By Jeff Brumley Hospitality to a lot of Christians means taking a meal to a sick church friend or inviting neighbors over for a barbecue on Memorial Day. But neither of those meanings come even close to the spiritual practice…
10 lessons: looking back on Holy Week
Holy Week invited us to reflect on the deeper matters of faith by revisiting the story of Jesus, especially giving attention to the events that occurred between Jesus’ entry to Jerusalem and his resurrection. The overarching message of God’s love…
wonder
Now that I’ve been at this for well over a year, I’m beginning to realize a few things about publishing my thoughts for people to skim on the internet: 1) It is most definitely as glamorous as you think it is. There…
Get off my Back, Leonard Sweet, I am trying to get some work done here!
Play? How dare my friend, Len Sweet, suggest I interrupt my lifelong commitment to workaholism and please God with play. I’m too busy working for God to play with God. Fortunately that is exactly what Len Sweet does for me…
Top 10 Things that Show You are Not taking Lent Seriously
In commemoration of the Lenten season, a top ten list of things that show you just aren’t taking Lent seriously. 10. You think Ash Wednesday is kind of like “Downtown after Five,” only on Wednesday and only once a year….
The value of remembering
A friend called last week to ask me to think back to the beginning of a community service organization I helped to launch almost 20 years ago. Despite some time in reflection, there was very little I could add…
I’m a Christian minister
“Well it was nice to meet you, but I’ve go to go. Maybe I’ll see you around.” That’s what he said after we’d been talking for almost 15 minutes. Who knows, we could’ve become pretty good friends, but he had…
Learning from experience
According to the story, a young person asked an older, wiser person, “How do I avoid mistakes?” The mentor said, “Get experience.” The young person rejoined, “Then how do I get experience?” The reply: “Make mistakes.” Of course, this assumes…
Why do you keep asking God to throw you a Hail Mary pass?
Some Christians treat God like an all-star National Football League quarterback such as Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, or Drew Brees. They have failed at some aspect of the game of life and ask God to throw them a Hail Mary…
Completing a life
By Molly T. Marshall The most detailed stories of Christ’s Nativity come from Luke, who includes lovely vignettes in the early childhood of Jesus. Luke has shown the parents of Jesus to be faithful to the laws of Rome. Now…
Advent: the scenic route to Christmas
In the 1970’s when Interstate 20 opened between Atlanta and Birmingham, many local residents were looking forward to faster travel on the new freeway. For years, my family had traveled to Birmingham from Anniston on old highway 78, a two-lane…
God’s way of saving the world
As part of an Advent service, I was asked to speak on a question: “What is the significance of Christ?” Ideally, my presentation needed to take about three or four minutes. Here’s what I wrote. What is the significance of…