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Cross Ways
“When we were right, God laughed at us in our rightness.” —Martin Luther I’ve started a new Lenten Discipline. Accidentally. I really didn’t mean to do it. You see, I’ve gotten a little stubborn in my later years. (What’s new, right?). In my stubbornness I decided this year to forego an Ash Wednesday Service. The…
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Thank ye, Kindly
If there’s anything your mama taught you that you should still be doing, it’s thanking people when they do some kindness for you. I love to hear moms and dads tell their kids “Say thank you!” And then their little voices, repeating it, is so sweet. I think the people out in Western North Carolina…
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A Father’s Day Excursus
The thing I remember about my own dad is that sometimes I got to sit next to him or on his lap and get involved in whatever he was doing. I think kids look up to adults for such modeling and formative behaviors. I mean it’s not always innocent. Daddy gave me a cigarette when…
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The Cement of Brotherly/Sisterly Love and Affection Between Christians
So this week, I’m hearing a spontaneous, unplanned, gloriously surprising revival broke out on the campus of Asbury University in Wilmore, KY. I’m hearing reports that it just keeps going around the clock, and people keep coming, first from all over campus, and now from all over period. There’s been repentance, conversion, prayer, and a…
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Putting the “Fun” in “Funeral”
I noticed a death in today’s paper of a funeral director from one of the communities where I served as pastor. One of the things I’ve enjoyed as a pastor through the years is getting to know funeral directors in every community I’ve served. We have to be partners with these professionals as we work…
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Can Christians Agree to Pray?
There were times growing up when the Baptist Church would join our little Methodist Church in the valley to hold joint services, a “Joint Revival” we called it. Sometimes we’d go to their church, other times they’d come up the hill to ours. We’d sing songs we knew in common, pray (sometimes everybody praying out…
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Simple Christmas
There was once a simpler way to celebrate Jesus’ birth. Back before everyone got so caught up in buying electronic doo-hickeys and other distractions, Christmas was time to spend with your loved ones. It’s become increasingly a time where grand events and star-studded activities steal the attention from the simple stable, the humble family and…
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You Might Get “Yes”
My wife’s former co-worker passed away recently. She was a kind and gracious lady, a native of Holland, who moved to America to marry her love, and settle in the Baptist Valley section of Tazewell County, VA. She had skills that made her a natural in her job as part of the program that paid…
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Tell It, Preacher!
So I have to put this down to type. I have a story to tell. Sit back and enjoy this one. As many of you know, I had a very tough time making a decision as to whether to go or stay in the old United Methodist Church. There was a lot of wrangling and…
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Thoughts on the Next Chapter
Well, Tammie and I are leaving Tennessee. Last fall I left United Methodism. At that time I began to wonder if this wasn’t a time to make a big move to a place where we could be near our son’s family. So we went and bought a house in Greensboro, NC. And I began looking…
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Fresh Sheets
As I was changing our sheets this morning, (my wife had stripped the bed and I wasn’t ready to start my day yet, so I intended to lay down a few more minutes after breakfast) I began thinking about our life together as the “People called Methodists.” Lately it’s been quite a ride. Some of…
Back Up the Holler
The Ruminations of a Mountain Preacher
Back Up the Holler 