We were about to make the climb to Clingman’s Dome. At 6,643 feet, the Dome is the highest point in the Great Smoky Mountains and a favorite of hikers. There’s a steep half-mile long paved path from the parking area to the top, but the observation tower at the summit [READ MORE]

Originally preached September 22, 2002 Take note that some illustrations are outdated Text: Matthew 20:1-16 I had a scary dream the other night. Dreamed that I died and went to heaven. Well, that wasn’t the scary part. What was scary is what happened there at the pearly gates. St. Peter [READ MORE]

I'm proud to be one of the half-billion people who received the free U2 album "Songs of Innocence." The album is a gift from Apple to all 500 million iTunes users. Though I was not real familiar with the music of U2, I have long admired Bono, the famous face [READ MORE]

Originally Preached on September 15, 2002 Text: Matthew 18:21-35  One of the great heroes in my life was a man whose influence and success extended far out into American society simply by way of the catchy television commercials in which he starred. His name was Frank Perdue – the chicken guy [READ MORE]

A Reflection on the Narrative Lectionary text for September 7th I was standing at the door, greeting folks leaving the worship service. A little boy came along clutching a crumpled sheet of orange construction paper. "What do you have there?" I asked. He held the wrinkled paper out to me. I [READ MORE]

Originally Preached September 1, 2002 Text: Matthew 18:15-20 Well, I finally caught him. The big one that - for so many years - kept getting away. My son Peter and I were down the lake a ways, flipping purple-colored, grape-flavored plastic worms into some weed patches. All of a sudden, this [READ MORE]

Originally Preached August 28, 2005 (Some illustrations are obviously out of date, but you can think of some current ones) Text: Matthew 16:21-28 This has not been a good week for Jesus. On Monday, Pat Robertson, the head of the Christian Broadcasting Network and host of the popular 700 Club, called for the [READ MORE]

The best place to look for God is not in the Bible. Not in the Church. Not in any religion. Not even in your heart. The best place to look for God is UP! Up into the heavens. "The heavens are telling the glory of God," proclaims Psalm 19.1. Are [READ MORE]

Originally Preached August 14, 2005 Text: Matthew 15:21-28 When I was a child, I loved playing “Connect The Dots.” It was all a part of learning to sequence numbers from 1 to whatever, and learning to draw lines, and learning to discern whole images out of background noise. What a miracle [READ MORE]