Let Us Wake Before We Die: Saying Your Prayers on Easter Sunday

And so it is Easter. We read from the familiar passages, but may the Lord of life come upon us in a surprisingly new way this year! Listen as if for the first time for the inerrant,infallible Word of the living God! But as you listen, it is this Continue Reading

Christmas Eve Order and Bulletin Sample

Christmas Eve worship is one of the most beautiful and inspiring times in the life of a congregation and in the ministry of a pastor. The service may be seen by the pastor as challenging because everyone knows that you are going to say something about Continue Reading

A Season to Remember: An Ash Wednesday Message to the Anglican Communities of Charlotte

Joel 2:1-2,12-17; 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10 Many of us instinctively feel the need for seasons. We can look at my own state of North Carolina as an example.  Sociologists call this the “J Curve” effect. New Yorkers head straight down 95 to Fort Continue Reading

Reaching Up! A Sermon for the New Year

It is interesting to look back. Here is my sermon from last year for the New Year. It has some chronologically specific items in it. Yet I trust that it contains the timeless truths of Scripture which will again speak to us today. I am convalescing with Continue Reading

An American Thing: A Thanksgiving Message from Mike Milton to RTS, to Heroes in the Armed Services, and to our Friends Across America

First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world. Romans 1:8 Giving thanks is universal. But having Thanksgiving is a uniquely American. Here is what I mean: Thanksgiving is an annual Continue Reading

Thinking about the Cedar Falls Bible Conference, Willa Cather and Ha Erets

This summer I’m preaching at the annual Cedar Falls Bible Conference in Cedar Falls, Iowa. They hold it at a campground just like they’ve been doing since the turn of the last century. Some of the same families who were there when these hearty, godly Continue Reading

Why I am a Pentecost(al) Presbyterian

I read the following story this week: “Erasmus, the famous Renaissance scholar, once told a classic story which was designed to emphasize how important it is that we take up the torch of Christ’s ministry with great commitment. In the story, Jesus Continue Reading

Don’t Hold Back! Essentials of the Reformed Faith for Faithful Service in a Pluralistic Setting

2 Timothy 1.1-5 and the Introduction to the Conference for Presbyterian & Reformed Chaplains in Europe,12-14 February 2010 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus, To Timothy, Continue Reading

Why I Will Always be Thankful for the Defense Language Institute

They were the Cold War years of the mid 1970s. The California folk sounds of Neil Young and Dan Fogelberg wafted through the nightspots in Monterey. Progressive rock sounds from bands like Kansas were heard blaring from certain rooms in the Navy barracks. Continue Reading

On Spiritual Gifts in the Church Today (1 Cor. 12)

I heard that the librarian of one of the greatest libraries in the world remarked: “We’re drowning in information and starving for knowledge.” I have come to learn in my life that it is not that I need more information, but greater insight on what I Continue Reading