By Rob Renfroe
In Surprised By Joy, C.S. Lewis writes about “chronological snobbery.” It’s the conviction that when matters before us are moral or spiritual or theological in nature, the most modern beliefs are the most correct beliefs. It’s an elitist approach to history and to knowledge, denying the wisdom of the ancients because we are certain that “the latest is always the greatest.”

By Thomas A. Lambrecht
As we approach General Conference 2012, the moral issue that has the most energy and conflict around it is the question of the acceptability of homosexual behavior and the definition of marriage. This is so, not because evangelicals and renewalists keep focusing on this issue. It is because for forty years, progressives have continued to push for a change in the Christian church’s longstanding understanding that sexual relationships between persons of the same gender are contrary to Biblical teaching and that marriage is between a man and a woman.

By Stephen Seamands
In his Psalms of My Life, writer and editor Joseph Bayly offers this simple prayer: “Lord Christ, your servant Martin Luther said he only had two days on his calendar: today and ‘that day.’ And that’s what I want too. And I want to live today for that day.” I like that prayer because in relation to Christ’s second coming, it reflects the teaching of the New Testament writers and Jesus himself.

By Karen Booth
All General Conference delegates, even those who are liberal or progressive, should express outrage over the non-Methodist and non-Christian “outsider” influence and money that have been manipulating our system.

By Mary Lambrecht
God’s true plan for sexuality also stems from a higher medium (God’s love) informing a lower medium (the human expression of this love through sexuality). But sometimes this order is reversed. When we position sexuality as the higher system, thereby putting love for the other as secondary and also minimizing the concept of God’s love, we rob ourselves of the awe, mystery, and God-intended plan for sexuality.

By Steve Johnson
According to The United Methodist Church website: “Fasting has been a part of Methodism from its earliest days.” Yet most United Methodists are as unfamiliar with the history and practice of fasting as the rest of Christians in America. In light of this, let’s look at: the Biblical basis for, the Methodist history of, and practical tips for observing the Spiritual discipline of fasting.

By Liza Kittle
Women across the denomination are “opting out” of UMW due to the partisan political lobbying, feminist theological teachings, and radical social justice agenda of the Women’s Division. Women are tired of being told how to “do” women’s ministry and they demand freedom to explore other options of reaching women for Jesus Christ.

By B.J. Funk
What about you? Have you been sitting under a sign labeled by someone else? Have you become what the world names you? As long as you hold out your hand to the world, asking others to validate you by their standards, you will never measure up. What gate does God want you under? Throw away your negative signs from the past. It’s a brand New Year. Look up. Name your Temple Gate. Get rid of disbelief, and watch God bring new faith and hope to you into 2012!

By Heather Hahn
Two proposals hover near the top of the controversy list as The United Methodist Church approaches this spring’s General Conference. The first would restructure the denomination, including consolidating nine of the church’s 13 general agencies under a 15-member board. The second would end job guarantees for ordained elders in good standing.

By Steve Beard
I never would have written parts for Dolly Parton and Queen Latifah in the same screenplay. But I’m glad Todd Graff did. Then again, I never would have guessed that Todd Graff, a Jewish screenwriter and director, would have produced such a high-energy and entertaining film about gospel choir competition. But I’m glad he did.