Author Archives: Richard Heyduck

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About Richard Heyduck

Pastor of Hardy Memorial Methodist Church, a Global Methodist Congregation. PhD Fuller Seminary MDiv Asbury Seminary BA Southwestern University

Moral Toolkit

Posted on May 5, 2015 by Richard Heyduck

David Brooks, New York Times columnist and author of the recent book, The Road to Character, wrote a column today on the need to deal with the Big Question of the meaning of life. He opens with this question: Every reflective person … Continue reading →

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Approaching Scripture

Posted on April 18, 2015 by Richard Heyduck

Since I’m a commuter (to both my jobs), I have plenty of time to listen as I drive. A few weeks ago I was listening again to one of Robert Jenson’s 2009 Burns Lectures at the University of Otago in … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, Ecclesiology, Modernity | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Foreignness of Christianity

Posted on April 16, 2015 by Richard Heyduck

In a recent article, Nathan Sanders addressed the question, “Has Christianity Become Foreign to the Western World?” He sees a bidirectional strangeness: the Christian faith is strange to outsiders and the outside world is strange to Christians. This strangeness lies … Continue reading →

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Responding to Enemies

Posted on February 24, 2015 by Richard Heyduck

What do we do with our enemies? Many of us in America don’t have any serious enemies. Sure, we have people who annoy us from time to time, maybe even rivals in sports, business, or relationships. But enemies who actively … Continue reading →

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Andy Stanley on The New Rules for Love, Sex, and Dating

Posted on February 24, 2015 by Richard Heyduck

One of the strength’s of Andy Stanley’s teaching is is assumption that many in his audience are not committed to Christ. Too often in our United Methodist congregations we’ve been lulled into complacency. We don’t see any new people, so we … Continue reading →

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Jesus, (Not a) Friend of Sinners?

Posted on February 14, 2015 by Richard Heyduck

Though our experience in church might incline us to think so, this is not how Jesus operated. Jesus intentionally, strategically, and lovingly, spent time with sinners. If we’re going to walk in the way of Jesus, i.e., be Christians, we’ll need to do … Continue reading →

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Can We Be Good Without God?

Posted on February 2, 2015 by Richard Heyduck

The question of whether humans can be good without God comes up from time to time. Sometimes it arises as an accusation: “How can you Christians look at all the good people in the world, some of whom do not … Continue reading →

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A Problem of Communication

Posted on January 29, 2015 by Richard Heyduck

One of the books I’m reading now is Francis Spufford’s Unapologetic. At the beginning of the second chapter, leading into a discussion of the much-misunderstood word “sin,” Spufford says: “One of the major obstacles to communicating what belief feels like is that … Continue reading →

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Scot McKnight’s The Kingdom Conspiracy

Posted on January 27, 2015 by Richard Heyduck

In his latest book, The Kingdom Conspiracy, Scot McKnight cuts across the grain of both recent scholarship and contemporary ministry practice. Biblical and theological scholarship for some time now has insisted that kingdom and church are two different things, generally … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, Books, Ecclesiology, Kingdom, Ministry, Theology | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

“We’re Being Overrun by ______!”

Posted on January 23, 2015 by Richard Heyduck

As we deal with widely televised acts of terrorism (which usually pale in significance and scope to those that aren’t televised), we hear that western civilization is being overrun with barbarians. The current “barbarian horde” is mostly composed of Muslims. … Continue reading →

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