What Cost Mercy? (James 2: 1-17) My friend Richard Kennedy was fond of saying that the milk of human kindness was not to be found in the Smith County courthouse. Richard, like me, had at one time been an assistant district attorney for the same elected prosecutor who operated under the belief that if [...]
All Talk and No Action (James 1: 17-27) One of my most pious Facebook friends just posted a meme on Facebook that said: “We are living in the last days! You aren’t obligated to believe, but I’m obligated to tell you: Jesus is coming back, Amen if you believe.” Well, she got 27 comments [...]
Life is Precious Life is precious, it is fragile, and none of us knows how long our life may last. “Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time…” Paul is encouraging us to be careful and wise about how we live our life. Hebrews [...]
Easier Said Than Done (Ephesians 4: 25-5:2) As I’ve mentioned in previous sermons, my time as your Jefferson County Drug Court Prosecutor was probably one of the most impactful and rewarding jobs of my career in the law beginning as a police officer and then transitioning to an attorney who not only represented people [...]
Ethical Christianity (Ephesians 4: 1-16) When I got into law school, we were required to take a class on Professional Responsibility which dealt with the issues of being an ethical lawyer. That was kind of a shock to my system as I naively assumed that all lawyers were ethical. I mean, as a police [...]
A House Divided (Ephesians 2: 11-22) On June 16, 1858, senatorial candidate Abraham Lincoln gave his famous House Divided Speech. He had just accepted the nomination of his party to become their candidate for the United States Senate. His address closed the convention and he said, in part: A house divided against itself, cannot [...]
The Altogether Christian (Ephesians 1: 3-14) During our lifetimes we’ve all known people who seemed unflappable, self-assured, confident, and fearless in the face of a disaster, crisis, or hard times. They may not have been a leader, or wealthy by society’s standards, or a pillar of the community, but they were somebody you could [...]
(Mark 6: 1-13) It was a little over eight years ago as I was finishing up my last Certified Lay Ministry class when our District Superintendent Daniel Foster approached me and said: “I think you’re ready.” Ready for what I asked? “Ready for your own church” he replied. I recovered quickly and asked where, [...]
The Work of Grace 2 Corinthians 8:7-15 Our God is a generous God, and generosity is one of the marks of God’s People. What do I mean by generosity? The dictionary defines “generosity” as “liberality in giving or willingness to give” (American Heritage Dictionary) Now you might be thinking that this is starting out sounding a lot like a stewardship [...]