Presby-Musings

Elway, our older West Highland Terrier, has been very sick over the past couple of weeks, which has upset everyone in the family.   He seems to be slowly on the mend, though, which is a comfort to us all---even as the veterinarian is still trying to figure out what caused the infection that made him so ill.   A few days ago, I found a spot in the house where he had gone to be sick.  I know. This is not the greatest beginning of a Daily Devo, but I have a point.   He must have gone to this secluded corner of my house in the middle of the night because he felt terrible.  The poor guy knew things were going south, so he went to hide because he knew he would upset everyone.  I couldn't help but feel so sorry for him, thinking about the moment when he tried to keep from making a fuss, feeling bad, sorry, and probably full of shame.   He's such a good dog.  He had no idea we wouldn't have been upset with him and would have comforted him if we had known.  All of this got me thinki

The other day I texted a friend who had a medical procedure and told her I was praying for her.   In fact, I did pause after sending it and bent my thoughts toward my friend, remembering times we spent together, thinking about things she said, and praying that she had prayed over me more than once.  I didn't say a prayer, to be exact, but I imagined her being fine, made whole, healed.  I never said, "Dear God," or petitioned the Almighty on behalf of my friend; instead, I did my best to simply be at peace, sit quietly and think of her.  God was at the heart of whatever I was thinking, though.  I knew and felt it, which was enough at the moment.  I believed that I had a connection with the Divine Spirit that connects us all, and I imagined my friend feeling the energy of that connection.  Prayer is such a fascinating thing for me. I've prayed in all kinds of ways throughout my life.  Writer Anne Lamott says we tend to pray in three kinds: "Help! Thanks! and Wow!&q

I've been thinking a lot lately about the nature of Grace, what it means, how it works, and the many ways it falls upon us.  The reason I have been thinking about Grace so much is that I've been preaching and writing about the nature of Grace from Paul's Epistle to the Romans, which ironically has been used by far too many Christians for far too long to justify why they act in grace-less ways toward people they view as "other."   Years ago, when I was in seminary, I talked with a classmate with strong opinions about the Apostle Paul and his writings.   She told me that she resented the fact that so much of what is wrong with Christian theology is due to the misinterpretation and weaponization of a few passages in his letters.   She had a point.  Paul's letters have been used by Christians to justify the marginalization of women as leaders in the church, discrimination, and exclusion of LGBTQ+ people, anti-Semitism, racial injustice, and so much more.  But when

The other day I listened to the podcast "One With Willie," where the host interviews celebrities, authors, and other assorted luminaries about their favorite Willie Nelson songs.  The guest on the episode was author and speaker Brene Brown, whose books and talks I absolutely love.  If you've never read anything by Brene Brown, you should.   Her work on overcoming fear and shame to "rise and rumble," as she puts it, is nothing short of transformative.  As it turns out, Brene Brown's favorite Willie Nelson song is one of his renditions of the old, familiar hymn "Amazing Grace."  She revealed that she listens to the song several times weekly, especially before boarding a plane.  During the discussion about her love for the song and how it helps allay her fears and keep her centered, she said something absolutely amazing about why listening to Willie Nelson sing it was so meaningful: "I  don't want a hymn from someone who's never passed ou

I feel I've done an excellent job of giving my three boys a reasonably good musical education.   I introduced them to what might be considered "classic rock" these days at an early age.  They've accompanied me to concerts to see bands like Styx, The Who, Joan Jett, Kiss, Def Leppard, the Smashing Pumpkins, the Black Keys, and many more.  Not too long ago, I was driving back from San Antonio with my two youngest boys, and they asked to play some of their current favorite music for me.   Most of it was a mixture of Soul, R&B, and hip-hop, which isn't my forte, but I willingly listened because they wanted to share.  It wasn't lost on me that my boys were educating me, which was a rite of passage for us both.  Interestingly, most of the music they were sharing had elements, notes, shifts, and movements that were reminiscent of songs from the 1970s.  I heard echoes of Sam Cook, Marvin Gaye, the Funkadelics, and the like.  But it was different. It was its own th

