Author: Talbot Davis
How a Reluctant Mentor Learns to be an Adequate Leader by Talbot Davis
August 22, 2018
Those who know me well know that I have made confessions like: I’m better at leading the congregation than I…
On The Up And Up: The Right Stuff by Talbot Davis
August 23, 2015
The “I” pronoun has disappeared in favor of “us” and “we.” Instead of asserting his rights – rights he was born into and rights he earned – the disappearing “I” pronoun shows he is instead relinquishing them. A psalm that could be about his personal religion instead becomes a song about our collective faith.
On The Up And Up: Traveler’s Advisory by Talbot Davis
August 15, 2015
Hear this: you will sprain your ankle. You will have difficulties. You will have trauma. But what Psalm 121 promises is that as you anchor yourself, not to your truth but to his, as you are not true to yourself but you are true to God, none of the bad things that happen to you has separating power between you and God. The Maker is the Protector…not necessarily in the immediate but always in the ultimate!
Solutionists: Problemists by Talbot Davis
May 16, 2015
Anyway, several months ago I was in one of these meetings – probably 40 people there – admiring the raw spirituality of the environment, when during the sharing time a man says, “We don’t have a drinking PROBLEM. We have a drinking SOLUTION. We’ve got all kinds of problems – marriage, parents, self-esteem, and money – and what we all have in common in this room is that our SOLUTION to those problems was to drink them away!” And I thought, “I may have just heard the single most brilliant insight into anything, anywhere in my life.”
Could You Give Up Porn for Lent? A Pastoral Perspective On Life Change by Talbot Davis
March 18, 2015
The rise of the internet has created a perfect storm for growing numbers of men to become addicted. It is available. It is anonymous. I suspect no other generation of men – or their pastors – had such a collision of forces that are the same time both irresistible and destructive.
Hidden Heroes: The Epic Fail Hero by Talbot Davis
March 14, 2015
But you need both. A Paul and a Peter. Someone who will confront and another who will comfort. It takes that balance of truth and grace to get someone to move beyond their epic fail and into effective service.
Hidden Heroes: The Anti-Hero Hero by Talbot Davis
February 28, 2015
And when you’re on death row, you’re not really concerned with trivial pursuits, are you? Paul wasn’t dwelling on trivialities; he was dialed into eternities. That’s why it was particularly devastating for Demas to desert him. Because look at what Demas did: he loved this present world – its comfort, safety, and reputation – and in so doing ignored the next one. And Paul, who because he is on death row is dwelling on eternities more than at any other time in his life, knows something deadly: Demas has sacrificed what is eternal on the altar of what is trivial.
Hidden Heroes: The AWOL Hero by Talbot Davis
January 24, 2015
And yet look at what Paul says in Philemon: “was useless; is useful.” And then he grows much more intimate by the time of Colossians 4 – faithful, dear brother, one of you. And I wonder: how do you go from that to that? From outside to inside? From failure to brother? From deserves death to becomes family? I think of how easy it would have been for Onesimus to lurk in the shadows of the church even after his conversion, to stay detached, uninvolved, excluded, to be and get what he deserved. And get this: it would have been so tempting to use his past and use his failure as an excuse. They won’t accept me. I’m AWOL and a thief.
How A Reluctant Mentor Learns To Be An Adequate Leader by Talbot Davis
January 22, 2015
I have recently come to a realization that has helped me enormously in increasing my leadership ability when it comes to both the staff at Good Shepherd and younger clergy in the United Methodist Church…
Hidden Heroes: The What Can Brown Do For You? Hero y Talbot Davis
January 10, 2015
God’s word is better delivered in obscurity than by celebrity. The greatest impact usually happens when no one notices.