by Greg | Jan 12, 2013 | Blog Posts
Our day began with the usual wake-up call at 6 and I am happy to report I have now enjoyed two good night’s of sleep. After breakfast we loaded the bus and departed Galilee for good, heading south with Jerusalem as our ultimate destination. Our guide, Nadar, is outstanding. He is a Syrian Orthodox and full of good humor and important knowledge. He was our guide last time the last time our church toured the Holy Land and he has not disappointed me yet. His favorite line as we depart the bus for each site is: “Chop, chop; shake a leg; let’s get going!” Our drive was about 2 1/2 hours which was largely below sea level as we journeyed down the Jordan Valley. The geography changed dramatically from vibrant green hills and rich vegetation to stark, arid land. The wilderness, or desert as it can be translated in the Bible is a rough and rugged environment. Yet it was out of this same wilderness that Moses was called, Israel was led and fed and John the Baptist preached. The desert was where Jesus was tempted and so is a place of holy happenings and wanderings. We made one pit stop at an interesting roadside convenience store/tourist attraction. Along with bathroom breaks, others took advantage of new and exotic snacks and delicious coffee. So far no one has taken the opportunity to ride a camel but I suspect this will happen before we head back home. . We approached Jerusalem and were greeted by remnants of snow! While Georgia is going through a warm spell Jerusalem was brought to...
by Greg | Jan 11, 2013 | Blog Posts
Last night I was tickled to see that the hummus bar was back. It is just that delicious that I spend time and space writing about it. I am thinking about recreating something similar for our Wednesday night selection. Friday morning began with a wake up call at 6, breakfast at 7 and on the bus for Cana at 8. Cana is a rather congested town dedicated in part to celebrate the first miracle of Jesus – turning water into wine at a wedding. The village of Cana is only mentioned in the Gospel of John. The problem is that scholars do not agree as to whether this is the exact location of the original Cana. The Romans destroyed the original Cana during the great Jewish revolt around 66 AD. The Cana we visited today was one of three probable locations. Nonetheless it serves as an important place to reflect on the extravagance of God through this first miracle as well as the reach of God through the healing of the royal official’s son. We toured through the Church of the Wedding commemorating this first miracle. We boarded the bus and traveled 15 minutes to the City of Nazareth. During the time of Jesus Nazareth was nothing more than a small, isolated village with just over 400 residences. It was religiously and politically unimportant, which is striking when we consider the world-wide impact Jesus has made in the lives of billions. Today Nazareth bears a marked contrast to its former times. Densely populated, it is shared by Muslims and Christian Arabs. Our first visit was to St. Gabriel’s Church,...
by Greg | Jan 10, 2013 | Blog Posts
The good news is that I had a solid 4 ½ hours sleep last night, which is not so bad when you factor in that there is a seven hour difference between Tiberius and Augusta. The bad news is that I fell asleep at 8 pm and I awoke at 12:30 AM – a full four hours ahead of schedule! I am writing and reading in the hotel lobby which overlooks the Sea of Galilee. Even though it is nearly four in the morning here there are about a half a dozen young adults still partying hard mixing their Hebrew with English vulgarity (I think they are trying to impress me). We are staying in the same hotel as our group from 2010. The Sea of Galilee is surrounded by gently rolling hills and is dotted by fisherman plying their trade according to 21st century methods! Driving in yesterday we got to appreciate the verdant and lush Jezreel Valley with Mt. Carmel overlooking us. Mt. Carmel is mentioned throughout the Bible but one particularly interesting story is found in 1 Kings 18. Israel was in a drought and it was lifted at Elijah’s word. Drought was a sign of God’s curse and rain is a sign of God’s blessing. If rain is a sign of blessing then God is really blessing the Holy Land on this trip! Breakfast included a variety of yogurts, cheeses, eggs, breads and fish. Since most places are kosher, the dietary restrictions prevent serving dairy products with meat. Fish is the exception (which I still do not understand after all these years). There were plenty...
