Ash Wednesday

February 23, 2023.Reading time 9 minutes.

A year ago Ash Wednesday… It is about this time of night(1) I have not come home from church, but instead I am sitting alone in Roberts Forest at KPUMC. The fire pit is dying down. (This is an actual picture….) I’m praying a lot. I’m playing guitar. And I’m doing some pretty intense crying. […]

The God’s Honest Truth About “Revival”

February 16, 2023.Reading time 19 minutes.

It’s likely that mainline United Methodists are only vaguely aware of the “revival” happening at United Methodist-adjacent Asbury College. But it’s an event that evangelicals across denominational lines can’t stop talking about, and so I’ll jump in a bit today. Let me start with my primary ending point: If “revivals” are not a part of […]

Cody McMahan

January 30, 2023.Reading time 7 minutes.

Cody McMahan died Saturday. I had the privilege of knowing Cody for perhaps 15-20 years….I believe I’ve lost count. I believe I first met him when Cody was still a member of Greenland Hills UMC. He later joined Northaven, and still later started dating and eventually married Mike House. One of the high honors of […]

Your Inner Good Samaritan

July 11, 2022.Reading time 20 minutes.

“AND…WHO AM I?” This is the unspoken question the religious lawyer quizzing Jesus never asks. I really wish he had. Because I need the answer to this question, and so do you. I’m talking about the Parable of the Good Samaritan. Every time I preach on that parable —as happened yesterday— I’m struck by a […]

I am going down with the ship.

June 25, 2022.Reading time 9 minutes.

“I am going down with the ship.” I can’t speak for everyone. I can only speak for me. I can’t fault any other choice anyone else might make.All I am saying is: If Texas goes down, I’m going down with it.To the bitter end. I’m here to stay and I’m ready to fight. Ever since […]

White American Christianity’s Tribal Flaw

June 17, 2022.Reading time 15 minutes.

“Indeed, an hour is coming when those who kill you will think that by doing so they are offering worship to God.”— John 16:2 “When your icon of the enemy is completeyou will be able to kill without guilt,slaughter without shame.The thing you destroy will have becomemerely an enemy of God, an impedimentto the sacred […]

Open Letter To Our Pride Flag Vandal

June 8, 2022.Reading time 3 minutes.

To the Pride Flag Vandal, I don’t know who you are. I don’t know your motivations. I don’t know why you chose to cut down our KPUMC Pride Flag from the flagpole on our property. But I thought I’d write you a short note today. Please know that we, the members and staff of Kessler […]

What Divorce Professionals Can Teach the UMC

June 7, 2022.Reading time 18 minutes.

For some years, I’ve been telling you I sensed a “split” was coming in the UMC, but that I couldn’t predict just how that would happen. Ideally, a split would be affected by an orderly process, authorized by the General Conference. But, as all Methodists know, that meeting is again delayed Nature abhors a vacuum, […]

Straightsplaining in the UMC

February 21, 2019.Reading time 14 minutes.

For three years, the United Methodist Church has been engaged in a denomination-wide process of “straightsplaining” to the LGBTQ community. Actually, you could make a strong case that we’ve been straightsplaining since 1972. What is “straightsplaining?” Go ahead, Google it. It’s exactly what you think it is. It’s the rainbow flag community’s version of “Mansplaining.” […]

Message To General Conference Delegates

May 2, 2016.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Friends, This blog is a message to delegates to the upcoming United Methodist General Conference. If you are a delegate, I hope you’ll watch it. If you know a delegate, I hope you’ll forward it to them. The primary message is this: “Restructuring” or “Reframing” will not help solve the intractable conflict over LGBT issues […]