A recent podcast caught my attention as it compared the cultural upheaval of our own day to the year 1968. I was a senior in high school that spring, and remember vividly the sense of things falling apart. There were violent anti-war rallies, the continuing Civil Rights debates, and the horrific assassinations of both Martin Luther King Jr. and Senator Robert Kennedy. Kennedy was a presidential candidate in that tumultuous and divisive election year. And yes, there was a deadly pandemic that year as well....
While we have used the term a lot, I struggle a bit with the language of the “new normal.” Obviously, we mean what life will be like after the pandemic, and certainly many things have changed already. I think there will be major impacts on business travel, online education, various types of available jobs, the economy, etc., etc. But my real struggle is with the concept of “normal.”...
Although we are not quite there yet, the new normal, post-pandemic world is thankfully almost in sight. While this has been a physical health restoration process, I am more concerned that there be a spiritual restoration coming out of it. Will we take the time to hear what the Lord will speak? There can be no real revival without such hearing....
I was struck by a scene in one of the most recent episodes of the online series The Chosen (see below**). Jesus’ new disciples Peter and Matthew get into a heated argument. Matthew is depicted as the tax collector who had made Peter’s life financially miserable....
Lockdown. It is the tragic and fearful state which we all experienced early on in the pandemic. Everything came to a halt. Sadly, some countries are in the midst of lockdowns again. What struck me as I considered the story of Jesus appearing to the disciples after the resurrection (John 20:19-23) is that they were in lockdown:...
Most of you are probably familiar with the military acronym AWOL, Absent Without Leave. It refers to persons who have left their posts without permission (but who have not permanently deserted.) In the midst of Lent, I want to re-purpose the same acronym. I think many of us are regularly Absent Without Leaving. In other words, we may be physically present (or at least virtually present on a phone call or video chat), but we are emotionally absent, our minds and hearts engaged somewhere else....
Have you ever felt like you are sailing in a fog? I think the pandemic alone, even without the other stresses we are experiencing nationally, makes us all feel disoriented....
I write to call for prayer for our nation and to reflect personally and Biblically on some of what we have seen....
What a traumatic and tragic week we have been through together. I am reeling from the report of the death of a Capitol police officer from the mayhem on Wednesday in Washington. I know many of you, like me, are still having trouble believing that the Capitol could have been under siege with members of Congress literally hiding in the building....
Dear Diocesan Family, As we are living in this time of a truly global pandemic, let me begin with the transforming words Jesus shared with his disciples. They were about to face his crucifixion, the greatest tragedy and most redemptive act in human history, when all of human sin crushed our Savior (Isaiah 53). After predicting that the disciples would abandon him, Jesus c...
Keep ReadingDear Rectors and clergy in the Gulf Atlantic Diocese, Greetings in Christ. Many of us are under local and state declarations of emergency, and all of us are now under a national state of emergency. As you know, the school systems in many of our areas have just announced closures, the trigger decision point that I shared with the diocese this morning. Therefore let me st...
Keep ReadingDear brother and sister clergy, Many of you are aware of the quote from the Talmud, adapted in the film Schindler's List, "He who saves the life of one man saves the entire world." A longer version is "Whoever destroys a single life is considered by Scripture to have destroyed the whole world, and whoever saves a single life is considered by Scripture to have saved the w...
Keep ReadingDear Gulf Atlantic Diocese, I do not need to tell you that we face a pandemic. No one yet knows everything this will mean for our country, churches included. I believe that as difficult as this may be, the Lord has purposes for us and our neighbors if we seek him. Let me share three things briefly: The Lord is in charge, and loves us as his own. We need not fear even ...
Keep ReadingEphesians 5:18-21 ...Be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. Dear Diocesan Family As many of you...
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