by Greg | Jan 9, 2013 | Blog Posts
Having finished packing my luggage only hours before departure, one of my last things to do is to sit down and write this article. From January 8th to January 17th I will be touring the “Holy Land” along with 25 other members and friends of First Baptist Church of Augusta. This will be my third tour of Israel but for most in our group it will be their first. For all of us it will be an opportunity to experience the land where the Bible comes alive as we tour such notable places as Bethlehem, Nazareth, Capernaum, the Sea of Galilee and of course Jerusalem. Sacred places. One does not need to travel to the other side of the world, however, to experience sacred places. While it is quite moving to visit the places where Jesus walked and taught and served, places made sacred are not exclusively reserved for the footsteps of Jesus. For Henry David Thoreau, it was a small cabin on the edge of Walden. For the relatively small number of Creek Indians it was a rock formation in the shape of an eagle in middle Georgia. For the new parents it is the sterile enclosure of a delivery room where they saw their newborn for the first time. Sacred space. We do not always name our memorable points as sacred, but that is what they are – sacred, holy. It may be your grandmother’s kitchen thick with the smell of biscuits out of the oven and coffee whisping in the air. It may be a favorite oak tree from the family home place where you once...
by Greg | Jan 3, 2013 | Blog Posts
Each year I try to keep a list of what I have read. Some books I would eargerly read again and other I probably should have never started. Nevertheless, dear reader, I pass along my reading list from 2012 on to you – the good, the not so good, and the ones you need to start now! Please share with me notable books you have read this past year. Biography Some of the People Who Ate My Barbeque Didn’t Vote for Me: The Life of Georgia Governor Marvin Griffin, by Scott E. Buchanan A Titanic Love Story: Ida and Isidor Straus, by June Hall McCash The Autobiography of Malcolm X, by Malcolm X and Alex Haley Poetry A Thousand Mornings, by Mary Oliver Non-Fiction Snow Leopard, by Peter Matthiessen AWOL on the Appalachian Trail, by David Miller Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History, by S. C. Gwynne The Most Human, Human: What Artificial Intelligence tells us About Being Alive, by Brian Christian Packing for Mars, by Mary Roach Why Does the World Exist? An Existential Detective Story, by Jim Holt Religion Christianity After Religion, Diana Butler Bass Is God a Christian?, by Kirby Godsey What’s The Least I can Believe and Still be a Christian? A Guide to What Matters Most, Martin Thielen Lost and Found, by Ed Stetzer Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, Resurrection and the Mission of the Church, by N.T. Wright Spirituality/Christian Life Prayers for a Privileged People, Walter Brueggemann Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals, by Shane...
by Greg | Dec 19, 2012 | Blog Posts
Did any of you plan to go out on Christmas Eve and shop? I do! It is more or less an annual event for me. Sometimes I am doing last minute shopping and sometimes I am scouting for a deal. Most years I just like to go out among the crowd, and soak it in. In less than a week it will all be over, won’t it? Sure, some of you will make it to a New Years Eve party, but most of the real celebrations come to an end pretty soon. This is a season of over-indulgence, at least it is for me. I spend more money than any other time of the year; I eat more food, especially the wrong kind of foods, than any other time of the year; and I am attending more special events, parties, and services than any other time of the year. Over indulgence! Now before your close your eyes and brace yourself for yet another tirade on conspicuous consumption and our superficial excesses, relax. I am not going there in this article. In fact, I want us to linger just a little bit longer at this table of over-indulgence before the diets begin and the savings are recovered and the resolutions to do better are made. Over-indulgence; you know it can be a very lovely word. Is that not the very nature of God as we remember Jesus, the very incarnation of God? This birth is a sacred marking of the over-indulgence of God. God has done and is doing something remarkably extravagant, lavishing Holy love upon all people. The messengers...
