I am pretty psyched about folks coming to town next week for the Nashville version of the Emergent Convention. While I know there will be some good presenters and artists at the gathering, the part I'm looking most forward to is connecting with others who I either haven't seen in a while, or who I … Continue reading Y’all Come On →

Tony Jones has been staying at the house for a couple of days, and Tony always sets me to thinking in new and different ways. Last night, as I was engaged in the spiritual discipline of mowing the yard, I began to think about what it means to be categorized as "emerging." Generally, this movement … Continue reading Emerging Through The Ages →

Guys, I'm sorry to be out of touch, but I've been blogging sporadically at the Methoblog on my experiences at the United Methodist General Conference. It's Sunday morning, and I've just finished walking around downtown Pittsburgh, and am waiting for a call from some friends to go to brunch. All around me were United Methodists … Continue reading Howdy →

I'm about to head out the door to Pittsburgh for the United Methodist General Conference. I'll be blogging about the conference at http://www.methoblog.com but will try to post thoughts here as I have time.

Back at our potato drop at the end of March I discovered a new career opportunity -- forklift operations. Well at least I know I have something to fall back on if ministry falls through.

A couple of groups in my church have chosen to read Rick Warren's "The Purpose Driven Life" (it's like kudzu down here in the South -- it's everywhere!). During the past couple of days folks have asked me if I had read the book (I hadn't) and then said that they weren't sure they agreed … Continue reading The Purpose Driven Life →

Okay, it's time to get back to Kim' question regarding the centrality of the cross to this story we find ourselves in. As Kim noted, many evangelicals and others as well place the cross at the center of all theological understanding. Thus the story prior to Jesus is merely a setup up to the crucifixion, … Continue reading Salvation Continued… →

Okay, it's time to get back to Kim' question regarding the centrality of the cross to this story we find ourselves in. As Kim noted, many evangelicals and others as well place the cross at the center of all theological understanding. Thus the story prior to Jesus is merely a setup up to the crucifixion, … Continue reading Salvation Continued… →

I'd love to continue thinking about soteriology some more, but we have Grace's school "Spring Fling" today, our church's Dinner Theatre tonight (for which I'm running sound and lights), and sometime along the way I have to finish a sermon on Revelation 1. If you want to chime in with your thoughts on Revelation 1:1-8, … Continue reading Life Intruding →

Recently I've been trading e-mails with a friend of Jen Lemen's who lives here in Nashville. The other day she sent me a message which had the following question: I've been really thinking about something I thought you said about Jesus and how our salvation is about more than just his death on the cross. … Continue reading Soteriology Part 1 →

It's Holy Week. I'm a United Methodist pastor. Who has time to write?

Stacey comments in one of my earlier posts: Why can't this be easier? why can't people fall in love with Christ and get a move on, for pete's sake? why must we constantly label things and define these new realities? why can't we just BE the church? okay, that's all naive crap in a lot … Continue reading Being Church →

Here's a news story on our Potato Drop: http://tennessean.com/davidson/southeast/archives/04/03/49081974.shtml?Element_ID=49081974

I've discovered that the local coffee shop has wifi, so I'm sitting here eating my bagel and drinking my coffee and listening into the next table talk about Plato. The folks are arguing whether today's kids are smarter than kids in Plato's time, and trying to discern whether technological advancement equals greater conceptual inteliigence. They … Continue reading Perk Central →

There is no such thing as "emerging" community. There is either a coming together of persons into a viable community, or not. There is no such thing as "emerging" authenticity. We are either truly who we are before God and others, or we're not. There is no such thng as "emerging" spirituality. We either engage … Continue reading Random Thoughts →

As we head toward General Conference in a few weeks, I want to spend some time thinking about United Methodist issues. With that in mind I have set up a new blog called "MethoBlog" which will focus on UM theology and polity as we determine the future of our denomination. I will keep posting here … Continue reading MethoBlog →

(Brentwood, TN) I'm sitting in the van listening to "The Connection" on NPR and waiting for my 10 a.m. appointment. I've already taken Grace to school, went to the cleaners, and picked up a birthday present for a party Anna has to attend tonight from Target. Not too bad before 9:30 a.m. Tomorrow my church … Continue reading Writing on the Run →

Tonight the local PBS affiliate is running a documentary on the life and career of Peter, Paul, and Mary. For those whose only connection to the folk music scene of the 1960's is the movie "The Mighty Wind," this probably seems tame and quaint. Yet as I watched I was reminded of how important these … Continue reading Showing My Age →

There are enough words floating around to last a lifetime on the trial of Karen Damman, so after this post, I won't add anymore (yeah right!). My friend Hugo offers a link to the latest Christianity Today article on the trial by James Berkely. Hugo offers his critique on the article, which I won't repeat. … Continue reading My Last Post on the Karen Dammann Trial →

The United Methodist News Service sent an article today with the trial judge's thoughts on the Karen Dammann trial (click here for article). As I've reviewed his comments, the verdict hinged on the word "since" in Paragraph 304.3 in the Discipline. Basically the argument is that the legal portion of the Discipline never declares homosexuality … Continue reading More on Dammann Verdict →