Today we are concluding the three-part sermon series drawn from Paul's letter to the Romans, entitled "The Romans Road"  This series is a brief exploration into the themes of Paul's letter to the church in Rome and is designed to help us understand more fully that the road to redemption is paved with the grace that comes to us through the gifts of faith and the radical love of Jesus.  So today, we will explore how being united with Jesus brings the kind of transformation that can bring us new life---the kind that we long to live.  Let me share something amazing with you.  This is probably the greatest theological declaration of all time:  "Love God, and Sin Boldly." - Martin Luther Come on!  You know, that's just plain awesome.  It was something that Martin Luther said to his protege in a letter where he was talking about the grace of God, as revealed in Paul's letter to the Romans.  Kind of makes you wish you were Lutheran... Maybe not, is what all

This morning I sat looking at my schedule, and all of the tasks that I need to get done, meetings to attend, and all of the rest of it, and I sighed heavily before saying to no one in particular: "There are not enough hours in the day."  At that point, for some reason, I heard a song playing in my head that I didn't expect. It was the song "I'm In A Hurry (And Don't Know Why)" from the country group Alabama (remember them?) Those guys were huge back in the early 1980s.  Even the pop stations were playing their songs on repeat.  Here are the lyrics that were going through my head, just for reference:  Oh, I hear a voice That says I'm running behind I better pick up my pace It's a race and there ain't No room for someone in second place I'm in a hurry to get things done I rush and rush until life's no fun All I really gotta do is live and die, but I'm in a hurry and don't know why Naturally, I became curious about why that parti

Years ago, I  heard an incredible story from a speaker at a conference I attended that blew me away.  The speaker said that as a young man, he didn't care about faith, God, or the church, even though he'd been raised in it.  His mother was a devout Christian and sweet woman who doted on her son and saw so much potential in him to do good in the world.    He was more interested in having a good time, and before long, he developed a severe drinking and drug problem that his mother agonized over, but he always brushed off her invitations to go to church with her and her pleas that he stop abusing himself.   Around this time, the speaker related that his mother died suddenly.  She left him all her money, which amounted to around $70,000.  She also left him her Bible, which she cherished and read daily for years.   When he got the money from the estate, the speaker said that he immediately began throwing parties, spending countless nights strung out on drugs or drunk, and living fri

While traveling through the United Kingdom this past summer, I saw a plaque with the following sonnet by Shakespeare etched on it.    Let me not to the marriage of true minds Admit impediments. Love is not love Which alters when it alteration finds, Or bends with the remover to remove. O no! it is an ever-fixed mark That looks on tempests and is never shaken; - Sonnet 116 I was an English Literature major a hundred years ago and spent a fair amount of time studying 16th and 17th-century British literature, poems, and the like.  I've always been taken by the poems and sonnets from that era for some strange reason, and this sonnet was no exception.  Let me take it apart a bit to explain why.  The singer in this sonnet is not addressing a Beloved.  It's not a declaration of love for another but about the nature of Love itself.  The singer is lifting up Love as an ideal, proclaiming its highest virtue: steadfastness.   Additionally, according to the singer, love isn't love when

  A few years ago, I wrote down a line from a poem by the poet Jericho Brown, and as I was reading through my scattered notes this morning, I saw it again with fresh eyes, and it inspired me:  Candles are romantic because we understand shadows.  I absolutely loved that line when I wrote it down, but I didn't fully understand why it resonated with me so much until today.  It's strange how that sometimes works---how you read something, and the truth doesn't land on you for a while.  But today, that line made sense to me in a way I hadn't felt before.   When I read it, I  pictured a candle burning on a table in a dark room and how the light flickered, alternately bringing parts of the room into view and then letting them fall again into shadow.  We are drawn to the space around candles because the light shines brighter near the source.  This is the "romance" of the candle, the intimate, cozy feeling that it brings as we gather around it.  But that doesn't mea

Some years ago, I had the privilege of attending a workshop at a Christian leadership conference where the speaker was Dr. Cornell West, a professor, author, activist, social critic, actor, and public intellectual.  West focuses his work on race, gender, and class in American society and has been an outspoken advocate for a just and equitable approach to social change and cultural transformation.  West is also the son of a Baptist minister, and his faith definitely informs his work and words.  He was one of the most engaging and provocative speakers I've ever had the chance to hear.  When asked about faith's role in his efforts for social change and how his Christian beliefs sustained him in his work, West said something that sent me chills (the good kind) and filled me with palpable energy.   This is what he said:  "I'm still a Christian with gangster proclivities.  There ain't nothing but the Holy Ghost holding me together."   As I went over my notes from th

