Dungeon Grace
By B.J. Funk – Joseph was around seventeen when his cruel brothers sold him to a caravan of Ishmaelites on their way to Egypt. These folks were all kin, descending from half brothers Isaac and Ishmael. So much for loving your relatives. It took 30 days for Joseph and...
New Jersey Korean Pastor Responds
By Thomas Lambrecht - Several weeks ago, I shared the story of the Rev. James Lee, a pastor in the Greater New Jersey Annual Conference at Bethany Korean UM Church. His district superintendent notified him that Bishop John Schol was appointing him to a different, much...
You can’t argue with a changed life
Archive: You can’t argue with a changed life By Liza Kittle If I had a nickel for every time Steve Dodson, my friend and former pastor, said those words, I would probably have at least a thousand dollars. It was truly one of his mantras and has become one of my own as...
What we speak and what they hear
Archive: What We Speak and What They Hear By Duffy Robbins There’s a brilliant French TV commercial from the French film industry promoting the notion that people need to see a movie in the theater to fully understand the movie. To really get the point of the spot,...
Church and Society webzine: Sex outside of marriage can be “moral, ethical”
Archive: Church and Society webzine: Sex outside of marriage can be “moral, ethical” By Joseph Slife A sex-education column in a recent issue of the United Methodist General Board of Church and Society’s web-based publication, Faith in Action, argues that persons can...
Examining your glasses
Archive: Examining Our Glasses By Frank Decker We were nearing the conclusion of a training session in which I was teaching about the Kingdom of God when the hand of a South American pastor shot up. “So, does someone have to be a Protestant to be saved?” he asked. His...
The punk rock Orthodox priest
Archive: The Punk Rock Orthodox Priest By Steve Beard The symbolism was profoundly countercultural. When Sergei Rybko lumbered onto the stage in between rock bands at a dingy nightclub in Moscow, his appearance was sure to provoke a whiplashed double-take. Draped in a...
Letters to the editor
Archive: Letters to the editor Oddly uncharacteristic I was recently in a Sunday school class (not Methodist) where the notion of predestination was presented as absolute biblical fact. As someone who is passionate about overseas missions, I obviously don’t cotton too...
