Author Archives: Richard Heyduck

About Richard Heyduck

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

Thinking/Praying

Posted on January 2, 2007 by Richard Heyduck

Is there a difference between thinking and praying? I’ve wondered about that since I first heard the phrase, “Our thoughts and prayers will be with you.” Doubtless, much of our prayer life (at least in the UM churches I’ve been … Continue reading →

Posted in Prayer, Spirituality | Leave a comment

Old Year, New Year

Posted on January 2, 2007 by Richard Heyduck

From a church perspective last year was somewhat stressful. The church had been thinking for years about acquiring the grocery store property across the street. We knew we couldn’t expand to the south (down town), the east (court house & … Continue reading →

Posted in church growth, Leadership, Local church, Spirituality | Leave a comment

Scripture as Means of Grace – first thoughts

Posted on December 20, 2006 by Richard Heyduck

As theologians move beyond the categories inherited from modern theology, the notion scripture first of all functions as a means of grace has become more popular. Billy Abraham (Canon and Criterion) , Ellen Charry (By the Renewing of Your Mind) … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, Spirituality, Theology | 1 Comment

Al Qaeda, Taliban, et al.

Posted on December 12, 2006 by Richard Heyduck

Jeff Stein has a bothersome habit of asking our leaders annoying questions. Earlier in the year he discovered that numerous leaders in congress and intelligence bureaucracies didn’t seem to understand Islam, particularly the nature of the Sunni / Shia split. … Continue reading →

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How Churches Ought to Think of Each Other

Posted on December 10, 2006 by Richard Heyduck

Here’s a comment from Tom Peters on how churches ought to think of each other. Except he’s not talking about churches. To put it briefly: if you lead a church it is a good thing for the other churches around … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Generosity

Posted on December 5, 2006 by Richard Heyduck

It’s nice to see generosity in action. Sunday while I was going around the sanctuary greeting people, a family slipped me a check. “Use it to meet the needs of people.” That’s generosity in action. Last week when I wrote … Continue reading →

Posted in Current events, Spirituality | Leave a comment

Arguing as a Christian

Posted on November 30, 2006 by Richard Heyduck

Ilaria Morali, a professor of theology in Rome, tells of a recent encounter in the course of “interreligious dialog”: Morali: I recall that last year, at the moment of exchange with the assembly, a person in the audience asked me … Continue reading →

Posted in Current events, Islam, Theology | 1 Comment

Fear

Posted on November 25, 2006 by Richard Heyduck

We watched Akeelah and the Bee for family movie night tonight. It was a good story. On one level it was depressing: we (society and our schools) expect so little of our kids when they are capable of so much. … Continue reading →

Posted in Current events, Education | Leave a comment

Responding to Wright on the War on Terror

Posted on November 11, 2006 by Richard Heyduck

I am not yet a convinced pacifist, and, after reading Wright’s piece, “Where is God in â€˜The War on Terrorâ€™?“, (thanks to The Ivy Bush for calling my attention to this article) I don’t think I’m as far down the … Continue reading →

Posted in Current events, Theology | 1 Comment

Inscrutable

Posted on November 9, 2006 by Richard Heyduck

How do you know when youâ€™re winning? In football itâ€™s pretty easy: score more than the other guy. Even if you have more total yardage, more first downs, more aesthetically pleasing uniforms and plays, you still lose if you donâ€™t … Continue reading →

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