by Greg | Dec 12, 2012 | Blog Posts
I read that line recently in an Advent devotional and it set me to thinking (yes, I know the mind can be dangerous when imagination takes over). Fear, doubt, and despair have a way of dominating our narratives, don’t they? It is easier to believe in destruction rather than life; annihilation rather than hope; condemnation rather than salvation. Bad news seems to be especially bad this time of year. When I was a teenager I remember attending an evangelistic meeting where the speaker worked the crowd over sowing seeds of doubt in our young, impressionable minds that perhaps our baptism wasn’t good enough; our confessions were not truthful enough; our salvation not sure enough. “Should I walk down this aisle, again?” Thanks be to God for both a solid heritage of biblical teaching and steadfast mentors who walked alongside me to keep me rooted in God’s eternal good news. Once saved barely saved? Hmph. God’s good news is deep and abiding and there is nothing tenacious about it. When the angels announced “Glory to God in the highest,” they earlier claimed, “I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people.” (Luke 2:10) The messengers of God proclaimed a great Gift and the response of those shepherds was not to fearfully berate others into receiving God’s generosity. The Gospel of Luke tells us that the Shepherd’s responded: “glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen…” (Luke 2:20) We know about bad news. We know about despair. It is an easy thing to believe in fear. We live it, see it and experience it...
by Greg | Nov 27, 2012 | Blog Posts
I have yet to make my trek up to the attic to fetch the 378 or so boxes of lights, ornaments, garland, glitter, sleigh, nativity sets and all other things pertaining to Christmas, but I best get started. Advent begins this Sunday. Our church traditionally marks the beginning of the Advent season with the Hanging of the Green service. Combining all the morning worship services we gather in our sanctuary to ritually decorate our church, consecrating all things over into the glory and celebration of the Christ Child. Notice I use the singular “Green” and not “Greens.” For years I had referred to this service where we “green” or decorate the church in worship as the Hanging of the Greens. Some member kindly chided me and said that the correct word is “green” not “greens.” “Greens,” he went on to say “refer to collards, mustards and turnips.” Personally I like greens and I will soon be picking up a mess for my New Years feast. I am embarrassed to admit that I was too late in planting them for my winter garden, which means I may lose status among my kin. Collards and mustards would make for fine decorations and certainly they would make our beautiful sanctuary unique. Back to the question: Is it green or greens? Like many answers we solicit in life, it depends on who you ask. Many churches in our area use both terms and according to the books I have on liturgy both are acceptable. So the answer to the question is “Green” and “Greens.” Here is the good news: it really doesn’t matter....
by Greg | Nov 7, 2012 | Blog Posts
…the election. Most of you dear readers probably share with me a sense of relief that we are through with nasty campaigning, partisan sniping, and divisive speech. At least I hope all of this is behind us. When I woke up the morning after the election I checked Facebook for messages and comments. I wish I had not. Folks really should think before making comments on the internet because there were some mean and ugly things being said about elected officials, neighbors, and friends who voted one way or another. Not all of the entries were political. I had friends and acquaintances who are dealing with sickness, death or loss of some other kind that a voting booth will not remedy. When I went to bed the night before the election it was long before any predictions or announcements were made on who would be our next president (or for that matter congressional representative, senator, etc.). I slept well. It was not because I was confident or apathetic. I just knew that when I went to bed I needed to follow Jesus and when I woke up I still needed to follow Jesus. Maybe I slept well out of ignorance. Maybe I slept well out of perspective knowing that each night many are dealing with personal challenges far more consequential than the outcome of election. It really does not matter. I went to bed, slept, and by the grace of God woke up to another day. I have to admit that I am sad for our nation, but not because of the winners and losers who campaigned for so...
