There is an interesting story in John 12 that tells about a woman named Mary who anoints Jesus one week before his crucifixion. The story says that Mary pours expensive perfume on Jesus’s feet (and other versions of the story include...
I’m a terrible golfer, but I go golfing anyway. Occasionally I’ll even go golfing alone, which I enjoy. When golfing alone, I’ll often get paired up with other players to speed up the pace of play when the course is crowded...
Mardi Gras is a big deal in Haiti. Mardi Gras, in French means “Fat (gras) Tuesday (mardi)”. Fat Tuesday is always celebrated the day before Ash Wednesday which is the start of the Lenten season. The Lenten season is the seven-week...
I’m a stress eater. When things in life and ministry are crazy, when I feel like I’m losing control at work or at home, I eat. It makes me feel better. I makes me feel better because when I can’t exercise control in other...
Have you ever noticed that there is a pattern to the kinds of conditions and illnesses that Jesus heals in the New Testament? For example, on more than one occasion Jesus heals leprosy (Matt 8:1–4, Mark 1:40–45, and Luke 5:12–16), paralysis (Mark...
It’s really hard to be courteous to everyone always. Actually, it seems impossible. Not long ago I wrote a Saturday Sermon about a text in the New Testament that commands Christians to be courteous to all people (Titus 3:2). I wrote...
“…love apart from holiness is soft, naively wishful, and likely self-indulgent. Holiness apart from love is a consuming fire. And so with respect to the first half of Wesley’s orienting concern for holiness and grace, holiness itself is...
How do we get into the presence of God? Christian theology teaches that God is everywhere at once (omnipresent) and deeply involved in the outworking of events in history (immanence). At the same time, many people throughout history have sought...
Psalm 1:1 1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a...
It’s customary in Haiti for people to get married at the end of the calendar year. This being the case, we usually have our share of weddings to attend right around Christmas time. Sure enough, last week one of our best friends here in Haiti...