Flannery Mary Catherine Phillips entered this world on November 30, 2012. Her mother--our daughter, Elizabeth--turned 39 just nine days later. This long awaited gift from God arrived in Cambridge, England, so it was over two months before her grandmother and I could touch her. I was able to hold her; Janet, who would succumb to cancer only a few days later, was too weak. But they met--and they responded to each other. I wrote the following poem around December 7, a week after the birth and a week before we got Janet's diagnosis. … [Read more...]
Larry Hall
Larry Hall serves Austin Grad as an adjunct professor who brings decades of pioneering experience in communications, preaching, family life ministry, and lay counselor training, developed through decades of ministry and private practice in Oregon, Texas, and California. He authored the book, No Longer I: A Life Transformed. Larry lives in Belton, Texas, where he served for over 20 years as Family Life Minister and Counselor with the Belton Church of Christ.
Recent Posts
Essential and Eternal
Posted by on November 17, 2016 3:45 pm
What was before "In the beginning" and what will be after "The first things have passed away"? What is the essence of eternity, the atmosphere of forever, the air that is breathed by the Trinity? Isn't it love--love communicated within the one God who is three Persons? Isn't it fellowship? Isn't it relationship? What is the biblical definition of righteousness if not "right relationship with God" that then seeks to be in right redemptive relationship with those created in the image of this loving God? So it comes as no surprise that Jesus insists that the first commandment is love for God and the second is love for … [Read more...]
Resignation Letter
Posted by on May 5, 2016 6:53 pm
Any person who considers going into a ministry, especially one meant to provide a living, can find the reality very intimidating. If yours is a church of 300 members, you can rest assured that there are 300 different job descriptions waiting for you, and each member will be fine with your accomplishing every task on every list, as long as his or her task is your first priority. The aspiring minister would do well to follow the example of Moses and Aaron, whose leadership strategies included falling on their faces. In Numbers 14:5 they were responding to a thoroughly disillusioned and rebellious congregation; in chapter 16, … [Read more...]
Want to be a minister? But, rather die than preach?
Posted by on March 24, 2016 2:30 pm
Can we talk? I just must tell someone. It’s corny, I know. It may even sound like promotional spam, but it really does come from the heart (anyway, I rather liked Spam when I was a kid and it wasn’t uncool yet). So here it is: I love Austin Graduate School of Theology, and I’m about to complete a decade of adjunct work with them! The classroom reinvigorates me. The students inspire me. The faculty and staff make me want to do my best work. The president is a real person who treats me like a real person. … [Read more...]
