Category Archives: Spirituality

Wearing Religious Genes

Let’s imagine for a moment that there are four theories of the nature of truth. The correspondence theory, the coherence theory, the pragmatic theory and the Nietschean theory. Very briefly: The Correspondence theory says that a statement/idea is true if … Continue reading →

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Sermon, “Ending Well” is up

My last message of 2006, Ending Well, is now online. At all stages of life we find ourselves reaching the end – of school, of a job, of a career, of a year – of life itself. How do we … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, Podcast, Pursuing Jesus, Spirituality, Theology | 1 Comment

Thinking/Praying

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 →

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Old Year, New Year

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 →

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Scripture as Means of Grace – first thoughts

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

Generosity

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 →

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Learning from Ted Haggard

David Klinghoffer shares his thoughts on what we can learn from the downfall of Ted Haggard. Here are my own thoughts. Watch what you pray for. I’ve read that the Sunday before the accusations came out Mr. Haggard had prayed … Continue reading →

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Muslim response to Saddam’s sentence

I ran across Umar Lee’s response here. I was curious so I reponded with some questions. He said: “The culture of the nation of Iraq dictates that there be rule by a tyrant or there be chaos” There are certainly … Continue reading →

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Revelation

I’m working my way through William J. “Billy” Abraham’s Crossing the Threshold of Divine Revelation. The most recent of his books promoting what he calls “Canonical Theism,” Abraham continues the work of Canon and Criterion in Christian Theology: From the … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Spirituality, Theology, United Methodism | 1 Comment

Entering Ministry

People have frequently asked me, “When did you enter the ministry?” I think they usually mean something like, “When did you start pastoring churches for a living?” In my mind these are two entirely different questions. When I read the … Continue reading →

Posted in church growth, Leadership, Local church, Spirituality | 3 Comments