In 597, King Nebuchadnezzar’s forces laid siege to Jerusalem coming over the walls and through the gates and placing Zion under martial law. The Babylonian troops looted Solomon’s Temple and David’s Palace carrying off sacred vessels, the queen’s jewels, the army’s weapons, and national banners as trophies of war. They deported princes, business leaders and […]
Tag Archives: Jesus
On this world Communion Sunday, as I preach in English and Hai Htoo and Wisinee translate into Karen, there will be moments where you may have to wait until someone says something you understand. Could we take these slower moments and practice loving our neighbors as ourselves? Maybe we could do some holy day dreaming […]
I answered my phone and an unfamiliar but cheerful voice boom, “Hey Paul, this is Tony Felts. I’m the director of Parks and Recreation and I am so glad you have signed Lewis and Caleb up to play baseball”. After some pleasantries, Tony focused in, “Paul, I’ve been talking to your buddy Kyle Ruleman and […]
I want to invite you to take out a Pew Bible and open it about two pages and look at the Table of Contents. Peruse the titles. Maybe, you are noticing that 24 of the 39 Old Testament or Hebrew Bible Books are named after people: Jeremiah, Ester, Ruth! The New Testament is even […]
“In the beginning”, the Creation Hymn declares that the Earth was covered in darkness. When you think of “the Earth”, do you think of the Blue Marble photograph of earth floating in outer space? On December 7, 1972 Apollo 17 flew far enough away from earth to fit the whole planet in the camera’s viewfinder, […]
Dear Friends, Perhaps your phone alerted you to the all too unimaginable evil that unfolded today at the Annunciation Church and Catholic School in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Our thoughts and prayers fail to contain the depths of sorrows brought on by the epidemic of gun violence affecting our land. As I have prayed for the families, […]
The Franklin County Ministerial Alliance did not meet during the summer, so my Senior Pastor sent me to represent our church at the August meeting. I was fresh out of seminary, in my first appointment, and my second month at the church. After the preachers finished their second, third or fourth trip to the breakfast […]
It was 2am and my buddies and I were playing cards at my parents’ house, our normal high school haunt. Someone decided to pour their Mountain Dew into a wine glass, wet their finger and run it around the rim of the glass manufacturing an annoying hum. We all tried the trick, emptying the china […]
I read in the New York Times how a Republican Representative has proposed adding Donald Trump to Mount Rushmore. The Times pointed out a few problems with this idea. 1) It might be better to wait a few decades to let history judge who we carve into granite. 2) Mount Rushmore is a completed work […]
This past week our Tennessee Western Kentucky Annual Conference met at Colliersville United Methodist Church. Our gathering was upbeat, prophetic and hopeful. Bishop David Graves remarked “The Spirit of God is moving in this place, God is doing a new thing with us. There is such a good spirit in this place, I believe if […]
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