue of a cow.
Worshiping in Parked Cars
After worship on Sunday, March 15, our church family discussed what we would do next. For more than three years we had had Sunday lunch together, but there was a sense this would be the last time for a while. After a few days of prayerful
What Would Dolly Do?
I’m not sure why my water bottle sticker prompts questions. Perhaps it’s the question that draws them in. They’ve heard the phrase “what would Jesus do” many times, but "what would Dolly do?" is a new question for them to ponder.
Remembering Fanny Crosby, Queen of Gospel Song Writers
All of you old-timers like me who grew up in Baptist, Methodist, or other “evangelical” churches know the name Fanny Crosby, the blind woman who wrote more gospel songs/hymns than anyone else in history. She was born 200 years ago this month.
Jubilee in a Time of Pandemic
Despite people hoarding toilet paper as the coronavirus pandemic sweeps the globe, I see hopeful signs that suggest deep down we know we’ve not been doing right as a society. We might call these moments of Jubilee.