ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSAugust 12, 2025The Rev. Dr. William Barber preached this past Sunday, August 10, 2025, at First Baptist West in Charlotte, NC. He was basing his sermon on Jesus’ sermon that we call The Sermon on the Mount. Rev. Barber focused on the words, “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid” (Matthew 5:14), and he reminded his listeners that
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSAugust 11, 2025Prayer for the Week: With this new day comes an opportunity to meet you anew, O Divine Light—to experience the warmth of your generosity; to learn something I have never noticed about the intensity of your kindness; to glimpse the far-reaching capacity of your love? Let the possibilities of this day be met by the curiosity of my mind and the imagination of my soul.
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSAugust 10, 2025Have you ever noticed that grief is complicated? And it is made more complicated when people approach grief as if it were similar to getting over a cold. Frustration emerges when it appears to be taking too long, as if two days’ rest and some Vitamin C should kick it. Now we are all wired a little differently, and the journey of grief will look
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSAugust 9, 2025My friend, the Rev. Dr. Kory Wilcoxson (pastor at Crestwood Christian Church in Lexington, KY), is the coauthor of a book entitled, “Thriving Church,” based on a five-year study of 20 diverse churches. The word “thriving” is not necessarily defined by the number of people in worship on Sunday, though for some of the churches, they have strong worship attendance. The book looks at ten
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSAugust 8, 2025This Sunday, we will have another ordination at Cypress Creek Christian Church. I don’t want to brag or toot the church’s proverbial horn, but this is a pretty big deal. Since arriving at the church thirteen years ago, we have ordained three of our church members after they completed seminary (John Frey, Mariah Newell, and Tamika Nelson). And a fourth member of our church had
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSAugust 7, 2025Brian McLaren is a wonderful voice in the current landscape of Christianity, specifically helping us look beyond what he calls a simple stage one faith, usually rooted in literalism and dualism. Brian doesn’t belittle this stage. In fact, in his book, “Faith After Doubt,” he talks about how stages are important. No one learns math starting with complex formulas. You need to learn your numbers
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSAugust 6, 2025In Sunday’s sermon based on Colossians 3, there were a number of things I would have enjoyed discussing if I could have preached for two hours. One of the lines that often catches the ear of the listener is from vs. 6 where we read, “On account of these, the wrath of God is coming on those who are disobedient.” The Apostle Paul (or possibly
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSAugust 5, 2025Are you afraid? There are so many things in life that cause fear to manifest and intensify in our daily existence. The fear might be for ourselves, while other times it is fear for someone we love or even for a community that is vulnerable. So many voices within scripture tell us not to fear, but like a lot of things, it is much easier
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSAugust 4, 2025Prayer for the Week: Whisper, nudge, prompt me, and guide me. Faithfulness in all things is what I desire, yet I know my desire for faithfulness does not always equate with faithfulness. Help me to pause and reflect, unafraid to name my shortcomings or outright failures. If faithfulness is truly my desire, then denial or excuse-making hinders my progress toward that desired end. I trust
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSAugust 3, 2025What does transformed look like to you? The Apostle Paul, in his Letter to the Romans, invited his readers to be transformed by the renewing of their minds so that they might discern the will of God. It sounds as if transformation is not the ultimate destination. Instead, transformation is what needs to happen for us to be in a place where we can discern