By now, you’re probably aware of the latest brewing controversy that is linked to the names “Christian” and “church.” This one could be fatal. The Dove World Outreach Center, a tiny church of some 50 members located in Gainesville, Florida, made headlines last year after distributing T-shirts that said "Islam is of the Devil.” Now the congregation has utilized the power of the Internet to promote its Quran-burning plans this Saturday to commemorate the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States. The top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan warned Tuesday of this week that their actions could endanger U.S. troops and Americans worldwide if the church follows through on its threat to burn copies of the Muslim holy book the Quran.

Did you know that President Obama is really a Muslim? That he’s not an American? That he wasn’t even born here? That’s the rumor. Problem is none of this is true, but you can’t convince a lot of folks otherwise. The White House felt compelled recently to counter the rumor mill about the president’s faith by releasing a statement that read: “The president is obviously a Christian. He prays every day.” Obama is actually a member of the United Church of Christ denomination which produced a big flap back during the election with his controversial pastor the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. (No Muslim actually has a “pastor.”)  According to a recent article in The News & Observer (August 20, 2010), the facts are: Obama is the Christian son of a Kenyan Muslim father and a Kansas mother. Born in Hawaii, he lived from age 6 to age 10 in Indonesia with his mother and stepfather. And no, he has yet to join a church in the D.C. area.

Last week I managed to pull the family away for end-of-summer beach get-away. It was a great time for us to just be together, and it truly felt like an escape from the busy routine. This was our first taste of saltwater and sand this summer so it was definitely long overdue. Soaking in the waves and the sound of the surf has a palpable rejuvenating effect on the soul. Living an hour and a half from the Atlantic beaches has its advantages for a lot of people here in eastern North Carolina—especially on the weekends. However, that doesn’t work out too well for those of us who have jobs on Sunday. So we take what we can get. Still, there is a biblical Sabbath principle that we all must find a way to work into the rhythm of life. Too much time away, or too little, leaves us out of the healthy balance that God intends for our soul...

Last week, I went to PASSPORT Kids Camp at Wingate University to spend four days with nine children from FBC. Two of the nine were my sons and our group needed a male chaperone. So as parent and pastor I couldn’t escape the obvious. It had been a long while since I had spent a week at a church camp. “Back in the day,” (when I was much closer to their age) I led many a youth and college students to weekend retreats at the beach and in the mountains as well as far off places like Tennessee, New Mexico, and Canada. So I’ll admit I was a little rusty. But it didn’t take long to start enjoying the experience of being a kid at camp...

Clarence Jordan died in rural Georgia in 1969 at the age of 57. He was a radical pioneer of the gospel in the racially charged south of his day. Over the years he wrote a “version” of the New Testament scriptures that was called “The Cotton Patch Version.” It is written in the language of his day—which is not exactly politically correct today. But it is what it is. This Sunday I’m preaching the old familiar story of “The Good Samaritan” found in Luke 10:25-37. But I’m afraid there is too much of a disconnect between the Samaritan of Jesus’ day, as the hero of the story, and the potential “Samaritans” of our day. In Clarence Jordan’s day, his version of the story would have raised quite a fuss. It goes as follows…

 I’m off to St. Louis this week to officiate a wedding for a couple of kids who were 7 or 8 years old when I came to be their new pastor over 14 years ago in Webster Groves, Missouri. For the past seven years I have lived halfway across the country while they survived their youth group, high school and college years. Now they are ready to launch into a lifetime together. You never know what might happen when you go to church and actually stick with it. For these two promising young adults, it all goes back to their parents who faithfully led them to a small Baptist church, dug in their heels week after week, and stuck with a particular community of God’s people...

I almost did not write this blog because… I’ve been too busy. It’s been an incredibly busy time as of late—visiting the sick, going from hospitals to hospice, from funerals to pre-marital counseling, writing sermons, meeting with committees, planning worship, counseling, coaching baseball, shuttling children to multiple baseball and basketball games, school functions, and trying to keep the home fires burning brightly just to name a few. But the truth is… everyone is busy. How many times have you heard a retiree say, “Since I retired I’ve been busier than ever!”?  Mothers are busy, fathers are busy, kids are busy, churches are busy. The world often looks like a giant ant pile that has just been stepped upon by a size 13 shoe...