by Greg | Oct 31, 2012 | Blog Posts
For the last two or so years (maybe not quite that long) we have housed a Phodopus, more commonly known as a “dwarf hamster,” or as Amy would call it, a rat. Aaron just called him “Bro.” Bro was his idea, which probably comes as no surprise. He bought this nocturnal rodent with money he was supposed to use for school lunches. Speaking of nocturnal, Bro loved to exercise on his wheel starting at, say, 10 PM and would stay at it until about 5 or 6 AM. Each night I was lulled into sleep with the turns of the rat wheel and each morning it was still spinning to greet me for the day. Then it happened. A day or so passed and I did not hear the wheel turn. Ah, a peaceful evening. By the next night I suggested to Aaron that it was quiet, unusually so, from Bro’s abode. Upon further inspection we both discovered that “Bro was no mo.” Since there seemed to be an unwritten but mutually assumed advanced directive that discouraged “extraordinary life-saving measures,” both boys (by now Clark was involved in the grieving process) commenced with funeral proceedings. This included the obligatory digging of the grave and preparing the headstone while accompanied by selections from the soundtrack “O Brother Where Art Thou.” If you think I am making any of this up I will gladly direct you to the gravesite where you can pay your respects to the earthly remains of the understated and brief life of Bro, a rodent of rodents. Perhaps Bro’s untimely passing – although I have no idea...
by Greg | Oct 24, 2012 | Blog Posts
This past week Amy and I slipped away for a few days to go camping in the Smoky Mountains. Leaves were in their full fall glory and everywhere we turned were reminders of autumnal beauty. We love the mountains even though we did not grow up in the mountains. Neither did our parents or their parents or their parents. We both hail from Middle Georgia environs surrounded by gentle, rolling hills where the closest thing to a mountain was the fire ant mounds. Yet each time we lose ourselves “up there in the hills” and huddle around a campfire we feel a certain reconnection with our past. Many of Amy’s best childhood memories are of family camping trips. My grandparents rarely left the dairy, but the two or so times I remember them traveling it was to head to the mountains. One time it included taking my brothers, sister and me to see those mountains for the first time. Every time we are up in mountain territory – in a tent, on a trail, a hotel room, or just riding along the winding highway – we feel a reconnection, a belonging as if we have always been there. Deep within every one of us is the need to belong. Young children take pride in belonging to their parents; adolescents carve out new identities and belong to their friends; emerging into adulthood there is the need to belong to independent ideas and convictions; and it is not uncommon that as we grow older in our adulthood we seek out our past recovering what and who we are and to whom...
by Greg | Oct 4, 2012 | Blog Posts
In this emerging era of social media, particularly Facebook, it is very easy to be a fan. For the uninformed, on Facebook one is frequently asked to be a fan of most anything and anyone that makes a request. Company’s like Amazon.com and Target will request that you “become a fan.” One can be a fan of a celebrity or a politician or a political cause or political party. Our church has a page on Facebook and we are constantly soliciting others to become a fan of FBC Augusta. The idea is to generate as many fans as possible because that helps get your message out and, after all, the one with the most fans wins, right? Here is the thing about being a fan: it requires absolutely no commitment. None whatsoever. Whether one is a fan on Facebook, or a fan for a favorite team, being a fan requires nothing. In fact, sometimes a fan is just part of a fad. When I was a kid I loved the Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburg Steelers. One Christmas I received one of those cheap athletic jackets with the colors and logo of the Steelers. I watched them a bit on television, but I was not particularly devoted. I just liked the idea of being a fan. That phase lasted maybe a season or two and then I moved on to other things. Have you ever heard of the phrase “fair weathered fan”? It refers to fans who look fully engaged and devoted when the team is winning, but let them go through a losing streak and they are absent in...
