Yes, that’s a big collection of topics, but I think they’re connected. John Meunier links to an excellent post by Dan Dick, which you should read before you read this one. The topic here is the conference dashboards in United Methodist annual conferences, such as this one for the North Alabama Conference. I do have…
Allan R. Bevere is making a Christian case for limited government. Scot McKnight has linked to it. Some of the discussion is heated. Fun!
Sometimes even when I’m way to busy to be blogging, at least on my personal blog, I just see so many things that point the same direction that I just have to write. This post didn’t start with this quote, but it says something I like to read: If our denomination has lost the boldness…
From Only Wonder Understands: This week, in working on a sermon on transforming discipleship (drawing on some materials by Trevor Hudson) I was reminded that Jesus always values people over efficiency and effectiveness. One might also remember that what is efficient will depend on what one’s goal is. And yes, I think it’s a good…
Have you ever heard a conversation like this? “You can’t legislate morality,” says one person. “Oh yes you can! We do it all the time. Murder is immoral and we legislate against it.” Interesting, no? For me, this gets combined with separation of church and state. I’m an advocate of separation. People will frequently ask…
A friend e-mailed me the link to Mother Teresa’s Crisis of Faith. Although they use the singular “crisis,” that one crisis was one she lived with for a long time. I have to say that I have ample sympathy, not to mention empathy with people with doubts from time to time. I think God leaves…
Laura has an excellent post on this. She links back to an earlier post I wrote, but that’s not why I’m calling it excellent. She also makes a number of good points, and links to a number of good posts. Some Christians make the assumption that if you’re not “in your face” about your faith,…
Kevin at Everyday Liturgy is beginning some reflections on his visit to St. Gregory Palama monastery. This caught my attention, since my recent discussions of the atonement led to some discussion of the Eastern Orthodox view of the atonement, and thence to some articles on St. Gregory Palamas, and I now have a plan to…
I join with Laura in welcoming Discovering the Heart of God as a new Philophronos Blogroll member. Go check out his blog. I’m going to link to a specific post from the Pacesetters Bible School Newsletter to which I’m the primary contributor.
Joe Carter has an excellent post looking at the Christian standards on drinking. What does one do with the behavior of Jesus, who did drink? Would Jesus be acceptable as a pastor or elder in our churches or as a faculty member in our seminaries? I am a member of a United Methodist congregation, and…