First Sunday After The Epiphany | Baptism of Our Lord

On the Christian Calendar, this particular Sunday is known as the Baptism of Our Lord.  It occurs the first Sunday after The Epiphany, which is always on January 6. Baptism is a faith community event.  I personally struggle with “private baptisms” because they deemphasize community.  Baptism...

BONHOEFFER AND GENTRY

Monday, April 9, 1945. Seventy years ago this very day. 6:00 a.m. local time at Flossenbürg Concentration Camp in Nazi Germany. The German theologian and Lutheran pastor, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, was ordered to strip and walk naked to the gallows where he and six other collaborators...

Books I Deem Important to Me

Recently someone asked me, “What are some books you deem to be important to you that you’ve read, other than the Bible?” Thank God the person said “other than the Bible!” Had it not been qualified, that one would have been at the top of...

Final Passages For Our Journey

On Sunday, February 16, 2014 I preached my final sermon as Senior Pastor at Tabernacle Baptist Church in Carrollton, GA.  For more than thirteen years I wrote a column in the church’s weekly newsletter, The Tidings, called “Passages For Our Journey.”  While there wasn’t a column...