by Greg | Sep 20, 2012 | Blog Posts
This past Father’s Day I was gifted, to my agrarian delight, with a Lemon Tree. I have grown up around peach trees, pear trees and apple trees. I know a little about figs, plums and blackberries. Growing lemons is something completely new to me. I did a little reading on the subject of lemon trees, repotted my cherished plant, and counted ten small but growing green orbs destined to be lemons that will brighten our future. In the ensuing months several of the fruit did not make it due to deer who evidently like a little lemon with their tomatoes. Still I had several more on limb. One in particular had gotten fat and ready for the picking. Weeks past and it remained green. I worried that it would turn brown before yellow. While it stayed green my patience was getting about thin. All of my family speculated and advised. The group consensus was that this was no lemon tree, but a lime in lemon clothing. Further reading revealed that the foliage of a lemon and a lime was practically indistinguishable. Figuring the matter settled, I hastily plucked my juicy lime before varmints or time rendered it lost, and brought it into the kitchen. I had no edible plans for my solitary lime. It was just joy enough in knowing I had saved it from certain demise. Slicing into it, first by smell and next by sight, I realized my mistake. This was no lime in lemon’s clothing. It was a lemon, still green, still waiting to let nature do its work, but apparently nature’s lesser evolved creature (yours...
by Greg | Aug 23, 2012 | Blog Posts
For a hypocritcal sermon, click this link:...
by Greg | Aug 22, 2012 | Blog Posts
It was a good tent. If memory serves correct we bought it when Clark was a baby, if not a bit earlier. This means it is somewhere around 20 years old. It is a dome tent that advertisers claimed would accommodate four, but soon after Aaron entered the picture we realized it was going to be too small for all four of us to sleep in comfortably. Still, we used it camping through the years because it was easy to set up. As the boys grew larger and longer we bought a second tent to allow for extra space and parental privacy. We have other tents: small backpacking tents, a newer dome tent, and a large cabin tent (sleeps six!), but this one old tent has staying power. In the last few years I would throw this tent in the back of my car whenever I would go camping but was not planning to backpack. It has held up quite well on a foot of snow with temperatures in the single digits. It has been of great service along a stretch of lonely beach on Little Tybee. It was even of service last fall when we took the high school juniors and seniors camping (I think it was leaking then too). It was a good tent. Amy used it last week when she headed up to the Great Smoky Mountains and camped for a few days all by herself. I was able to get away and join her for just one night, but had to head back the next day and leave the camping for her to carry on...
by Greg | Aug 8, 2012 | Blog Posts
Yesterday without much fanfare and just a bit of sulking, we experienced our very last first. It was the very last first day of school for the family. Aaron, our youngest, is now a senior and so the rituals of closing a summer with the first day of school are now over. I baked cinnamon rolls, even though he did not want one, and we snapped pictures, even though he is “too old” for such nonsense. Traditions and rituals are hard to break; we have been doing this, after all, for a total of fifteen years. Once you become a parent the seasons marked by school take on a heightened significance. I remember holding his hand walking with him to his kindergarten class and worried and thinking to myself, “This school is too big for my small son.” What I did not know is that he seems too big for any school to contain his dreams and ambitions. The school bus no longer stops for him because he drives to school. It has been years since he brought home a drawing to post on the refrigerator. I am no longer invited to eat lunch with him in the cafeteria. There have been many “last firsts” along the way; I just did not always know it or recognize it. This is the way of life. Things come and move and have their being and then are no more. Life cannot be frozen or halted. Children grow up; parents get old; employment changes; friends move and the seasons unfold. Growing involves shedding or losing things along the way. We were never...
by Greg | Aug 1, 2012 | Blog Posts
Come on…admit it…we have all nodded off in church. Blame it on a lack of sleep; a stressful week; or just that you cannot quite connect with the preacher who is trying to articulate the nihilistic culpability of Pilate in light of modern consumeristic tendencies…see, you are doing it again! Have you ever nodded off to the point your head lobbed one way, jerking you awake and then you glance around wondering who saw you? Remember, we televise every Sunday! It is okay to admit it – church can be boring. It has had that reputation for a long, long time. It did not start with me. In the Bible there is this story found in Acts 20:7-12, about a young man named Eutychus, whose name means “good fortune.” I am guessing he did not feel so fortunate at the time. Eutychus was attending “church service” on a Sunday evening. The guest preacher (Paul) just did not know when to stop. I had a lady in my last church who would sometimes criticize a speaker, (never me of course) by saying, “The fellow missed several good exits.” Anyway, Eutychus nodded off during the service. Usually that is not a problem except that he was sitting on a window sill three stories above ground. He fell to his death, but Paul said do not worry, Eutychus will be fine. Sure enough, Eutychus’ life was restored, and Paul kept preaching until sunrise. You have to admit, if that ever happened at our church we would not have a problem packing the pews. Church can be boring and some may wonder if Church matters...
