I cannot think of a greater honor and responsibility than to be invited to speak a word to my friends this afternoon.  For all of us this is a day to which we have been looking forward for years.  Two people with such grace, wit, talent, generosity and love of life being called together for a new life of purpose.  I like the texts you have chosen..They tell us something about Steve and Polly because they selected them.  I want them to remember these texts for the rest of their lives together because they are pointers to true north.  If you hold to these verses you will not lose your…

As I’ve thought and prayed about what to say to you tonight as we begin, I’ve chosen a short passage from Philippians.  It seems most appropriate because it is Paul’s letter to the church with which he has had a long and deep relationship.  Some have even described it as the church he loved the most.  It was certainly one of the most diverse – an accomplished businesswoman, a redeemed fortune teller and a jailer all in the same congregation.  It reminds me so much of us here tonight as we all come from so many different backgrounds and traditions.  We all have such varied interests and passions and we…

Bill Stagg and I started badly. I heard about Bill before I met him…but just ten seconds before.  It was 1978 and I was a 31 year old novice Dean of Students at Charlotte Christian School.  I was confident, inexperienced and a danger to myself and others.  But worse than that, far worse that that – I had just busted one of Bill’s beloved and three other boys.  For me it was cut and dried, simple justice and only a matter of notifying the parents with a short and courteous reminder of the rules and a clear explanation of the punishment.. One day later the mail arrived at the Staggs…

All of us make purchase choices and decisions on criteria that are not always objective. . Where I come from it is fairly normal behavior to show a preference for doing business with people you know and oftentimes whose values you share. We shop together, our kids are in school together and many of us are in religious and civic organizations together. We buy local when we can because we want to support the people of our community. We still shop online or go to Dallas but we have a mild preference for local merchants. Some of us have the same degree of mild preference for certain services and organizations.…