Category: Blog

Below is an excerpt from a sermon that I preached this past Sunday. The seeds for this sermon were planted many years ago in my introductory preaching class! ———— Driving down the highway through rural North Carolina I looked out my passenger seat window: LINCOLN COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS painted the side of a yellow…

Below are a few excerpts from a sermon I preached this past Sunday at the Arlington Presbyterian Church: Do you believe that people really can change? As Christians, we say we value love, forgiveness, and reconciliation in the abstract. But we often shudder and turn away when the opportunity to live out our values is…

This past Sunday I participated in worship at the Georgetown Presbyterian Church. I donned my robe, processed with the clergy, and sat behind the pulpit. I normally lead worship at small churches as a guest pastor, where I juggle many responsibilities by myself and hope that nothing gets forgotten. But this time, I only spoke…

No, this post is not an ode to my bothers who are frequently annoyed by Grace. This is a reflection on catching myself ironically annoyed by the assurance of God’s grace. An essential element of Presbyterian worship is a time for corporate and personal confession. The entire church confesses our shared sins of neglecting our…

It has been an overwhelming fall for me, so I apologize that several months have passed without a post. I heard a moving sermon at the Georgetown Presbyterian Church the Sunday before Thanksgiving, where my mentor and friend, Dr. Camille Cook Howe, referenced Karl Barth’s assertion that gratitude follows grace. It sparked my curiosity. Karl…

A wise Jesuit told me that prayer is allowing God to love you. Of course, I have to note that as a Calvinist I know that God loves us regardless of what we allow (I’m confident that the Catholics agree with this too). But, this priest’s sentiment was well taken: through prayer we create the…

There are early signs of fall in Washington, D.C. The changing seasons always prompt both my mind and body to reflect. The first crisp breeze feels familiar to my body, and so my mind travels back to early fall days of years past. Last fall was particularly difficult for me, so the early signs this…

Ignatian Spirituality is the heartbeat of life at Georgetown. I knew about this tradition intellectually, but I’ve experienced the prayer practices of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) in profound ways over the last 9 months. Saint Ignatius of Loyola is considered the founder of the Jesuit order, although he would resist this framing. St.…

I was in New York City this past weekend and attended church at Fifth Avenue Presbyterian, where the reading was Paul’s conversion story from Acts 9. I know about the blinding light on the road to Damascus, but I hadn’t heard the story in a long time. When I think of Paul’s conversion story I…

I was a guest preacher at a church in D.C. this past Sunday, which mean I had the pleasure of leading a children’s sermon. I love the challenge of making my message relevant to the children of the church. I asked the children what it would be like if we had glasses that let us…