The Future with John Wesley

Today, June 28, is John Wesley’s birthday. With all the brouhaha among United Methodists lately, I’ve been thinking about what makes Methodists. We know the term was first used in derision: “those method-ists, who always have a method for everything!” But what is the spirit that John Wesley tapped into, that continues to ignite and…

Read More

Stewards of Our Stories

When I walked into the great hall one evening this week, about a thousand chairs were arranged in circles of six, set up for small-group conversations. For this one session, it was not the usual set-up for a United Methodist Annual Conference of local-church pastors and leaders. “Be a steward of your story,” the speaker…

Read More

Generosity of Inclusion

I hadn’t heard of Rachel Held Evans until her shocking death last month at the age of 37. I don’t tweet, and I’m a lot older than Millennials. But in her case that was my loss – I celebrate her intentionally generous life as an “apostle to outsiders,” and am grateful for how her influence…

Read More

Prescriptions for Contentment

“I have learned to be content with whatever I have,” Paul wrote to the Christians in Philippi. “I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and…

Read More

Why People Give to One Cause Over Another

A longtime friend just asked me, “How do each of us grow a passion for one project or another?” Clearly none of us can give in response to every need, so what prompts us to choose one or some ministries over all the rest? Certainly he’s not the first person to ask that. In fact,…

Read More