by Guy Sayles | Mar 15, 2016 |
It’s hard to take my eyes off of the three-ring circus of the current political season. There are ringmasters from the media; strongmen who bend rights and break values; young trapeze artists who fly high on ambition; sellers of snake-oil made from focus-group...
by Guy Sayles | Mar 9, 2016 |
For “Christian Ethics Engages U. S. Culture,” a course I’m teaching this semester at Mars Hill, I’ve been revisiting the writings and witness of Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855), who stands at the headwaters of what eventually became Christian existentialism. He was a...
by Guy Sayles | Mar 8, 2016 |
Yesterday, I had a fascinating conversation with some folks who are trying hard to understand how their downtown congregation can effectively be “salt” and “light” for their community and region. They’re compassionate and generous people who genuinely want to make a...
by Guy Sayles | Feb 26, 2016 |
When writer Rick Bragg was young and struggling to find his way in journalism, he won a prestigious fellowship to Harvard. While there, he felt out of place. He hadn’t finished college, and he was in classes with people who were pursuing graduate degrees. He was...
by Guy Sayles | Feb 19, 2016 |
This semester, I’m teaching “Christian Ethics in Engagement with U.S. Culture.” My students and I are exploring together the ways in which various approaches to Christian Ethics conflict and converge with the values of U.S. culture(s).One of our conversation partners...
by Guy Sayles | Feb 11, 2016 |
Last night, Anita and I went to All Souls Episcopal Cathedral for the Ash Wednesday service. It was a gift to be back in that faith-community which has been such a significant haven and home for us since my work at First Baptist Church of Asheville ended in...
by Guy Sayles | Feb 2, 2016 |
Ability to Respond
by Guy Sayles | Jan 28, 2016 |
The heavy snow which recently fell in our area brought surprising gifts: the requirement (and permission) to step-away for a few days from routine busyness, to have longer stretches of uninterrupted time to read and to think, and to rest without irrational guilt over...
by Guy Sayles | Jan 22, 2016 |
We’ve gotten about six inches of snow at our house, and forecasts call for a lot more. Earlier in the week, since it was likely that the roads between Asheville and Huntington wouldn’t be safely passable this weekend, I reluctantly bowed-out of preaching at Fifth...
by Guy Sayles | Jan 14, 2016 |
Yesterday, I went to the first session of what I thought was my Introduction to the New Testament Class. For about 10 minutes, I gave a broad overview of the ways we’d approach our engagement with the scriptures. Then, a student spoke up and said: “I have you for New...
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