By Tish Harrison Warren – It was a dark year in every sense. It began with the move from my sunny hometown, Austin, Texas, to Pittsburgh in early January. One week later, my dad, back in Texas, died in the middle of the night. Always towering and certain as a mountain on the horizon, he […]
Back to Our Future
August 26, 2021 By 2 Comments
By Mike Lowry, Bishop of the Central Texas Conference The harsh reality is that we are in a post-Christendom age. No longer does the Christian faith, and more specifically the United Methodist Church, assume a leading societal position. During my first year or so as a bishop, when I would mention that we were in […]
The Mission Jesus Gave Us
August 11, 2021 By 1 Comment
By Max Wilkins – At TMS Global, we talk a lot about “joining Jesus in his mission.” But what, exactly, is that mission? Maybe you’ve wondered that, too. In recent decades, parts of the church in North America have watered down the mission of Jesus until anyone who is doing anything even remotely helpful or […]
We Must Have a 2022 General Conference
August 6, 2021 By 14 Comments
By Rob Renfroe – Will we hold General Conference in 2022? That’s the question many people are asking. The simple answer is we must. And we can. This year, the most vocal progressive church in my annual conference, the Texas Annual Conference, requested and was granted disaffiliation. It will join the United Church of Christ, […]
Being Church In a War Zone
August 6, 2021 By 1 Comment
By Bob Kaylor Driving through the countryside of the Normandy region of France feels a bit like entering the world of an animated Walt Disney film. The green fields, bushy hedgerows, lolling cows, and medieval-period stone houses, churches, and barns call to mind many stories that we learn as kids – stories that begin, “Once […]
God In Our Secret Moments
August 6, 2021 By Leave a Comment
By B.J. Funk – “It is always just possible that Jesus Christ meant what he said when he told us to seek the secret place and to close the door,” C.S. Lewis observed in God in the Dock. In the Beatitudes, Jesus said, “And when you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; […]
The Mission Jesus Gave Us
August 5, 2021 By 1 Comment
By Max Wilkins – At TMS Global, we talk a lot about “joining Jesus in his mission.” But what, exactly, is that mission? Maybe you’ve wondered that, too. In recent decades, parts of the church in North America have watered down the mission of Jesus until anyone who is doing anything even remotely helpful or […]
The Solid Rock of The Kingdom of God
July 28, 2021 By Leave a Comment
By Angela Pleasants – In addition to being a local pastor, I am also a chaplain for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department in North Carolina. A couple of weeks ago, I was in my sergeant’s office watching a video of Mark Gungor, a popular speaker and minister, using two mannequin heads as props in a sermon. […]
Hope on the Horizon
July 26, 2021 By Leave a Comment
By Carolyn Moore – A well-known Reformed pastor and theologian once said, “God is always doing 10,000 things in your life, and you may be aware of three of them.” It’s a good line. It opens up the creative pores and asks what are the 9,997 things God is doing around me right now that […]
Finding Fearlessness
July 23, 2021 By 3 Comments
By Jonathan Razon – Martin Luther changed the course of human history in 1521 when he was twice brought before the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and was told he must take back all of his teachings. As we all know, Luther refused to recant. “Unless I am convinced by Scripture and plain reason – […]
