Classic City Rev

Authors note:  Many of the thoughts expressed in this week's blog are based on a similar column I wrote that was published in The Monticello News in May of 2011 upon the death of Osama Bin Laden. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed last weekend in raid led by U.S. soldiers.  Bakr al-Baghdadi was the leader of ISIS which is an Islamic inspired terrorist group that controlled a substantial swath of territory in Syria and Iraq and one.  Bakr al-Baghdadi was no doubt a murderous soul and a sinister individual. It is certainly appropriate that we commend those brave members of our armed forces who carried out this raid.  The young men and women of our armed forced can never be thanked enough. Though there are certainly domestic political considerations in play in this scenario this is not the place to address those issues.   There is within me, as I would hope that there is all Christians, a tension when I receive news such as this.  On the one hand th...

This week noted conservative evangelical leader John MacArthur, was asked about the ministry of the Southern Baptist Bible Teacher Beth Moore.  He replied that women had no role in the proclamation of the Gospel and that they needed to "Go home."   On the one hand MacArthur's statement could be described in one word---dumb.  On the other hand the statement was borderline misogynistic.  As United Methodists we have settled the question about the role of women in ministry for over six decades so for me there is no need to argue the issue.  I know what  my experience has taught me. Let me say unequivocally that I am grateful that my female colleagues in ministry have not gone home.  I have seen the fruit that they have brought forth.   I have been mentored by some in my formative years in ministry and served alongside others as I have become an "older" pastor.  What I know is this--there are people today that have a relationship with Je...

We like to be comfortable even in serving and worshiping God. In thirty two years of pastoring I have heard countless excuses, some would say reasons, for not attending worship.  I have heard countless complaints about sanctuary temperatures, the hardness of church pews or the brightness of the lights in the sanctuary.  Further there are some that would prefer the preaching in a church not to challenge their pre-conceived ideas and notions.  Many want to hear nothing disturbing. Many feel that the church should not make us  uncomfortable.  I thought a lot about some of those excuses and complaints when I heard the story of what happened to ninety-five year old President Jimmy Carter this weekend.  I don't intend this space to be an indictment or endorsement of his presidency but just the story of one Christian who set out to serve his Lord. The former President fell at his home last week end.  The result of his fall was that his face requi...

Our grandson Aiden plays on a recreation football team for children who are nine years of age and under.  Aiden and I have always had a running joke about his small statue but when I see Aiden with children his own age he is not a small young man.  He plays defensive tackle and tight end on his football team and from my observation he is on his way to becoming a pretty good football player. His grandmother and I had not seen him play this year.  Therefore, with the Georgia Bulldogs having an open date last Saturday we made our way up to Jefferson to watch Aiden play.  His Jefferson team was playing a team from a neighboring community that  I will not name for reasons that will become apparent later.  After trailing at the half, Aiden's Jefferson team came from behind to win 22-14. While I was thrilled for my grandson, I was deeply disturbed by what I saw on Saturday.  As the Jefferson team took control of the game the coaches, players and fans...

We are living in a divisive era.  It seems that we no longer live in a world tinted with subtle shades of gray but rather in a world that is colored in stark contrasts of black and white.   The voices of the extreme positions on any issue often drown out those voices that seek moderation and a middle path. We now find ourselves in an "us" against "them" world and those who aren't a part of our camp are considered our mortal enemy.  Those things said, our principles are important.  We believe what we believe because these are things that matter to us.  Our principles are the bedrock beliefs on which I stand.  They help shape and define who each of us happens to be.  One cannot go through life without a prevailing ethos whether we chose it and set out to follow it or it organically grows through our life experiences. At the same time, we must acknowledge that not all of us will have the same bedrock principles.  For the Christian our bedroc...

Yesterday we learned of the death of Cokie Roberts, an ABC news reporter.  I was shocked when it was revealed the she was seventy five years of age.  Then I realized my own age and seventy five seemed about right for Cokie Roberts.  Cokie Roberts was a news reporter that I trusted.  Her father was a United States Congressman, Rep. Hale Boggs, from Louisiana.  In 1972 her father was killed in a plane crash and her mother, Rep. Lindy Boggs, assumed his seat in Congress.  After her service in Congress Ms.Boggs became an a diplomat, serving as the United States Ambassador to the Vatican.  Cokie Roberts also had a sister who served as mayor of Princeton, New Jersey. Roberts was not a journalism major in college but rather majored in political science.  Being raised in a political environment seemed to give more depth to her reporting and she never seemed to have an adversarial relationship with those she covered.  Further, I never sensed ...

There are certain historical events that take place over the course of our lifetime that we will always remember.  Not only will we remember the event, we will remember where we were when we heard the news of the event. I was too young to have any knowledge of the assassination of President John Kennedy so I don't remember where I was when the news came.  I suspect I was at home in Macon being a "Terrible Two" because that's how old I happen to be at the time. I remember very distinctly where I was when I heard that President Ronald Reagan had been shot.  I was at the Post Office in Memorial Hall at the University of Georgia when someone came in and said, "Hey did y'all here Reagan has been shot."  I finished mailing whatever I was mailing and headed to the nearest television I could find. The day the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded is stamped on my consciousness.  It was cold in Macon that January day, below zero in fact.  I was teaching ...