The Pulpiteer

Here is a piece I wrote for our July Newsletter.  I thought it would be good to share via the blog.

I really enjoy my garden. I don’t know how good of a gardener I am, but I’m good enough to have tomatoes, peppers, and other veggies to eat at the end of the summer. There is nothing like vine ripened tomatoes, bell peppers, and cucumbers from your own garden. We celebrate the harvest with BLT’s, stuffed peppers, homemade coleslaw, and fresh broccoli. This year I’ve tried growing lettuce for the first time, and already it has been fun to step out the back door and grab some fresh lettuce to top our grilled burgers. Continue Reading »

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This past Monday Michael Spencer passed away.  He was 53.  I never met him, but often read his blog and even more often listened to his podcasts.  It feels strange to be mourning for someone I never met, but I feel pretty sad about the whole thing.  The way he wrote connected with me, and with many others (as it turns out).  I browse some blogs – but not many at all anymore.  However, Michael’s was one I paid attention to.

I guess the thing that strikes me the most is the senselessness of the loss.  I have seen this too often.  He was young.  He had a family.  He was contributing in a meaningful way by teaching and being a chaplain for a Baptist School in the Appalachian Mountains that served as a missionary outpost as much as anything.  His ministry was far from over as far as being fruitful and effective.  His writings on the internet made his blog one of the top Christian blogs out there, and it constantly provided insight, honesty, grace, and encouragement for many Christians who were struggling with how to live out their faith in a crazy world.  A couple of times I had an email written to him that I deleted.  It would sound too silly, I thought.  He probably gets too many of these things, I told myself.  I had just wanted to tell him thank you and encourage him in what he was doing, but I didn’t.  And now I wish I would have.

Here is one of the pieces that Michael wrote that stands out most in my memory.

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Thanksgiving is here. I have seen some people through the month of November write something each day that they are thankful for, and I thought that was a pretty good thing to do, but I didn’t do it myself. However, I think it would be appropriate for me to share what I am thankful for.
I am thankful to God for the salvation he gave me through Jesus Christ and the peace I’ve received through the Holy Spirit. In Jesus Christ I not only find forgiveness, peace, meaning, and purpose, but also I have hope. I hope for and long for the day when God’s kingdom will come and his will is done on earth as it is in heaven. One of the things I have taught and preached about often is that things are not now the way they ought to be. I love doing that because then I don’t have to pretend that everything is ok. But there is more. I have within me a deep hope for the day when everything is the way it ought to be. I long for that time. I am thankful for that. Continue Reading »

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Our hummingbirds have left. At least I’m pretty sure they have. The males stopped coming to the feeder first, and now it’s been several days since I’ve seen the females. Fall is here, and this is one of the signs of the changing seasons. I love the fall, but I’m sad to see the hummingbirds leave. This is life though, isn’t it? The seasons of our lives change as time marches forward.
As a part of our Revelation bible study, I have been praying a prayer that matches up with some of the things we study in Revelation. The prayer is this: “Grant me, Lord, not to be anxious about earthly things, but to love things heavenly; and even now, while I am placed among things that are passing away, to hold fast to those that shall endure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.” There is a contrast in the prayer between those things that pass away and those things that are eternal. Continue Reading »

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I’ve been studying the book of Revelation for some time now in order to prepare for a class I’m going to teach this fall.  As I studied it, I found this recurrence of doors in chapter 3 and 4, in part due to my commentary written by Craig Koester – which is a good little commentary on Revelation if you’re looking.  Anyway, I don’t think I’ll be able to use this particular collection of thoughts in the study or sermons, so I’ll post on it.

The multimillion dollar advertising campaign for the United Methodist Church used to read, “Open hearts, Open doors, Open minds.”  I found myself thinking of the “open doors” portion of our advertising slogan as I studied portions of Revelation. Continue Reading »

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