Not to compete with the movie franchise…

I am writing this to be read on Friday, April 13th.  We’ll have another Friday the 13th in July of this year. What do you think about Friday the 13th?  The Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute in Asheville, North Carolina estimated in 2012 that between 17 and 21 million Americans struggle to some degree or

om, I feel your pain!

One year, even after at least half a dozen people had checked it, we published and mailed out a flyer with the schedule of our Holy Week events. It included, and I wish I was making this up, a line that said our Maundy Thursday service was on “Wednesday, March….” How could so many people

I (h)ate Christmas Sermon 3

 Advent 2017.3: DesperATE to ImmediATE I don’t know if this is true, but rumor had it, when I was a college student, federal regulations said you couldn’t call something a hamburger that wasn’t pure beef. You couldn’t just google it back then. We began to wonder when the campus dining hall would post the day’s

Am I Addicted?

I just finished my first read of Adam Alter’s Irresistible. I clarified “my first read” because I am going to start it again today. I social media-ed that “I can’t put it down,” partly for the irony, partly because I really enjoyed the read. We are, most of us, addicted to technology that didn’t exist

Does God agree with you? with me?

In the face of all the many disagreements, and further, in the face of what seems to be a lack of ability to communicate in civil and well-intentioned ways, I thought this morning of these words from Isaiah 55:8-9 My plans aren’t your plans,     nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.

My Modest Proposal

The BRAND we all share

We have just begun a new sermon series at Euless First United Methodist Church. This series was inspired by a presentation Mike Slaughter made at FUMC Hurst in February of this year.Here is the first sermon from the series, preached Sunday morning, April 17, 2016. It all started April 23, 1985. 31 years ago next

Conditioned to Blame

Just a few months ago I posted about our tendency to blame. Working on Sunday’s sermon, I had a further thought along these lines. We have been conditioned to blame the government.  More specifically, we have been conditioned to blame those we view as “against us,” but I believe there has been a growing tendency

Pop Culture Finale: Back to the Future!

Here is number 6 in a 6 part series on Pop Culture.  Sunday was titled “Lead, Follow, or…”  In honor of the 30th anniversary of the release of Back to the Future, I’m re-titling this. I don’t know about you, but along about this time of year, I enjoy thinking of cooler weather. “Christmas in

Ban the Ban!

This just in: TVLand has banned Dukes of Hazard reruns! Ok, technically, that’s just not right.  A TV channel doesn’t “ban” shows.  A TV channel chooses which shows to air and which not to air. So, to say that TVLand has decided to pull Dukes of Hazard episodes from its arsenal would be correct.  But