Father David Epps's blog

When belief is not enough

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 17:03:15 -0500

When I was a 25-year-old pastor I had better answers to the questions of life than I do now. When I took my first church at 23, I knew I didn’t know anything about almost everything. By the time two years had passed, I had all the answers.

40 years later

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 16:48:17 -0500

It was 40 years ago, Friday, Feb. 13, 1970, that I arrived at Parris Island, South Carolina at “zero dark-thirty” a.m. I’d like to say that I was motivated to enlist by intense patriotism during a time of war, but the simple truth is less honorable.

On being called a racist

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 17:25:19 -0500

Recently, someone suggested that I was a racist. The charge came, of course, from someone I do not know, who disagreed with something I said in an article, and who sent a comment to the newspaper anonymously.

The face of Haiti

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 16:17:42 -0500

A few days ago, I was having lunch with a fellow pastor in another town and we were discussing the terrible situation in Haiti. He was saying that his church was going to be receiving an offering and investigating what they could do to offer assistance.

Revolution in Massachusetts

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 17:04:16 -0500

I am a self-described independent voter who tends to lean toward conservatism. If this were the 1960s, I would be a John F. Kennedy liberal. JFK promoted civil rights, women’s rights, a hand up for the disadvantaged, educational programs that would improve the lot of motivated youth who yearned for success, inspiration to achieve, and the opportunity to serve one’s country and community — this type of liberalism I could buy.

It’s my birthday

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 16:58:23 -0500

It’s my birthday. Martin Luther King, Jr. and I share the same birthday, though not the same year of birth. My cousin John Honeycutt, four years younger than I, also shares the same birth date. On Jan. 15, I hit the big five-nine. I can no longer deceive myself into thinking that I am still a kid.

Southern Baptists and college football

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 16:23:57 -0500

When I was in New York during the fall, a few of us from the South were talking Southeastern Conference football. One of the local guys said, “You guys from down South sure talk a lot about college football.”

What does God look like?

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 09:20:11 -0500

“No one has ever seen God,” we read in John 1:18 (RSV). Artists, poets, and authors, of course, have attempted to portray Him. Michelangelo portrayed him as both ancient and strong. Jonathan Edwards portrayed him as full of wrath in his sermon, “Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God.” Bette Midler sang about an indifferent God who is watching “from a distance.” Painters portray God in their own image, making him brown, black, white, yellow, or red. Some imagine his hair is blond, white, or some other shade.

When Jesus was late to church

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 12:14:09 -0500

I had unpacked the manger display that a family in the church lends to us each year and was setting it up on a table in the church foyer.

Good news during hard times

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 16:56:11 -0500

There can be, if one looks hard enough, something positive even in the most difficult of circumstances. Take, for example, this current economic downturn.

Purple water fever

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:58:00 -0500

A few weeks ago, a phenomenon occurred at our church that demanded notice. I was in Chicago at the time but word came to me that the water at the church was purple.

Observations of an older brother

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 16:57:29 -0500

I was 8 years old, almost 9, and an only child when my mother informed me that I was about to have a little brother or sister.

Teaching dogs to dance

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 14:59:37 -0500

A few weeks ago, I was visiting with family in northeastern Tennessee. Out to dinner with my brother and his wife, we were joined by their 7-year-old granddaughter, Annie.

Santa Claus, USMC

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:58:32 -0500

What does Santa Claus look like? He may just look like a United States Marine. In 1947, according to the national Toys for Tots website, when Major Bill Hendricks, USMCR, and a group of Marine Reservists in Los Angeles collected and distributed 5,000 toys to needy children, Toys for Tots was born. The idea came from Bill’s wife, Diane.

Once, I knew everything

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:32:57 -0500

When I was a young pastor, 24 or 25 years old, my denominational supervisor offered me a book on theology by Karl Barth. I declined his gift and said that I didn’t need it.