Rustlings

Anyone living in the here and now knows the racial oppression and disparity that cuts its way through our nation’s history has festered and burst. The infectious nature of ‘us and them’ has truly invaded every cell of our society. The tension is felt in the market...

Without endorsing any political party, I need to give a little credit to the late Congressman John Lewis. I was an enthusiastic, up and coming, young pastor when I met John Lewis. He was visiting Georgia State University’s campus. Several ‘young leaders’ were invited...

Time is relative. It has never felt more relative—at least for me—than in recent months. As schedules are adjusted and normal activities are abated, the days and weeks seem to glacially drag by. (With South Carolina temperatures in the 90’s this week, ‘glacially’ may...

Pastoral Pandemic Putt Putt. Yeah, it’s a thing. I just made it up. In conversations with church members via telephone, Zoom, Church Chat, Facebook Messenger, Livestream sidebars, etc., people consistently share their grief over lack of social contact. They...

On a recent pilgrimage to Greece, I meandered among the ancient ruins with a less-than-ancient ‘Whisper Headset’ on my ears. Through this miracle of radio technology, a guide provided detail and narrative to the statuesque rubble that surrounded us. I was reminded of...

In the meantime... In the meantime… It’s a phrase that indicates things are not what they were nor are they what they will be. Between our past and our future, we dwell…in the meantime. It was just months ago that First Baptist Greenville was filling her pews each...

Yes, I was glued to the television for the launch of the Falcon 9 rocket that carried the Dragon SpaceX capsule into earth’s orbit last week. In prior years, I was tuned in as Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon, as subsequent Apollo missions made it and missed it,...

As we look forward to the celebration of Pentecost (Sunday, May 31) and the month of June, the voice of David Bowie is echoing in my head, ‘Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes…’ Some things will not change as we enter the month of June. We will not regather in our Sanctuary for...

Three years ago, our church evaluated its seminary/pastoral internship program. We discovered the model used through the prior decades did not adequately integrate with current seminary models or the needs of current seminary graduates. After much study and prayer, we...

I enjoy watching children step onto elevators. If I’ve already boarded the steel box, I resist pushing any buttons. Inevitably, the child wants to push the buttons. The attending parent almost always allows the child to push ‘their floor,’ and then I politely speak...

(Warning: this article contains generational references which may be meaningless to those under the age of 50. Please read with caution.) A long, long time ago in a cultural milieu far, far away, we spent our summers watching re-runs on television. At 7:00pm, we would...

I’ve become accustomed to the teasing, and I assure you I don’t mind. Recently, a family member inquired if I planned to collect an offering at my daughter’s upcoming wedding! I assured them I had not planned such…but now that they had mentioned it… A lot of...

And now faith, hope and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:13) Faith is grounded in the past. It is birthed from the testimonies of saints who have walked before us. It is shaped by our prior experiences of the perceived...

What about Saturday nights? It has been gratifying to see so many people take advantage of the online programming our church has offered over the last several weeks. More than 3,000 people have taken advantage of our Livestream worship each week—obviously members and...