Church in the World
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The Church’s Call During a Global Pandemic in an Election Year
Being a church member or a church leader calls us to do things in ways that are often counterintuitive: love our enemies, forgive, speak up and stand up even when it’s uncomfortable. Before COVID, many churches were focused on how to navigate the uncertainty of lower worship participation, fewer families, and less income. Some churches…
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The Divisions We Create
To look at Jane Elliott, now an 87 year old retired school teacher from Iowa, anyone might think of her as an older lady enjoying a slower pace of life. But then, she opens her mouth and her passion, determination, and focus to raise awareness of racism is evident as she wears a sweatshirt that…
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The United Methodist Church: A Church at the Crossroads
The recent vote at the UMC Special Session of the General Conference has far-reaching implications. This article is a brief synopsis and challenges all Christians on a way forward.
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What’s a Christian to do?
What is a Christian to do in response to the terrible news of yet another mass shooting event, specifically a school shooting?
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He Comes to Us: The Miracle of the Incarnation
5Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, 6who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, 7but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. ~ Philippians 2:5-7 I arrived at Bethel for my first official…
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Sermon Notes: The Cross Both Frees and Calls Us (9/3/2017)
In the sermon this morning, I referred to a TED Talk video by Megan Phelps-Roper, a young woman who grew up in the Westboro Baptist Church. I thought her comments were very appropriate given the tenor of public discourse. Notice that, as Hurricane Harvey was wreaking havoc on the Gulf Coast, the divisions of race, religion,…
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Working Together for the Common Good
17 Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, so that we may no longer suffer disgrace.” 18 I told them that the hand of my God had been gracious upon me, and also the words that…
Epicurious Lutheran 