Recent Stories
JOE LAGUARDIA: We can show our devotion to God in many ways
Like so many churches in the South, our church still has a time of invitation after the sermon every Sunday.
JOE LAGUARDIA: Amidst stress of daily schedules, deadlines, remember that love is patient
Paul's first letter to the Corinthians informs us that love is patient (1 Cor. 13:4).
JOE LAGUARDIA: Sometimes we must put aside our 'rights' to minister to others
A few weeks ago when Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the youngest brother of two suspects, was captured for bombing the Boston Marathon, a public debate erupted about the type of rights he was afforded.
JOE LAGUARDIA: Pets provide comfort, encouragement not unlike a pastor
Pets provide comfort, encouragement not unlike a pastor.
JOE LAGUARDIA: Every person deserves some recognition of his life when he dies
Everyone's life deserves some recognition when it's ended. What seems like a boring list to us was very meaningful to the ancients. Even the lists of ancestral names in the New Testament -- like those found in the gospels recording Jesus' ancestry -- carried great meaning.
JOE LAGUARDIA: Christianity implores us to fight for social justice
This April marks the 50th anniversary of one of the best treatises written during the Civil Rights movement: Martin Luther King Jr.'s letter from the Birmingham jail.
JOE LAGUARDIA: Easter allows us to clothe ourselves in the love of the Lord
Easter clothes us in the love of the Lord. Like most ministers, I look forward to Easter every year at church.
JOE LAGUARDIA: Be more than a fair-weather friend to Jesus
This weekend many churches will observe Palm Sunday and sing the classic hymn, "Glory, Laud, and Honor," penned by Theodulf of Orleans. It is a high-church, soaring hymn that lifts hearts heavenward and voices aloft.
JOE LAGUARDIA: Pastors must maintain delicate balance of leader, friend
Several months ago, an article by M. Craig Barnes in The Christian Century caused a stir when he asserted that it is impossible for pastors to befriend parishioners.
JOE LAGUARDIA: Cleaning a church can be prayerful, meditative experience
I am convinced that every pastor needs to do the custodial duties in his or her church for a few weeks.