Last Friday night my wife and I celebrated twenty-two years of marriage by having dinner in downtown Dayton. More specifically, we ate in Dayton’s Oregon District. This quirky, semi-bohemian part of town is home to some of our best restaurants and more than a few popular bars. It’s a place where the people of Dayton…
I recently read through Scott J. Jones’s excellent book, John Wesley’s Conception and Use of Scripture (Kingswood, 1995). I’d read parts of it before, but I’d never made my way through it cover to cover. It’s a very informative work. I’d recommend it to anyone interested in Wesley and Scripture. Especially since the emergence of…
A formal separation of The United Methodist Church is imminent. The only question is what it will look like. Will one group force out the other? Will one group simply become so frustrated or disgusted that it leaves? Will we go to court over property? Will there be a long string of church trials? Will…
This is a sermon I delivered at Sugar Land First UMC on Trinity Sunday, June 16, 2019. Many thanks to Rev. Martin Nicholas for the invitation. A long time ago I taught in a community college. One of the courses I taught was Major World Religions. One day I was giving a final exam–back in days…
The recent Spirit and Truth Conference was a great experience! The worship was amazing and we heard from powerful speakers and preachers.
I take it for granted that the UMC will begin a formal division after the 2020 General Conference. We no longer practice a common polity, and thus we cannot hold together as an institution. As the Academic Dean of a seminary, I have lots of conversations with pastors. Most understand the reality we now face…
I’m excited to announce the arrival of a new book by my colleague, Dr. Joni Sancken, Associate Professor of Homiletics at United Theological Seminary. The book is called Words That Heal: Preaching Hope to Wounded Souls (Abingdon, 2019, 122 pp.). From the back of the book: Words That Heal: Preaching Hope to Wounded Souls offers students and preachers…
I wanted to get some distance from the General Conference before writing. It was an gut-wrenching experience, full of sadness and conflict. If you were a delegate, I can’t imagine how hard it was. I’m sorry for what you went through. Since I returned I’ve been pondering a tweet by Chris Ritter: The folks back…
In short, yes. For those of you who are interested in more detail, a few days ago I tweeted the following: Reading Wesley on original sin. I’ve heard people say that JW did not affirm total depravity. He certainly did. A Wesleyan allergy to Calvinism shouldn’t cause us to see difference where it doesn’t exist.…
I was recently invited to participate in a dialogue on the authority of Scripture at United Theological Seminary with friend, Rev. Dr. Mike Slaughter. We were each given fifteen minutes to talk about how we conceive of Scripture’s authority. The following is the basic text of my presentation. I’ve edited it a bit to make…
Pursuing Jesus
These are the thoughts, prayers, stories, sermons, and devotions from a simple pastor. May you be blessed by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as you read...
Equipping 21st Century Sojourners
Musings and whatnot....
"For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world--to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice." John 18:37
Doctrine Matters
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Reflections on Theology, History, and Culture
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work and prayer of a jesus follower
Who is my ideal reader? Well, ideal means non-existent. I have no notion of whom I’m writing for. Guy Davenport
'An arrow through the air'
Holiness, Sustainability, and Tending Good Soil
A Biblioblog with Nijay K Gupta
two of us are tall and the other one of us is short and has Down syndrome
Comments on the New Testament and Early Christianity (and related matters)
