Classic City Rev

I've been preaching a sermon series on Baptism the past three weeks.  My timing has been spot on because we've been inundated with rain here in the Classic City the last few weeks as well.  One has to admit rain and baptismal talk do go hand in hand. I believe that we don't talk about Baptism enough in the church.  Thus, there is a lot of confusion about the meaning and importance of Baptism. Yet, the truth is that Baptism defines who we are.  It is an outward sign of an inward and spiritual grace.   As United Methodist we believe that Baptism is an act of God.  The one being baptized, the clergy performing the sacrament and the water itself are either recipients or agents of the work that God is doing.  Therefore, since God is the primary actor the method of baptism and the age of the one who is baptized is unimportant as it is God doing the work.  For this reason we don't baptize anyone twice because to do so would be saying that God di...

There is movie theater near my house that also feeds you more than popcorn while you there.  You can get a basket of wings, some tacos and other similar selection delivered to your seat by the wait staff of the theater. It's not overly expensive and you can literally have "dinner and a movie" at the same time. They only problem is I can't get them to pause the movie if I want to take a bathroom break. In as much as we are enjoying the experience more, Toni and I are finding ourselves at the movies more often. This week Toni and I availed ourselves to two movies.  I really can't say that I enjoyed either one, not because they were not good movies, in fact both were excellent, but because they were disturbing with the stories they told. One was the film "Just Mercy."    The film tells the true story of an African-American man wrongly convicted of murder in a small town in Alabama and sentenced to death row. The film pointed out to me very strongly...

The United Methodist Church has been debating issues regarding human sexuality long before I entered seminary in 1988.  After many years of divisive debate it seems that our denomination is at a crossroads.   Some feel that  the only solution to this impasse is to split our denomination with our more conservative congregations leaving the United Methodist Church to form a new denomination. There are those on both sides of the issue that feel that such a separation will allow our church to move forward although it may be in new expressions of our Methodist tradition. Friday an article from the United Methodist New Service outlined the work of a sixteen member group of United Methodist leaders including a number of Bishops.  (Our own Bishop here in North Georgia was not among the participating Bishops.)  This group produced a document called a "Protocol of Reconciliation and Grace Through Separation." According to the article, "The plan looks tow...

When I started this blog I said that I wasn't going to write columns about Georgia football.  I know maybe claiming a technicality but in the end this column isn't about Georgia football, but I'm going to use it as a starting point. Unless one has been living in a cave in Siberia the last week one is aware the Georgia football team lost to LSU 37-10 in the SEC Championship game last Saturday evening.  It was a rough night for the Dawgs to be sure.  However, to hear some Georgia fans the last few days one would think that the University of Georgia football program is in total shambles. Some folks are screaming for people to be fired.  Others are acting like the season was a total failure. It is, to say the least, a complete over reaction.   What these over reactors are missing is perspective.  After all, Saturday's loss was in a championship game.  There were twelve other teams in our conference that would have loved to have had the ...

We United Methodists are a part of a liturgical church, meaning that we have a church calendar that moves us through the various seasons of the year.  These seasons often dictate the themes and content of our worship.  We share this calendar with our Roman Catholic, Episcopal, Lutheran, and Presbyterian friends.  Other denominations besides these may also follow this calendar. In the liturgical calendar most of the seasons that are celebrated are connected to events in the life of Jesus.  Christmas, which celebrates Jesus' birth, and Easter, which celebrates Jesus' resurrection are examples of this. Though the retail and consumer culture tells us that it is Christmas time, the liturgical calendar tells that it is not yet Christmas but rather Advent.  Advent consists of the four Sundays prior to Christmas. Most churches have an Advent wreath with five candles and each week a candle is lit on the wreath as the church moves closer to the celebration of Chr...

Author's note:  This weeks blog is an excerpt from my Thanksgiving message which I delievered at Tuckston United Methodist Church last Sunday. Sadly in our culture the observance of Thanksgiving has become for many the opening of the Christmas Season, rather than the important day it is on it’s on.   Many persons, particularly children make a list at Christmas times of things they wish to receive as gifts.   Today I would like offer that all of us, regardless of our age should make a Thanksgiving List naming the things for which we give thanks not only at this time of year but anytime we stop and reflect on the life with which we have been blessed.   I am honored to share mine.             I am thankful for a God who loves me and who through his Son, Jesus Christ, has given me grace and salvation.             I am thankful that on an August...

Yesterday was one of those days.  It started at prayer breakfast.  I joined a group of gentlemen from Tuckston at their weekly prayer breakfast at our neighborhood Chick-Fil-A.  It is one of the highlights of my week. My right arm was itching a little just above my wrist and so I reached under the cuff of my shirt to give it a little scratch.  Soon I noticed blood on my shirt.  Apparently I'd scratched a bit too hard.  So I returned home changed into a different shirt and tie and went into the church office. I had an appointment after lunch and after the appointment I decided on a cup of coffee to give me a pick-me-up before I visited a couple of parishioners in a nearby care facility.  One should never try to drink a cup of coffee and do computer work at the same time.  While typing on my computer I managed to bump the coffee cup and send coffee all over my shirt, over one leg of my pants and all over my tie.  Now I'm wet, my cl...