I have the pleasure of mentoring three young pastors-in-training every Tuesday morning. We cover a wide variety of topics that will better prepare them for a life of vocational Christian ministry—one example of our Beyond These Walls commitment to “Releasing Leaders.” This week, however, we were discussing a topic that, I promise you, never came […]
How to Create Some Space for God!
Have you ever felt that nudge? A friend, co-worker, family member, or someone you just met is talking, and you sense the conversation could take a spiritual turn. But what do you say? What don’t you say? How can you bring up God without shutting the connection down? About 150 of you been gathering for […]
The ugliest weekend of the year!
Every year on the weekend prior to All Saints Day (the Christian version of Halloween!) we at Chapel Hill celebrate St. Andrews Sunday. This is a moment for us to look back at our Scottish roots and celebrate the lives of our spiritual ancestors. It is very Scottish—bagpipes and everything! (I know, it can sound like […]
A Vigil and a Seahawk
On Monday morning I sent out an emergency blog regarding the shocking assault on a crowd of concert-goers in Las Vegas the night before. Like all of you, I was having trouble grasping the enormity of the carnage. At the time, we were receiving reports of 50 dead and some 400 wounded. I challenged you, […]
Las Vegas
My beloved in Christ: I rarely watch TV in the morning but happened to turn on the news this morning to find the horrific account of the mass shooting in Las Vegas. I haven’t heard anyone say so but surely this is the worst terrorist attack on American soil since 9/11. And yes, I realize […]
A Sweet Family
This weekend Cyndi and I traveled north to perform the wedding of Philip Saucier and Megan Liepman. The Liepmans once worshipped at Chapel Hill before they moved. The Sauciers have been beloved members of this church for 20 years. It was a glorious family reunion. It was not a short trip, and it wasn’t that […]
Kickoff Weekend in Romans…and a HUGE surprise.
The epistles (letters) of the New Testament are arranged by size, largest to the smallest. This puts Paul’s letter to the Romans at the front of the line. But if they were listed in order of importance, Romans would still be in the lead-off position because it is, without a doubt, the most important letter […]
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“Our” Rachel in the pulpit
When our Rachel was two or so, I started taking her out for dates. We’d go to Starbucks and get a hot chocolate. More than once, I had to clean up spilled hot chocolate because it was too hot, no matter how carefully I tried to warn the barista. But usually, Rachel would sip her […]
What if we hit $6 million?
At our Beyond These Walls town hall meeting a few weeks back, there were a variety of questions. But one stands out. One of our sweet, enthusiastic members asked, “What if we hit $6 million? I think we can!” I remember the chuckles from both members and elders…and pastors, honestly. Well—who’s chuckling now? As we move towards […]
Do you want to know a secret? Do you promise not to tell?
Somehow, those lines from the classic Beatles song were whirling through my head. The secret of how much our congregation has pledged toward our Beyond These Walls initiative will finally…finally!…be revealed this weekend. It’s kind of killing me, honestly! But on Saturday night at 6:30pm (in the sanctuary!) when I open the envelope, we will discover together what that […]
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