Since the early weeks of March, we have been slowly regathering at Providence—first for worship together, then for indoor group meetings, Vacation Bible School, a church conference, and other opportunities for people to get reacquainted...
Read moreWell Done, Good and Faithful Servant
I am the son of a children’s minister. My mom served in that capacity for 20 years at First Baptist Church in Greensboro. She was good at what she did, advocated strongly for the place of children in the life of a thriving church, and still...
Read moreMy List of Joyful Things
The author of Ecclesiastes is famously jaded. He’s been there, done that, lived to tell about it, and is awfully hard to impress. Life is brief, he writes—and when it’s over, nobody knows f or sure what happens next. And so, as...
Read moreA Reconciling Community
So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation. Everything old has passed away—see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. 2...
Read moreRemembering the Grace Behind Us
“When your children ask their parents in time to come, ‘What do these stones mean?’ then you shall let your children know, ‘Israel crossed over the Jordan here on dry ground.” Joshua 4:21-22 Someone asked me...
Read moreGetting to the Other Side
Then I replied to them, “The God of heaven is the one who will give us success, and we His servants are going to start building.” Nehemiah 2:20 Do you remember where you were on March 8, 2020? I do. I was with 427 other members and friends of...
Read more“Providence Will” Keeps Moving Forward
I love the book of Nehemiah. It’s the story of what God can do when God’s people work together with a shared purpose and a common goal. For Nehemiah and his fellow Israelites, the task before them was rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem that the...
Read moreThe Power of the “Next” Note
Dave Brubeck made a jazz listener out of me—and, because Brubeck made a jazz listener out of me, I discovered the theological significance of the next note, which may be a helpful thing for us all to think about as we begin a new year. Not...
Read moreA Light in the Darkness
“When the time came to completion, God sent His Son …” Galatians 4:4 According to the way Christians in the church mark time, the season of Advent began on November 29. In a very real and profound sense, though, it feels like we have been...
Read moreKeep Doing What’s Right
So let us not grow weary of doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9 Will you join me in making a financial covenant to keep doing what’s right in 2021? The last two years I lived in Hertford...
Read moreWisely Waiting
Do not forsake wisdom and she will protect you. Love her, and she will watch over you. Proverbs 4:6 When will we start worshiping together again in the Sanctuary? March 8 was the last Sunday we gathered as a large congregation for worship in our...
Read moreHellos, Goodbyes, and God’s Faithful Presence
Having just taken my firstborn child to college to begin her freshman year, I am well aware right now of the mixed emotions that come with transitions. It’s exciting to move forward and it’s sad to say goodbye, with excitement and sadness both...
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