Category Archives: Uncategorized

Here is a quick news update from the Skillen family. On November 10th, I shared with Advent Presbyterian Church that our family would be leaving the Memphis area at the end of the year and will be relocating to our hometown Wichita, KS. In Wichita, I’ll be joining the Eastminster Presbyterian Church staff as anContinue reading “Skillen Family News”

In a word: Tennessee In a sentence: Earlier today, Advent Presbyterian Church in Cordova and Arlington, TN voted to receive me as their next Senior Pastor. In a paragraph (or two): Where do we begin? It was only two, short years ago that we joined Peachtree Presbyterian in Atlanta to join their fantastic staff. TheseContinue reading “Skillen Family News: Tennessee (“You’re the only 10 I see”)”

February 2nd is traditionally set apart to remember the day that Jesus was carried to the Temple by his parents for his dedication. I find it interesting that Groundhog Day is the same day, for both express an unveiling of sorts as to what could happen in the days ahead. There’s a great juxtaposition inContinue reading “Presentation Day”

Yesterday we wrapped up our Fall parable series with a bang! I enjoyed sharing from Jesus’ parable of the 10 Virgins (Matthew 25:1-13). This parable is unique to Matthew and is placed at the end for rhetorical purposes. Robert Farrar Capon suggests that Matthew organizes the parables of Jesus into a progression of 3 phases:Continue reading “Start-Ups: Something More From the Sermon”

Yesterday, we continued our Parables series and spent the morning examining the ramifications of Matthew’s “Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard.” (Matthew 20:1-16) Although much of the action revolves around the workers invited to work in a vineyard, my contention is that we should focus our attention on the vineyard owner character, too. ManyContinue reading “Something More from the Sermon: Transformation”

A couple of weeks ago, I was in a Sunday School class with the task of teaching a lesson. It ended up being a riot, and I loved it. I spent a few minutes sharing a bit about myself, which provoked more questions with answers, and more questions with answers. The class time ended without theContinue reading “Worship: Mixing the World and the Sacred”

I was in Starbucks last week and it was crowded. It is winter in Atlanta so people had large coats on as the tried to weave in between tables that were too close to one another. In the process of time, a woman knocked over another woman’s coffee as she passed by her table. CoffeeContinue reading “Brokering Forgiveness”

Yesterday, we were looking at the story of Adam and Eve from Genesis 2 and 3, and exploring the theological/philosophical/sociological idea of “goodness.” I had a great time with this sermon. It was really the first time I was given a green light to talk about Adam and Eve in a sermon format. First, aContinue reading “Something more from the Sermon: Poems and PowerPoints”