Essays and reflections on spiritual formation, the church, music, and daily faithfulness — 638 pieces, gathered in one home.
This is my column which appeared in the Dec. 14, 2016 issue of The Arab Tribune. I was astounded by the bright, swirling bits of fire expanding in a quiet, seemingly random pattern
Originally at Musings of a Musical Preacher
This is my column which was published in The Arab Tribune on Wednesday, October 26, 2016. Have you noticed there's an election coming up? That's a silly question. Of course you hav
Originally at Musings of a Musical Preacher
This is the handout I prepared for the "Intro to Spiritual Formation" workshop at Camp Lee on September 29, 2016 sponsored by the Spiritual Formation Team of the North Alabama Conf
Originally at Musings of a Musical Preacher
This is my column which was published in The Arab Tribune on Wednesday, August 31, 2016. My mother was a really organized person. She orchestrated our family reunions, she kept a l
Originally at Musings of a Musical Preacher
This is my devotional, shared at the North Alabama Conference Board of Ordained Ministry Meeting on August 11, 2016. "Do this in remembrance of me." I have no idea how many times I
Originally at Musings of a Musical Preacher
This is my article that appeared in The United Methodist Reporter on July 25, 2016 and in The Arab Tribune on July 27, 2016. The United Methodist Church I love so dearly is navigat
Originally at Musings of a Musical Preacher
This is a five-minute homily I prepared on Matthew 7:21-29 (the wise person who built his house upon a rock and the foolish one who built on sand). I prepared this complete text fo
Originally at Musings of a Musical Preacher
This column was published in The Arab Tribune on Wednesday, June 29. I was familiar with the African tradition of carrying water on the head but had never seen it in person before.
Originally at Musings of a Musical Preacher
This is my column that appeared in early June of 2016 in "The Arab Tribune." I am blessed to have some strong women in my life. It started with my mom, who was an amazing witness t
Originally at Musings of a Musical Preacher
This is my column that appeared in the Arab Tribune on Wednesday, March 30, 2016. The editor told me it made him cry. I'm honored (I think!). There are times when I feel like I’m s
Originally at Musings of a Musical Preacher
We have made some strange modern amendments to our most ancient Christians traditions. It seems, for example, that Christmas is so heavily influenced by commercialism that it start
Originally at Musings of a Musical Preacher
March is upon us, and we are drawing close to Holy Week. I pray and hope that your Lenten season has been meaningful and powerful. I think of Lent as an adventure in drawing close.
Originally at Musings of a Musical Preacher
I love this stained glass window of Jesus drawing the world to himself at St. Paul UMC in the Civil Rights District in Birmingham. This historic church was very involved in social
Originally at Musings of a Musical Preacher
This is my column which appeared in The Arab Tribune on Wednesday, March 2, 2016. There are a few perks to being a pastor besides the obvious ones (hospitality in homes and coffee
Originally at Musings of a Musical Preacher
An old college friend found this Lenten devotional I wrote in 1986 for the Birmingham-Southern College chapel devotional book. It was my junior year and I had no recollection of it
Originally at Musings of a Musical Preacher
This is my column that appeared in The Arab Tribune on Wednesday, February 3, 2016. The simplest experiences in life can be like prisms. When light hits them at a certain angle, th
Originally at Musings of a Musical Preacher
Ghana is a very Christian country. It is "third world", yet their faith is so simple, so beautiful. They pray to God every time they get in the car, and they believe God provides t
Originally at Musings of a Musical Preacher
This is my column that appeared in The Arab Tribune on Saturday, December 26, 2015. My name is Stephen. My aunts and uncles, and some of my cousins, have always called me that. It
Originally at Musings of a Musical Preacher
This is my column that was published in The Arab Tribune on Wednesday, December 2, 2015. It starts. Now that Thanksgiving has come and gone, the leftover turkey will find its way i
Originally at Musings of a Musical Preacher
This article was published in Alive Now, a periodical publication of The Upper Room, in the November/December 2015 issue. The theme for the issue is "mystery." A version of this ar
Originally at Musings of a Musical Preacher
This is my column published in The Arab Tribune on Saturday, November 7, 2015. As I walked out the door of my Arab home to get to the airport early in the morning, I stopped for a
Originally at Musings of a Musical Preacher
This is my column that appeared in The Arab Tribune on Wednesday, September 30, 2015. Jesus said some strange things. It's part of his whole strategy I think. Jesus responded to pe
Originally at Musings of a Musical Preacher
This is my column that appeared in The Arab Tribune on Wednesday, September 2, 2015. I enjoyed writing this story down for the first time! When I was growing up in the years around
Originally at Musings of a Musical Preacher
I have revised one of my original hymn texts after spending part of my summer in a class, "Liturgy and Moral Imagination." The class was a wonderful experience with my old friend a
Originally at Musings of a Musical Preacher
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