I’m sure you have seen, as I have, a picture of a beautiful wedding cake. Maybe you remember your wedding cake and how you had to have one that was just right. Perhaps you have been to a wedding with a really spectacular cake. Some of them are so beautiful that you feel like you …
From Worship Experiences
Resistance to the Beast
My devotional book for the week is “Inspired” by Rachel Held Evans. I reviewed her book, “Searching for Sunday” in January. “Inspired” is a different kind of book. It is a Biblical Scholar meets storyteller book. The ideas are mostly scholarship that I have been dealing with since seminary (a long time ago). But Rachel’s …
St Simons United Methodist Church, Georgia
Last week, Tom and I were able to attend worship for the first time since January. As the only living history volunteers at Fort Frederica, we have been working every Saturday and Sunday. Saturday we had a big event, with another one Sunday evening, so we took Sunday morning off and went to church. Instead …
Quotes from “The Cost of Discipleship” by Bonhoeffer
I have been reading “The Cost of Discipleship” by Dietrich Bonhoeffer for my devotional time in the morning. Reading this book slowly is a blessing because there is so much to think about in it. I think this is my third or fourth time through the book. It is more powerful because I know it …
Vertigo on the Straight Gate and Narrow Way
In Matthew 7:14, Jesus says, “Because straight is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. (KJV).” When I think about this straight gate and narrow way, I usually envision a narrow, but even path on level ground. A place I can stroll along without getting lost or …
Wesley Oak on St. Simons Island
As many of you know, General Conference 2019 was a challenging meeting of the United Methodist Church. Many people were unhappy with the outcome, especially here in the United States. People were hoping for change, but instead the decision was to keep traditional language that excludes homosexuals from being ordained. Some of my friends are …
Choices to Make, Choose Whom You Will Serve
We make so many choices in our lives every day. What will we wear? What route to take to work? Will we work as expected or goof off? Going to the grocery store means choosing from hundreds of varieties of beans, toothpaste, cereal, applesauce. Sometimes we can be overwhelmed by our choices. Tom and I …
Are We Yet Alive and See Each Other’s Face?
Every year at Annual Conference, during the opening worship service, we sang “And are we yet alive and see each other’s face?” It is an old hymn with words by Charles Wesley. This hymn has been sung at Methodist gatherings for over 200 years. It certainly was a poignant hymn when most of the preachers …
God Sightings: Seeing God Every Day
When I was a pastor, the Wedgewood Church participated in a God Sightings Program. For me, it was one of those simple ideas that helped make God personal and real to people. The idea is simple: God appears to us everyday but we don’t see it because we don’t look for God. By looking for …
Dismembering and Remembering the Body of Christ
Today is the first Sunday of the month, which means communion for a lot of United Methodist Churches. Over the summer I heard a sermon which I have been saving for a Communion Sunday meditation. It was on dismembering and remembering. When we take communion, the officiant says, “This is my body, broken for you. …