by Greg | Jul 25, 2012 | Blog Posts
I have to be honest; church has not always mattered to me: As a teenager church did not matter much when it came to my dating life, unless there was a pretty girl in the youth group. Amy was and still is a pretty girl, but she was not in my youth group. Church did not matter as much as my first car – a 1969 Ford Mustang Fastback that I bought for a $1,000 and added an 8-track tape player so that I could listen to my Marvin Gaye tapes. (see previous point) Church did not matter in terms of the clothes I wore. Can you just imagine what the Baptist fashion scene was like in the early 80’s? Church did not matter when something better came along and my car was drivable (see second point). Even though I am a pastor, and more to the point I am the pastor of this great congregation, I must confess that church has not always mattered to me. Somewhere along my “growing up” church began to matter. Church mattered when I realized that life is more than pretty girls, cars, and yes, the music of Marvin Gaye. Church mattered when I began searching for meaning. Church mattered when I knew I wanted to make a difference in the world. Church mattered when I needed transcendence and mystery. Church mattered when I discovered relationships that would change my life for the rest of my life. I still believe deeply that church does matter. Does church matter to you? I would assume it does or you would not be reading this blog....
by Greg | Jun 27, 2012 | Blog Posts
My nose is not much in terms of looks, which is too bad since it is more or less the center of my face. It has been broken twice – once when I was six and fell face first from a silo and again when I was a teenager while playing football. It is a bit crooked, wide, and, although you cannot see it, there is a deviated septum that limits my inhalations. This seems like a good reason to get a nose job. On the other hand, I like my nose. It goes with me everywhere. Nonetheless, tomorrow morning I am getting a nose job. Well, sort of. I am having just a smidgen lopped off due to too much time in the sun. This is probably more than you wanted to know but when you see me donning bandages across my face you will have the rest of the story. Not only is it a good time for a nose job, but it seems like an equally good time to take a vacation. This will allow my nose some time to recuperate. Come to think of it, I think the rest of me is looking forward to a bit of down time with my family and friends. For the last decade or so we have traveled back to St. George for our beach time. This year we are watching weather reports because it has been pummeled by a tropical storm. Every year there is always some challenge. One year the little Gulf Island was inundated with mosquitoes. Then there was the year jelly fish saturated the surf....
by Greg | Jun 13, 2012 | Blog Posts
The last few years my reputation as a farmer has suffered. I have planted and labored in the fields only to find the deer and other varmints beating me to the harvest or droughts beating down my plants or insects beating down my hopes. It is enough to make a preacher…well, you understand. It is not like I have flowing pastures of excess to watch over. Really it is just a couple of small raised beds, and three containers. Therefore every squash counts and every tomato is special. Perhaps my vigilance this year paid off. Maybe it was the “nasty” spray I used that repels deer, varmints, traveling evangelists and my wife from entering the back yard. Whatever the reason I am happy to report that today there are Better Boys among us – nice, ripe, fat, juicy tomatoes that are making their way to the supper table. Some say the summer begins when school ends for the year. Others remark that it does not really begin until the neighborhood pool is open. Still others mark the beginning of summer with Memorial Day, while technically it does not arrive until Summer Solstice. For me summer begins with the first ripe tomato. All gardening involves hope and trust. At some point you do all you can then you have to trust to the earth what you have planted and hope that it will come to fruition. Many times it ends in disappointment and some times it exceeds expectations. I love that line from Jesus when he compares the Kingdom of God to someone who goes out and plants seeds “…and...
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