Brothers and Sisters, Yesterday, two of my fellow elders and I made the trek down to Lawrenceburg, TN to visit a former member of Hickory Grove. This man came to us as a graduate of Harvest Prison Ministry and left…
Brothers and Sisters, Today is Maundy Thursday—the fifth day of Holy Week. Today, God’s people traditionally remember Jesus’ washing the disciples’ feet (John 13:1-20) and sharing the Last Supper (Matt 26:17-29; Mark 14:12-25; Luke 22:7-23). That last meal, of course,…
Brothers and Sisters, You’ll be glad to know our family enjoyed a smooth trip on Tuesday, delightfully interrupted by lunch with friends in Indianapolis and punctuated with a warm reception from other friends north of Chicago. We’ve greatly enjoyed their…
Brothers and Sisters, I’m still a catholic. What an odd and alarming thing for an ordained presbyterian minister to say. After all, I’ve taken vows that commit me to the Westminster Confession—a quintessential expression of Protestant faith that takes Roman…
Brothers and Sisters, In anticipation of our upcoming officer nominations, I’m dedicating a string of letters to the basics of presbyterianism. Last week, I wrote about the truth, goodness, and beauty of our polity. Today, I’ll briefly share about the…
Brothers and Sisters, First off, thank you for your prayers… and spare medical equipment! I’m happy to report that my foot is much, much better than it was this weekend. I was convinced that I’d torn or broken something, yet…
Brothers and Sisters, No doubt, you’ve all seen pictures, read news stories, and watched commentary about Lia Thomas and her* victory at the NCAA Division I swimming championship last week. There is much to lament here, and I believe we’re…
Brothers and Sisters, This past Sunday, we considered Phil 4:1-9 and the peace of God. You’ll recall we spent a few minutes talking about anxiety (v. 6) and what God would have us do with it. Anxiety is a complicated…
Brothers and Sisters, This past Sunday, we considered what it means to be citizens of heaven whose temporary abode remains here on earth. Our great challenge, we saw, is to live in accord with our heavenly citizenship and eschew those…
Brothers and Sisters, If you pay attention to the church calendar, then you’ll know that today is what Christians have long called Ash Wednesday—a day of prayer, fasting, and lament over our sin. Ash Wednesday ushers in the liturgical season…
Brothers and Sisters, In anticipation of our upcoming officer nominations, I’m dedicating a string of letters to the basics of presbyterianism. Two weeks ago, I wrote about the truth, goodness, and beauty of our polity. Last week, we looked at…
Brothers and Sisters, In a few weeks, we’ll be inviting our members to nominate church officers. I’ll have more to say about that soon. For now, I’d like to use my next few weekly letters to go over the basics…