Rethinking Success
By Scott Sauls -- The book of Ecclesiastes is a confounding, long-hand essay written by a man who on the one hand has immeasurable power, wealth, possessions, feasting, and pleasure, and on the other hand cannot find happiness. As I think about Ecclesiastes and all...
Bartimaeus and the Brothel
By Jenifer Jones -- Sharon Hill* is a storyteller. She recites passages of Scripture in an interactive way, inviting listeners to see themselves in the story and to experience the Jesus they are hearing about. She does this primarily among Muslims and among people who...
Our Core Mission
By Reed Hoppe - It has been a rough season in The United Methodist Church. Infighting and factions seem to receive more news coverage than the programs we created to spread the gospel, relieve poverty, help victims of natural disasters, and minister to hurting people....
Back Seat Evangelism
By B.J. Funk - When I was a little girl, I rode often with my mother to the home of a woman named Grace. Mother, Grace, and I rode around town, spending leisurely time away from Grace’s home which was located in an unkept section of our town. They just rode around and...
Dissolution or Separation?
By Thomas Lambrecht - The deadline for submitting petitions to General Conference 2020 is less than three weeks away. So far, three major plans for "separation" have been released. More are in the works. The UMC Next Plan proposes to remove all the restrictions in...
The Hand of God
By Kenneth Tanner The hands that crafted humanity from the dust are the hands that grasp Mary’s finger as she looks on her infant God with awe. The divine finger that etched the commandment concerning adultery into the stone on Sinai is the human finger that drew in...
Shepherd to the fringes: John “Bullfrog” Smith (1942-2019)
Shepherd to the fringes: John “Bullfrog” Smith (1942-2019) By Steve Beard March/April 2019 “Jesus was not crucified in a cathedral between two candles, but on a cross between two thieves; on the town’s garbage heap; at a crossroad so cosmopolitan that they had to...
Obsessed by Resurrection
By Kenneth Tanner I find it amusing, this great befuddlement that befalls some intelligent Christians when it comes to the definition of resurrection. On Holy Saturday the New York Times published an interview with the president of Union Theological Seminary in which...
