I want to start this week’s blog post with a brief video clip. Watch and enjoy!    I wanted to use this clip because it sounds like a lot of Christmas pageants I’ve seen. It gets the essence of the story right, and it makes humorous the stuff that’s actually the most miraculous, like “You’re…

Paul prays a beautiful prayer in Romans 15:13, where he says, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”  You see, in the midst of life, which can often feel like a juxtaposing battle, God…

The story of Mary is intended by God as a sign of hope that our redemption has been accomplished. Do you notice in the Song of Mary, the Magnificat, all the verbs that refer to God’s work are past tense?  My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has…

“What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs” (Matt. 10:27, NIV). In this verse, Jesus refers to both physical and metaphorical roofs. He is urging his disciples to share the treasure of the gospel by announcing it far and wide.  Making a…

In Part 1 of this series, we examined how perfectionism can invade the church and the Christian life in an insidious way.  Sin ravages. Love ravishes. And the difference between the two is as big as the Grand Canyon.  You see, what Jesus is saying in our focal passage (John 15:9-11) is this: “I’ve created…

The church seems to attract recovering perfectionists. And in fact, we almost play to that audience, for both good and ill. For good, if we proclaim a gospel that allows the perfectionist to relax and soak into the presence of God: his unaided, unconditional, completely free love that he pours out on us in his…

This week (Oct. 6-12) is National Episcopal Schools week. I am so proud of the 16 schools we have in our diocese and the many remarkable opportunities they offer.  In a world that often seems dark and scary, we’re all looking for a safe place. A place where we can learn, where we can grow,…

The September/October issue of the “Central Florida Episcopalian” focuses on the arts in church. As a person who has long valued the arts and artists, I find that a fascinating topic. The Arts in the Bible In fact, I have been thinking about the places in the Bible where art was considered as a vehicle…

“Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village though; He will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow. My little horse must think it queer To stop without a farmhouse near Between…

We are celebrating the Feast Day of St. James of Jerusalem, making the distinction between this James and James, the brother of Jesus, whom tradition says wrote the book we know as James. The life and death—as a martyr—of this James gives us reason to consider the true price of being a Christian. Leadership Has…