These are hard times, and it’s easy to feel apathetic or despondent about our future as a church. But 1 Corinthians 16:13 (NIV) says, “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.” This passage challenges us to think about what it looks like to be...
As you have undoubtedly heard, the General Conference of The United Methodist Church met last month and changed a great deal of the denomination’s teachings on social issues and further distanced itself from a traditional, Biblical understanding of the Christian faith. I would even go so far as to say...
Change is never easy. I remember being hired as a family pastor at a church and thinking to myself, “I can finally plan the next 10 years of my life!” However, if you don’t know by now, that’s not how God works. Looking back at the last 10 years of...
How many times has this happened to you? You have a discussion (or even an argument), and in the midst of it you can’t really think of anything significant to say. You’re taken off guard, and while engaged with the other person(s), you just can’t come up with the salient...
Yes, there is a cost of having children! The question is: are they worth the cost? Or better, what is the cost if you decide not to have children? In the last few years, the cost of almost everything, especially having children, has risen. It will cost an average of...
The postponed 2020 General Conference of The United Methodist Church (UMC) completed its work last Friday, May 3, 2024. It was the “2020 General Conference” because the actual 2020 GC was postponed three times because of “COVID”. The last time it was postponed was under very suspicious circumstances. Nevertheless, the...
Maybe you’ve heard this saying before, “Nothing in life is free, you always pay in the end”. In some ways this statement is very true. Whether we pay with money, time, and even our physical investment, there is a cost to live in this world. It can be overwhelming at...
This week, on Tuesday, April 23rd, the General Conference of The United Methodist Church begins meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina. This is the postponed 2020 General Conference, meeting in 2024, but with the delegates elected in 2019 and 2020, except for those that have left the UMC through disaffiliation or...
As the date of my retirement approaches, I think it is good to think about and plan for the transition. I have been privileged to serve as your pastor for the past 10 years, and while that is not even half the time that Pastor John served you, it is...
I have been discouraged lately. In politics, social media, schools, and even in churches, cultural wars have broken out and I cannot picture how peace will prevail. Health issues with friends and family and issues related to disaffiliation compound the discouragement. I want to fix things that are mostly out...