Our vision is to partner in spreading the good news of Jesus Christ. Our mission is to work together in ways that promote healthy congregations and effective leaders in every place, making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
A part of this past Sunday’s Gospel lesson was sad: evidently, John and some of the other disciples were upset because someone was casting out demons in Jesus’ name. They tried to stop the man because “he wasn’t following us,” i.e., they didn’t know him. Jesus simply says, “’Whoever is not against us is for… Continue Reading→
Last night I read Psalm 124, the lectionary’s appointed psalm for this coming Sunday: If it had not been the Lord who was on our side – Then the flood would have swept us away, The torrent would have gone over us; Then over us would have gone the raging waters. Blessed be the… Continue Reading→
There are lots of folks without peace right now: as I write I am praying for a brother pastor and his son; I am remembering lots of “my” folks whose homes and livelihoods are endangered or destroyed; I am remembering people who have died and who are overwhelmed by the losses Florence ravaged on us…. Continue Reading→
I think about charge conferences in a biblical, theological and spiritual way. I know it is the fashion to sometimes disparage them but: Charge Conference reminds me that as our Book of Discipline says it, “The local church provides the most significant area through which disciple-making occurs.” (Para. 201) That’s a profound spiritual and theological… Continue Reading→
And wanting to justify himself, the man said to Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbor?’ [Luke 10:29] And the answer is not what you think. As the encounter unfolds, I don’t blame the guy for his question to Jesus. Nor his motivations. The man probably really didn’t know his neighbors for a variety of reasons:… Continue Reading→
The classic Christian definition of what it means to be fully human is to remember that “we are created imago Dei”, meaning “we are created in the image of God”. To be made in God’s image is to have many of the gifts – or at least an image of the gifts – that God… Continue Reading→
Background: This past week I got to join some of our sisters and brothers at The Duke Endowment-sponsored Rural Church Convocation. Great event. Three times I heard reviewed information about how clergy—along with the folks who serve in other human-service-intensive callings—can focus their lives in ways that help them thrive. The good news, of course,… Continue Reading→
You’ve probably gathered that I often write these articles out of experience. Remembering Mr. Wesley’s dictum that our own personal experience can “guide us into grace,” I am going to assume that it is Grace itself that leads me to share these musings. Because this is going to get real. I have been asked to… Continue Reading→
Recently, I went to the house of some neighbors who had been bereaved earlier that day by the death of a mother. I don’t know the folks well; we’ve been in the same neighborhood for only about 10 months. They plainly don’t get what I do (the pastor thing) though I’ve invited them… Continue Reading→