At long last, we are finally nearing the end of what has been a brutal slog of an election season that has offered a lot more heat than light, and a lot less substance and civility than this country deserves. It has, at times, felt like the civic...
Read moreThe Long Haul Commitment
So, a new year has begun. It’s about time. I suspect that, by 11:59pm on December 31st, most of us were glad to see the back of 2016. It was a tough year, in a lot of ways, especially here in Charlotte. I arrived here just in time for the tragic...
Read moreI Believe
On Sunday, May 21st, we will celebrate the 63rd birthday of Providence Baptist Church. This Anniversary Sunday will be my first one with you, and I am looking forward to it. Grateful people remember their shared history, as well as the...
Read moreThe Church’s Christ-Given Job Description
Jesus made it pretty clear to his disciples what he expected from them once he returned to heaven to sit at the right hand of God. He said, “Go and make disciples of all people everywhere, baptizing them and teaching them to obey everything that...
Read moreGathered Together . . . As It Is in Heaven
In their book, “Worship Together in Your Church as in Heaven,” Josh Davis and Nikki Lerner challenge readers on the discussion of worship. “Many times as we approach the subject of worship, we are asking the wrong questions. What kind of music do...
Read moreFinishing Strong, Beginning Well
Christians mark time in a peculiar way. We begin a new year at Advent just as the calendar year comes to an end. This juxtaposition of the sacred and secular puts us in the odd position, spiritually speaking, of both looking ahead and...
Read moreBetter Together
O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt His name together. Psalm 34:3 A congregation that can worship together should worship together. Since 1966, Providence has regularly held two Sunday worship services, a practice that began...
Read moreListening for a Change
O Master, let me not seek as much ... to be understood as to understand.From the “Prayer of St. Francis” Just about everyone these days agrees that our collective ability to talk constructively and civilly with one another...
Read moreLove Always
Frederick Buechner, esteemed writer, poet, and theologian said that “If we are to love our neighbors, before doing anything else we must see our neighbors. With our imagination as well as our eyes, that is to say like artists, we must see...
Read moreSelf Evident Truths
Racism is sin and black lives matter. Neither one of these convictions should be hard to grasp for people of faith who read the Bible and take Jesus seriously. If we believe, as the book of Genesis tells us, that God created all people in God’s...
Read moreThe “Best” Things
I hope you’re excited about the new year! I am—and not just because 2020 was … well … not great. New Years always offers us new hope and promise. But right now, I want you to take a moment to reflect on what’s happened in your life in the past...
Read moreProduction of Worship
Over the past year, we have been forced to think about worship in new ways. The things that we once considered necessary for proper adoration and edification have simply been impossible to do as a separated congregation … well, at least it...
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