I’ve read this passage so many times, but as with all of Scripture it feels like I’ve just scratched the surface. The book of Psalms is a collection, an anthology, a hymnal, a book of songs. This time I thought of Psalm 23 as a photograph album, full of pictures of places in a land of spiritual experience. It’s a record of an actual journey, which serves as our travel guide,
This travel guide doesn’t give you a detailed description of places. Sure, you can dig for information that helps you better understand the geography and the shepherd’s vocation. This is valuable, but a good travel guide invites you to imagine, and to explore on your own.
The Psalm 23 travel guide awakens all of of our senses. We can touch the soft green pasture and the refreshing still waters. We can taste the food at the banquet table . We can hear the call of the shepherd. We can imagine what’s it like to be there.
Read the Psalm 23 travel guide with confidence, knowing it was written by someone who has been there.
Where do we get our beliefs?
Three theological perspectives have significantly shaped my Christian identity: Evangelicalism, the early Methodist tradition and liberation theology.
From my coming to faith in a Baptist church and throughout my education in a Baptist school and college, I was nurtured by convictions that emphasized a spiritual rebirth, a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and the centrality of the Bible. Even when I disagree with certain aspects of evangelicalism, it has deeply influenced my sense of what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ.
My seminary studies spawned my interest in early Methodism, particularly its approach to spiritual formation. Its leaders were convinced that only a foundation of doctrine and discipline would lead to a meaningful transformation of the heart and mind. In other words, having the mind of Christ enables me to be more like Christ.
Life in a suburban culture obscures the increasing gap between the poor and rich, as well as the Bible’s close identification with the poor. My doctoral work in socio-cultural context exposed me to liberation theology, which helps me see redemptive history as a history of oppressed groups, written from the perspective of the powerless, about a God who is actively involved with the poor in their struggles.
I am now the pastor at Mount Zion United Methodist Church in St Mary’s County, Maryland. Together my wife and I have 4 children.
The Other Six Days 