A curious thing happened to me this week. I was examining the scriptures, reading about Paul on trial before the Jewish court in Jerusalem. At one point, the tribune in charge of him took him back to his jail cell for his own protection, “fearing that they would pull Paul to pieces” (Acts 23:10b). But…

God has an extraordinary ability to defy our expectations. Especially if he really wants to get our attention. Beyond Expectations When I was a college student, I went to try a large Episcopal church not too far from where my family attended. It was an 8:00 a.m. service held in a small chapel, and the…

Have you decided to follow Jesus? Do you understand the courage of your decision? Do you understand its magnitude? Today, I want to try to help paint a picture for you using some insights from the first six verses of Revelation 21. For so many Christians, past and present, this reading has been both a…

Today, we take a look at the life of Dunstan, one of the most famous of all of England’s Christian spiritual leaders, born in 909 A.D. in Glastonbury in the southwest part of England. Dunstan was famous for his extraordinary and multitudinous talent. But he was so much more than a man who knew how…

A priest friend extended a challenge to his congregation the other day. “Let’s take a couple of minutes to pray and think about what the Lord might want to say to you.” My response? “Ohhhhhh.” My friend’s words intrigued me. When I preach, I tend to focus on what God wants me to say, not…

I want you to imagine with me a little of what life might have been like for those early believers who saw Jesus ascend into heaven and waited for him in the Upper Room. You can read the real story in the first and second chapters of Acts. But for just a few minutes, let’s…

As I reeled from the recent shootings in Baton Rouge, St. Paul, and Dallas, I knew I had to say something. Unexpressed grief easily becomes indifference, something no one needs. So what do we need? I believe times like these call not for desperate measures but a deliberate reach. So what does that look like…

I find the season of Lent a tremendous relief. We enter into this season together, acknowledging openly and honestly that we don’t measure up. We all fall short of what God has called us to be. We live in a world that is simultaneously beautiful and disastrous, a world filled with great injustices, horrors, and…

William Wilberforce and Anthony Cooper PROPHETIC WITNESSES, 1833, 1885 William Wilberforce was born in 1759 and served in Parliament from 1780 to 1825. A turning point in his religious life was a tour of Europe. In the luggage of a travelling companion he saw a copy of William Law‘s book, A Serious Call to a…

Dear Friends in Christ, Like many of you, I am shocked and deeply grieved over the murder of nine people at the historic Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Given the profound nature of this tragedy, I would urge Episcopal congregations in our Diocese to include these approaches as you publicly and privately respond:…