Getting It Right

All of my life, folks have asked me if I could predict the future – at least in terms of the weather – because today, February 2, Groundhog Day, is my birthday. Groundhog Day dates back to an early 1700s celebration called Candlemas Day, which fell halfway between Winter and Spring, usually around February 2.  Superstition held that if the weather on Candlemas Day was fair, the rest of Winter would be...

Honoring A Life Well Lived

This past Sunday, my family and I traveled to Cleveland, Georgia to attend a service that was part anniversary, part recognition and all celebration.  It was a service at Union Grove Congregational Holiness Church to commemorate the seventy-fifth anniversary of the first sermon preached by a beloved and legendary Georgia mountain preacher, Rev. Asa Dorsey. Now in the interest of full disclosure, I should tell you...

What is ‘Watch Night’ and Why is It A Big Deal?

I remember as a child going to church for “Watch Night” services on New Year’s Eve, but the practice of holding a vigil on New year’s Eve has all but died out in predominantly white churches, both evangelical and liturgical.  The Watch Night tradition continues to thrive among our brothers and sisters in predominantly African American churches, though.  As a result, New Year’s Eve is...

Christ Prays for a Unified Church

Someone shared with me a powerful sermon from Dr. Joel Gregory on unity in the Body of Christ.  The setting is Brookhollow Baptist Church, “The Church Without Walls” in Houston.  The title of the sermon is “Christ Prays for a Unified Church.” In the message, Gregory makes some powerful points about the importance of unity in the church.  First of all, he points out that unity is not a...

Rev. John Cross, 1925 – 2007

In 1962, 38 year old Rev. John Cross accepted the pastorate of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama.  The historic church was at that time a center of activity and organization of the civil rights movement.  It also was a symbol for those who would stop at nothing – including murder – to stop the movement, much the same way the World Trade Center was a symbol of America to...