By Nako Kellum – “So what is a Christian?” This question came from a student in our young adult group at the Japanese Church in Lexington, Kentucky. I was one of the leaders of the group, and a seminary student at the time. The group of mostly college students, with a few high school students, […]

By Courtney Lott – Three of my former youth group students got married in the last year. I watched each walk down the aisle, torn between two warring emotions. One part of me rejoiced in this creation of a new family, the two now becoming one. The other part, the selfish one I bury under […]

By Jeremy Steele – I’ve never really fit in with Christians. I’m always too much of something. I’m too focused on the Bible as being the foundation for faith and practice. I’m too passionate about social justice. I’m too committed to recovering the sort of unity I see in Acts. I’m too bothered by the […]

By Joey Butler – Ann Hammond, a member of United Methodist Temple in Clarksburg, West Virginia, and a recovering heroin addict, said that her church was one of the only places she still felt some comfort during her struggle with addiction. “Churches can help break the stigma and support families of addicts. Acknowledge that it […]

By Tom Albin – In Our Time: The life and ministry of E. Stanley Jones is a gift to the United Methodist Church and to the Wesleyan Methodist family. Jones is one of the most important figures in twentieth century Christianity and yet he is generally unknown to the majority of world Methodist Christians today. […]

By Sarah Parham – Missions made international news several months ago with the death of John Allen Chau, an American missionary who was killed by tribesmen on the North Sentinel Island. Unfortunately, extreme statements were made in the media and facts were rarely researched or complexities examined. According to Open Doors, a group working on […]

By B.J. Funk – Do you remember James and John’s mother? Upon hearing Jesus say that they were now going to Jerusalem for his death, she reacted to this awful, gut-wrenching prediction by moving quickly to the front of the crowd, flashing a large smile and saying, “Well, I don’t understand any of that, but […]