Today we are continuing a new three-part sermon series drawn from Paul's letter to the Romans, entitled "The Romans Road"  This series is a brief exploration into the themes of Paul's letter to the church in Rome and is designed to help us understand more fully that the road to redemption is paved with the grace that comes to us through the gifts of faith and the radical love of Jesus.  Today we will explore how the road to redemption is also a path to peace—the peace that can’t be explained.  I will share with you some wise theological words from one of the more unlikely sources you would hear about on a Sunday morning from a preacher...  They come from a heavy metal band from the 80s that are still making music today, and I actually got the chance to see them in concert here in Austin last summer. I  am, of course, talking about the band Megadeth.  In 1986, the year I graduated from high school, Megadeth released perhaps their best album, "Peace Sells, But Who&

Several years ago, I was at a preaching conference, and one of the speakers was Priscilla Shirer, a popular speaker, and teacher within the evangelical wing of the Christian church in America.  Shirer grew up in the Black Church in America, the daughter of a minister who has become successful because of the power of her preaching and teaching and her practical insights into living the Christian life.  When I saw her speak, I couldn't help but think of the irony that within her own faith tradition, she wasn't really "allowed" to teach men or even preach, for that matter.   Despite her apparent gifts for doing both, she needed to declare to the crowd of primarily male church leaders gathered there that day that she was coming to preach to us "under the covering" of her husband and father.  That's shorthand for "Don't worry, guys. Even though I'm a woman about to preach, you don't have to be threatened."   This week the Southern Baptis

I preached a sermon on the Trinity for Trinity Sunday a couple of weeks ago, and afterward, I got mixed reviews.  For some folks, what I was saying really resonated with them, but others had a difficult time putting their head around it.  I asked my 18-year-old son, who happened to be in worship that day, what he thought of it, and he was kind in his critique.  He told me that it was a complicated topic that had the potential to confuse more than inform, but he did allow that in the end, I seemed to tie everything together into something useful.  In other words, he meant that while the theological aspects of the sermon were, at times, hard to grasp, the practical application and implication of the Trinity (God is three-in-one) were pretty okay. At any rate, I've been thinking about all of it ever since.  I'm a 3 on the Enneagram, which means I spend a lot of time second-guessing my performance.   On the one hand, that's not a bad thing to do because it does help me get bett

One of the things that I get asked most often as a pastor is the question, "Why would a good and loving God ___________?"   The "blank" can be filled in with several things, as you can imagine.  It could refer to another school shooting, a natural disaster, a personal tragedy, children starving, and the horrors of war.   The list of things we wish God would do something about or prevent is long.  We all have them, and some things on our list are deeply personal and often traumatic events.   For many people who don't believe in God, the seemingly nebulous answers to that question are at or near the reasons why they are atheists.   Many atheists argue that if God exists, then God is either powerless or cruel.  And even the arguments we make about God granting freedom to us and to all of Creation because God does not coerce love tend to fall short for many people.  I've been reading an excellent book by Thomas Jay Oord called Open And Relational Theology .  In

I tried playing a video game on my son's game console the other day.  It took me a few minutes to figure out how to turn it on and then another fifteen minutes to learn how to find the game I wanted to play.  And then, I needed help figuring out how to properly play the game because the controller was complicated.  Only there was no help to be found, and I wasn't about to admit to my kid I needed it, anyway.  I used to teach my kids how to play video games, use a computer and operate their cell phones.  Now, they have to show me how and are far less gracious than I was to them.   And by less gracious, I mean they make fun of me for being old.   Everything changes.  I heard that phrase in a song today while I was working, and a random playlist was playing on my computer.  I tried to find the song again later but couldn't.  Which felt like an illustration of the meaning of the song's refrain.  As a young pastor, I wondered why it was so hard to effect change in the Church

Today we are beginning a new three-part sermon series drawn from Paul's letter to the Romans, entitled "The Romans Road"  This series is a brief exploration into the themes of Paul's letter to the church in Rome and is designed to help us understand more fully that the road to redemption is paved with the grace that comes to us through the gifts of faith and the radical love of Jesus.  The title of this series is drawn from memories I have from my days in the Baptist church when I was young.  When we would go out witnessing door to door, we would use "the Romans Road" to explain to people the dire nature of their situation as a sinner and then what they could do to fix that by praying a simple prayer.  The Romans Road was a series of verses from Paul's Epistle to the Romans that outlined the "Plan of Salvation."   You should have seen me out witnessing.  I looked fantastic, like a twelve-year-old evangelist with my too-big, short-sleeved dress