Blog

If anyone tells you it is easy to know what God wants you to do in some particular decision, and equally easy to do it—don’t believe them. It is often difficult to know God’s will; let me give you a case in point. You remember the Apostle Paul in the New Testament and how he made three missionary journeys. Let’s go with him on the second journey. He says we are going to visit the churches he organized on his first journey. And that we do, visiting Derbe and Lystra and Iconium and other places you never heard of.    And then we [...]

Go to Church? Me? More and more often as I talk with folks in various settings about faith, following Christ, and involvement in a local church I hear folks say they are Christians but don’t go to church. As so often is said, “I’m just a follower of Jesus.” Yet the Bible teaches, and I believe, that anyone who truly has been spiritually born again, who has laid aside the old person and now walks with Jesus on a daily basis, who honestly believes they are a part of the body of Christ will either be part of a local church, or [...]

A Morning at Bass Lake I had an interesting experience out at Bass Lake recently. There I was, unpacking my painting gear and getting ready to enjoy splashing paint. Plein air painting out in nature is a fast paced adventure for most artists since the sun keeps moving and the light keeps changing. But I find I don’t get a lot of work done on a painting since I stop and talk with most everybody who comes along. Take last week—as I say, there I was, ready to splash some paint and talk with folks. I guess that part of it is [...]

𝗔 𝗥𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝗼𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻It’s that time again—the Artist in Residence program in Blowing Rock at Edgewood Cottage is in full swing for the summer! Each week two really good artists will be displaying and selling their art. I will be in the cottage the week of June 29 - July 5.  My artist partner who will be showing her art is Barbara Capeletti, who lives in Florida when she isn’t at home in Banner Elk. Barb does marvelous watercolor art, and it is my delight to be with her this week. Both Barb and I are Christians and love to paint and [...]

Barney and Wine Kegs Do you know anybody named Barney? There is a Barney in the early church in the book of Acts. Actually his real name is Joseph; but he was such an encouraging man that his fellow church members got to calling him Barnabas, which means “Son of Encouragement.” And I’m sure that Barnabas got shortened to Barney. At least that’s what happened to my great-great uncle Barney, who was not quite all there due to being gassed as a soldier in WWI.   Anyhow, a couple Sundays ago while preaching on the story of Barnabas in Acts I asked my congregation [...]

The Sunday Zoo For the last couple of Sundays a new young couple has been attending our church. Not just on Sunday morning but also on Wednesday nights when she isn’t working at a local store. In conversation with them,  the young man shared that he has recently been feeling a need for church involvement. A feeling just out of the blue. It set me thinking. Thinking about the folks who fill the pews on Sunday mornings.    That reminded me of some of the characters I have told you about who have been in my congregations in twenty different pastorates in my decades [...]

The Hinge Time The little girl was very talkative, and indeed, bright beyond her years. I first met her when I talked with the church committee seeking an interim pastor for their church. Her father was a part of that committee, and after they and I had talked for while and the committee needed to huddle to make decisions on various aspects of the call, she was assigned to get my wife and me a coke and show us the sanctuary. We got the full tour of the church, including what our little guide called the “special” room, the baptistry. I think most [...]

Getting Folks Ready There’s nothing quite like a pastor’s life. As a pastor with a surgeon brother, I used to marvel at the fact that nobody questioned his work, because the ordinary patient didn’t think he had medical knowledge. I learned early on in the ministry that everybody is born a theologian; everybody has certain ideas about God, salvation, church, etc. etc. Being a pastor is both a challenging and great life, and you certainly have a fine seat to watch the passing parade. I often reflect on some of the humorous incidents in my decades as a pastor. Like the time [...]

Useful or Useless After several days of being iced in with the recent ice and snow event, I began to consider my options. A solid slab of ice over my driveway, and the “streets” in Huckleberry Knob sporting a layer of ice as well. Then came the 8 inches of snow on top of the ice. On the first day the snow plowing company couldn’t get into the Knob for the ice. Then the propane delivery truck tried its luck and got stranded crossways of the road. I began to think longingly about the old horse drawn road grader that was abandoned [...]

You Didn’t Play What? I’ll tell you a funny story if you promise not to tell him I told you. In College Avenue Baptist Church in Lenoir where I presently serve as interim pastor, there is a young fellow who is present most every Sunday named Madison Bumgarner. That name rings a bell for you who are baseball fans. Madison is a former professional baseball pitcher who retired a couple years ago. He played major league baseball for the San Francisco Giants (2009-2019) and Arizona Diamondbacks (2020-2023). He won three World Series championships (2010, 2012, 2014) and two Silver Slugger Awards (2014, [...]