Daily Devotionals

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSDecember 6, 2023Yesterday, I attended a fabulous, though deeply troubling, lecture on Christian Nationalism, sometimes referred to as White Christian Nationalism. The speaker was Amanda Tyler, the Executive Director of the Baptist Joint Committee For Religious Liberty. It was sponsored by Interfaith Ministries of Greater Houston and was hosted by Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church. My friend Rev. Chad Mattingly and I sat between a Jewish Rabbi and

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSDecember 5, 2023John’s Gospel does not have any of the fun Christmas stories. Instead, it is a more philosophical and heady approach to understanding who Jesus was and is. John begins with the words: In the beginning was the one    who is called the Word.The Word was with God    and was truly God.From the very beginning    the Word was with God. Later, in chapter 1, we learn how this eternal

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSDecember 4, 2023Prayer for the Week:One Advent candle has brought new light into the world, and that gift is from you, O God of Hope. Let it shine into those unseen places within us where despair, anguish, or grief silently reside. Speak to us through the stories, music, and symbols, reminding us how you are not yet done with us or this world in which we live.

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSDecember 3, 2023In today’s sermon, I will quote Dr. Emilie M. Townes, a Professor in Womanist Ethics at Vanderbilt Divinity School. In an article entitled Lament and Hope: Defying this Hot Mess (great title), she writes: With our all-too-human unpredictability, lament can serve as an anchor to help us find our bearings on how to live as people of faith. We learn from biblical laments that it

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSDecember 2, 2023The day before… When something unexpected happens, we often forget about what occurred the day before. When we are waiting with great anticipation for something, the day before it occurs seems to painfully drag. Today is the day before Advent, and it is already a mix of emotions. I love this season of the year, and I am truly excited for tomorrow, but I am

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSDecember 1, 2023I get a chuckle each time I see the post on Facebook that says something like, “There are only two pieces left in my chocolate Advent calendar. I guess that means Christmas is only two days away.” Like many of you, as I was growing up, I dreamed of being able to reduce the number of days until Christmas arrived. It would have been a

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSNovember 30, 2023As you have heard, this Sunday is the first Sunday of Advent. Often, by November 30, we are already into the Season of Advent, but the way the calendar fell this year, it is actually the latest possible start date for Advent. With tomorrow being the first day of December and with every store in full Christmas mode, I feel as if we should already

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSNovember 29, 2023Today is the feast day of St. Illuminata, a 4th-century woman who was executed after taking the name of Christ. It is interesting that we know very little about her, though there is a church with her name in Todi, Italy, the presumed site of her burial plot. As I think of all the churches named after someone, I realize how almost all of these

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSNovember 28, 2023So what is this Advent thing? Simply put, Advent is the four weeks of preparation that help make the church ready to receive the Christ Child anew. And like the word suggests, it is a time when the church waits with great expectation for the “arrival” of a baby in Bethlehem. Even nonliturgical churches have found themselves practicing the Season of Advent in recent years.

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSNovember 27, 2023Prayer for the Week: As we pause between Thanksgiving and Advent, we acknowledge a growing gratitude that anticipates the gift of the Christ Child. Holy God, O Wonderful Counselor, we give you thanks for this time of the year. In ever-so-small ways, peace and hope appear to be more resilient and pervasive. When we pause and pay attention, you seem to be made real in