The following are actual phrases said to me over the past couple of Sundays. I love being a pastor. “Did you see the Kentucky Derby yesterday? Wasn’t that a crazy ending?” “Anything I can do for you today, pastor?” “I think we will close today with ‘Blessed Assurance, Jesus is Mine.’” “I am not recovering like I should be, pastor.” “My wife is at home this morning. She can’t walk from the couch to the kitchen without getting dizzy. I’m scared.” “My husband can’t be here. He’s worried. I’m worried. The surgery was a week ago and something just isn’t...

My hand hurts and my bank account is dangerously low. I have purchased and written in 14 greeting cards this week. I’m not kidding. May is a killer for my family. My wife’s birthday is May 13th and Mother’s Day is the 12th. This means a card from me for each (2x) and a card from the kids for each (2x). Total of 4 cards. My mom’s birthday is May 17th and Mother’s Day is the 12th. This means a card from me for each (2x) and a card from the grandkids for each (2x). Total of 4 cards. Being that it’s Mother’s Day,...

Saturday. 5:30 am. My Big Green Egg is at the right temperature. I put the 10 lb pork butt I had prepared with seasoning the night before on the grill. Indirect heat. At least an hour per pound. Should be good to go around supper time. Thank you Jesus. Wednesday’s. 6:00 pm. Four former Catholics. A single young male. A married man whose wife attends choir practice during this time. A husband-wife team from out West. Book studies of their choice. A couple of weeks or months and they should be ready for baptism, membership, and perhaps a call into ministry. Thank...

“And the Word of of the Lord came to Jonah a second time.” (Jonah 3:1) I wonder how many of you reading this need the Lord to do this for you? How many of you need the Lord to speak to you again, clearly, what He wants you to do? Maybe you have been through a season of rebellion, like Jonah, and find yourself on the edge of a beach with fish guts dripping off your slimy clothes. Maybe you have been doing life the best you can, but find yourself severely unsettled, completely unsure of what is next. Maybe...

“Everyone who knew her, loved her.” The first thing out of their mouths. “She never said a negative word about anyone.” The second thing out of their mouths. I was meeting with two daughters who had just unexpectedly lost their mom. I never had the opportunity to meet the one who had birthed them forty plus years earlier, but was tasked with the honor of giving her eulogy. We were meeting so I could adequately give a picture of their mom they so deeply loved. After we exchanged a couple of awkward pleasantries and offered a prayer for help, I said,...

Wednesday of Holy Week is known as “Silent Wednesday.” The Gospel writers do not record any words or activities of Jesus on this day. Tonight, at the Church at West Franklin, we will have a Silent Prayer Service, meditating and contemplating the 7 sayings of Jesus from the cross. In the meantime, consider the importance of silence for the good of your own soul. Alan Noble, in his Disruptive Witness: Speaking Truth in a Distracted Age, offers this counsel: “With quiet reflection, our desires, fears, beliefs, doubts, and sins are given space to surface, but none of these define us....