In a May 17 column posted on the United Methodist Reporter site, Bishop Minerva Carcano of the Desert Southwest Conference offered her assessment of the recently completed 2012 General Conference. As many of you know by now, that Conference retained our...
Scripture records that when the children of Israel cried out for a king to lead them, the Lord tried to get them to change their minds.But the people would have none of it. The nations surrounding them had kings, and so should they.So God gave them what they wanted –...
You might look at the title to this post and think, "What?! The verses ARE the Scripture!"No. They're not.The division of the bible into chapters and verses is a much later development. You can read some of that story here. The original...
For the last couple of weeks, I had been telling the staff to clear their calendars for Tuesday, May 15 at 1:30 p.m. for a Surprise Extravaganza.I was most disappointed when one of our team members did not re-schedule the cruise he is taking with his wife this...
Bubba Watson's tear-filled celebration upon winning this year's Master's sparked an internal question: what are my favorite "cry" moments in sports?To make the list below, the tears must be those of victory, not of defeat. They may well contain some...
If you ask most people who are even remotely connected to church life -- Methodist or otherwise -- "what is it that distinguishes the Methodist church from any other church?" you'll get answers that focus on the practices of our denomination as opposed to...
For this final message in Courageous, I'm moving out of the story of Joshua and his leadership of the messy family known as the children of Israel and moving into Paul and his leadership of the messy family known as the church at Colossae. And it's a topic that...
The first 2/3 of James 1:27 brings great comfort to those of us who believe in showing our faith through good deeds:"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from...
I've had a gnawing sense recently that churches in general and this church in particular need to take more care to avoid enabling unhealthy behaviors.With the best of intentions, we can reinforce behaviors and patterns in people that do much more harm than good.For...
Rock & roll and the piano have long had an uneasy relationship. With apologies to Jerry Lee Lewis, the genre has from its beginnings been driven almost exclusively by the combination of guitar and drums. If the piano or keyboard play any role in most rock songs,...