Your Bag of Wedges: A Commencement Address
I was invited by President Beck Taylor to give the afternoon Commencement Address for Samford University’s winter graduation on Saturday,
The Ringer
A gyrating Salvation Army bellringer fresh off a successful run at Little Caesar’s sidewalk guards the doorway to the Stone
Michael Lewis’ Premonition: A Cautionary Tale
REVIEW of Michael Lewis, The Premonition: A Pandemic Story W. W. Norton & Company (May 4, 2021). After retirement I
A Prayer for Friends Who Have Lost Loved Ones
Life in its beginning, life at the end, all is pure and true gift beautiful and real. That there can
Remembering 9/11
The Watchers Gary Allison Furr. September 11, 2020 I wasn’t on a plane, or a family member receiving frantic calls,
Faith and Vaccines
This week I remembered a conversation I had with a woman many years ago. I had gone to teach a
Ranting the Deadly Sins
My friend LaMon Brown reminded me of this quote from a book i read many times and loved over the
Reframing to Blessings
When I first began to preach as a pastor it was in small churches in Central Texas. They were mostly
Turning the Page to a New Day
Some people can look at the big picture and take it in. Others of us have to plant down on
When You Aren’t Sure
I got the Phizer vaccine. Both shots. Felt a little bad half of one day after the second shot and
Tom Dooley
Some years back Vickie and I vacationed near Boone, NC, home of Doc Watson. We stayed in a place with
Setting the Prisoner Free…
I have come to know Hector Guadalupe through our daughter, first as a cause she believed in and now as
Stay Connected
Every Mother’s Day for the last dozen years of my ministry as a pastor, we’d combine Mother’s Day with Graduate
In the Garden
“And He walks with me, and He talks with me, and He tells me I am His own. and the
Prayer for a Requiem
I am grateful that I have served with three wonderful worship leaders over the twenty-seven years at Vestavia Hills Baptist
Mother and Son
Jaroslav Pelikan’s marvelous book Jesus Through the Centuries takes a sojourn through the vast and complex history of the interpretations
Wobbling On the High Wire
Holy Week has always been special for me as a Christian and pastor. Frankly, in the church year it always
The King of Dynamite
A young boy was born in Sweden in 1833, the son of an engineer, fourth of eight children. The boy
Returning
Location, real estate people tell us, is everything. To be DIS-located is, then, a threat. When things come apart, our
It Came Upon a Midnight Clear
I confess, I have now been part of a ukelele flash mob, back when mobbing was not a public health
Holiday Songs
Mark and I are finished with our album. I’ll post the release this week upcoming. One of the songs on
From Here to Okay
This song speaks for itself. It came to me during the summer. The hook was a quote from a news
New Songs Out
At long last, the new CD, FLAT TIRE ON MEMORY LANE is to be released shortly. I’m posting some of
Living Through Exile
I wrote this to our church back at the beginning of April. I hoped, like all of us, that we’d
Safe Distances
It’s not social distancing. It’s just “safe distance.” One of our older ladies’ classes met with me Tuesday morning in
What Can We Say?
Irony contains great truth—that America could be demonstrating its oldest pain so openly on the day celebrating Christian barrier-breaking contains a word from the Lord for us. Deeds, not words.
Two Poems for the Pan*****
So, two more little poems. I can’t help it. They just pop out. Whether they spread uncontrollably is, well, not up to me. Maybe a smile amid the little glimmers of loss that intrude on the day.
After Easter…
Sometime I will have to gather my thoughts about this breathtaking revolution that has been forced on us in the
The Grief Among Us
My daughter is an executive coach and a counselor and sent me an article this week in the Harvard
A Prayer Amid the Epidemic
Prayer and blessing given at the Chamber of Commerce monthly meeting, Vestavia Hills, Alabama, March 10, 2020, by Dr. Gary
Remembering Iva Jewel Tucker
Those of us who are pastors consider ourselves called into ministry, but sometimes you realize what a wonderful privilege it
A Guitar for Christmas
I have a modest guitar collection if you compare to some. Each instrument I have and play, though, is as
Christmas Time Is Coming
“Christmas TIme’s a-Comin’”is the name of a bluegrass Christmas song. When I was playing a lot more often than these
Helping Alabama’s Children
Alabama Coalition for Healthy Mothers and Children This Giving Tuesday, consider making a small donation to help mothers and children
Grandfather Hopes
This is a pretty serious moment in our country and the world, for so many reasons. Most of us are
A Prayer for Simplicity
Invocation and blessing offered at the October 8, 2019 meeting of the Vestavia Hills Chamber of Commerce by Dr. Gary
Four Echoes of the Divine
From Sunday’s Sermon “In his book Simply Christian NT Wright says there are four traces of the call of God
Staying Put
A friend asked me to reflect on what you learn by staying in one place for twenty five years.
Grace
I live in the vulnerability of my need for grace. Grace I ought to give, grace I hope someone else
D-Day
I lived my third-grade year in Clarksville, Tennessee, an army town dominated then by the presence of Fort Campbell, Kentucky
The Rememberers– for Mothers’ Day
Mothers Day is a happy day, and also a sad one for many. Mothers are both biological and spiritual. They
Rachel Held Evans’ Questions
The passing of Rachel Held Evans unleashed a surprising wave of grief to some. But to readers in the Christian
Someplace Green
My friend Pat Terry is one of my favorite singer-songwriters, ever. After a long and successful career in contemporary Christian
Pastor to An Aspiring Idol
Even churches, it seems, have their fifteen minutes in the social media world of fame. Through the years, that usually
Out of the Ashes of Holy Week
The emotions of Holy Week run the gamut. From the wild enthusiasm of Palm Sunday morning to dread and anxiety
Callings That Find Us: Dan Haseltine
This Wednesday evening we come to the final of four outstanding speakers in our 2019 Speaker series. Each week, a
Lenten Speaker Series Continues: Kate Campbell
Last evening, we kicked off our series, “The Callings That Find Us,” with Dr. Danny Potts. An overflow crowd filled
The Callings That Find Us: Lenten Speaker Series
In March, our church will welcome a special Lenten time of renewal with a series of Wednesday night speakers entitled,
Come, Ye Sleepers: A Hymn for Time Change Sunday
It’s time change Sunday agaiu. We “Spring Forward” (move clocks forward one hour) just as in the fall we “fall
Church Penalties
In a sermon, I once suggested that harsh “rulemaking” does not maturity make, either religiously or psychologically. Nowhere do we
Ted Lasso and the Hope That Doesn’t Kill You
I am one of the last people to binge watch “Ted Lasso,” so I’d already heard plenty before viewing it.
Poplar Tent Memories: album release
I have updated and re-released an album I put together with some friends ten years ago, POPLAR TENT MEMORIES. The
The Flatpickin' Pilgrim's Progress 