And Tea

Discipleship Posts

Confession and Grace

confession

My nephew recently went for his first confession to a priest. This was a big deal. After spending a few minutes with the priest, he came out and met his religious education teacher. This is the conversation as recorded by my sister: Teacher:  “Do your penance and then you can enjoy some refreshments.” Nate:  “Penance? [...]

Shep Visits an Agnostic

god

The Reverend Dean Shepherd (Shep for short) stepped into the local coffee shop to meet with Brett Laud over a cup of coffee. Brett was a college student who was going through a rather difficult individualization phase because his ideas about religion and spirituality were unforgivably different from his family and his church. Sensing this, Shep [...]

The Encouragement of Jude

jude

Verses 20-21 of Jude offer some words of encouragement that I am reflecting on today:

John Wesley: Read to Improve Preaching

What does John Wesley say is important for growing as a preacher and getting better and preparing sermons? Reading. Check out this excerpt from a letter that Wesley wrote to John Trembath. It is sure to encourage you in the importance of personal reading time!

What Good is Visitation?

visitation

I have recently been reading the Questing Parson blog. I love his way of putting posts into a narrative, and I think that style may help me out of a touch of writer’s block. I’m going to try it out: Reverend Dean Shepherd (Shep for short) drove through his neighborhood on his way home after [...]