By Steve Harper It happens to all of us sooner or later. Our enthusiasm for Scripture declines. We begin approaching our time of Bible reading more as a duty than a delight. We come to a familiar passage and feel like skipping over it because “we know what it says.” If we are ministers, Sunday [...]

By Rob Renfroe If you own a television, listen to the radio, or read the newspaper, it’s nearly impossible to not get caught up in the intense debate regarding health care. Few issues regarding public policy have created such emotion and passion. And rightly so—health care literally concerns matters of life and death. Recently, Jim [...]

By Bill Bouknight Over the past 15 years, we have witnessed the cresting and subsequent decline of the liberal tide in American Methodism. Simultaneously, the influence of evangelicalism and orthodoxy has been steadily increasing within the last decade. As measured by membership and influence, the United Methodist Church has been in decline for the last [...]

By Tim Tanton The United Methodist Church’s roots in Côte d’Ivoire date back to 1914, when William Wadé Harris arrived in the country from neighboring Liberia. Completing a prison sentence for his role in a political revolt, Harris heard God directing him to Côte d’Ivoire. Telling the story today, United Methodist Bishop Benjamin Boni says [...]

By Tim Tanton When God spoke to Bishop Benjamin Boni, the leader of the Côte d’Ivoire’s United Methodists responded. It was October 2000, and violence had convulsed the country following public anger over a presidential election that was perceived to have been rigged by the military ruler. Boni heard God telling him to rally the [...]

Whether on the property of a declining, derelict United Methodist church, or in an old Winn-Dixie, Jorge Acevedo is haunted by the red letter words of Jesus’ great commission to go. Pastor of a church that has sprung from one location to three in the past thirteen years, Acevedo insists that having multiple locations was [...]

By Elizabeth Glass Turner Jorge Acevedo never pictured himself as the lead pastor of a multi-site congregation. A self-described “pagan” before his conversion, Acevedo came from an unchurched background before landing in the United Methodist Church. For 13 years, he’s been pastor of Grace Church in Cape Coral, Florida. Shortly after this interview with Elizabeth [...]