It was a joy to watch our youth lead worship on Youth Sunday. “Take a Little with You” is a great Woodmont tradition! I am very proud of all of them, especially our seniors who brought the messages. These young people are graduating and preparing to move on to college. I know their families are experiencing many emotions right now. Here are some thoughts to consider during this major life transition. Change is inevitable, but growth is optional. Everything in life changes but we get to decide whether or not we will......

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It has now been seven weeks since the tragic shooting at Covenant School that rocked our community. The grieving and healing process continues in Nashville and in our families. Ribbons remain on the mailboxes as summer draws near. Next Monday night, May 22, we are hosting a special event in our sanctuary called “After Covenant” to continue the conversation about gun safety in our communities. I will be joined by two friends, former Senator Majority Leader Bill Frist and Vanderbilt trauma surgeon Dr. Alex Jahangir. All three of us care deeply about......

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M. Scott Peck begins his famous book The Road Less Travelled with the following words: “Life is difficult. This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths. Once we truly see this truth, we can transcend it.” So if life is difficult, then we can safely say that leadership is very difficult. Leadership is not for the faint of heart. It takes passion, conviction, nerve, thick skin, and resilience. Tony Jarvis says this about leadership in his classic book With Love and Prayers: “Leaders are caught in a catch-22. If a......

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I want to THANK everybody who has made a commitment to support Woodmont’s mission and ministries for another year. We have had a very strong response and are now moving into the follow-up phase of the campaign. You can click here to make your commitment quickly and conveniently online. Thank you for your generosity. Every commitment makes a difference. This Sunday, May 7, we will begin a new sermon series on healing. An undeniable reality of being human is that pain and suffering are inevitable. We all hurt. We all suffer. We......

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In his book The Road to Character, David Brooks raises the following questions in the final chapter: • Toward what should I orient my life? • Who am I and what is my nature? • How do I mold my nature to make it gradually better day by day? • What virtues are the most important to cultivate and what weaknesses should I fear the most? • How can I raise my children with a true sense of who they are and a practical set of ideas about how to travel the......

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Selfishness and self-centeredness abound in our culture, even among Christians. It is why Jesus said, “To become my follower, you must deny self, take up your cross, and follow me.” I often hear people make the case that much of today’s Christianity is not indicative of what Jesus taught and embodied. My good friend and retired minister Rubel Shelly once published an excellent book titled I Knew Jesus Before He Was a Christian… and I Liked Him Better Then. His basic claim is that the Jesus of history and the Jesus of......

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Jon Gordon is an expert on the power of positive leadership.  He learned the hard way that negativity doesn’t work, and he wrote an excellent book called “The Power of Positive Leadership.”  I have enjoyed reading his books, blogs, and hearing some of his talks over the years.  He offers incredible insight and hope to leaders in all different sectors.  We all know that we live in a very cynical and negative world. All of us must make the decision to stay positive when we face adversity.  Mindset and attitude always matter. ......

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Lots of attention has been paid recently to the impromptu revival going on at Asbury University in Kentucky. What began as an ordinary chapel service on February 8 has continued for weeks and has drawn people to the small Kentucky town from all over the nation and world. Why Asbury? Why now? Who knows, but according to many who have traveled there to experience it, God’s spirit is alive and well. We have seen images on the news of people singing, praying, repenting, recommitting their lives to Christ, and drawing together in......

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