Some of my seminary professors reminded me of Jesus. Other students may have seen Jesus in a professor’s scholarly insights or deep Biblical expertise, I did not.  Quoting Scripture does not make a person Christlike, the Temptation story reminds us that the Devil is pretty good at quoting the Bible. (Matthew 4) No, I caught […]

At my first solo church, New Chapel UMC, we began ESL and after school mentoring. When Vacation Bible School rolled around one of our Spanish speaking leaders, Claudia, borrowed a bus from Greenbriar UMC to bring children.  Like a good pastor, I stood out in the parking lot greeting the children with one of a […]

The Lectionary Committee skipped most of Matthew 23 in its 3 year Scripture cycle, perhaps because Jesus bites us. Jesus irritates by warning that we who put up statues to the prophets and plaques for visionaries are the very same people who vilify and crush today’s prophets: “How terrible it will be for you church […]

My Brother John is much quieter than I am. John has been known to “that growing up with me it was hard to get in a word edgewise”. John is thinner,  rides his bicycle religiously (one year over 5000 miles), played the bassoon in college, and earned a doctorate in Multi-ethnic Ministry from Wesley. I […]