Doing the Work of Christ
The Justice and Social Witness group will focus on exactly what the name says. During General Conference 2019, we will discuss ways that we witness in the world about our new life in Christ — a new...
View ArticleGlobal (and Local) Transformation
Jesus told the 11 to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:16–20). The instruction is to make disciples. The direct target, according to Jesus, is “all nations.” Imagine the overwhelming feeling...
View ArticleA Biblical Perspective on Race and Ethnicity
At General Conference 2019, I will lead a focus group exploring biblical and cultural implications of race and ethnicity. We will have honest and open dialogue and will hear from the majority as well...
View ArticleCovenanters and Conferences
I don’t know much about some branches of my family tree. (My wife and I purchased DNA test kits a few months ago to help us trace our ancestry and ethnic backgrounds, but we haven’t opened them yet....
View ArticleBeyond Contracts
“Contracts were made to be broken.” I can still hear my dad saying those words. He usually said them when he was looking to get out of an agreement with someone or some entity. Sadly, my father only...
View ArticleLiving the Law of Love
I was around 20 when I first started to move beyond what had always been a vague, and definitely non-urgent, curiosity about God. It was becoming increasingly clear that I couldn’t measure up to my own...
View ArticleA Song Stripped of Joy
Have you heard the song “Baby Shark”? Chances are, if you have a child between the ages of 1 and 6, the answer is (eye roll/pull out hair) yes. Pinkfong’s recording of “Baby Shark” made the Billboard...
View ArticleCovenants and Community
Most people in our church don’t know much about covenants. As the lead pastor, I guess that’s ultimately my fault. They appreciate the ceremony of some of them. (Who doesn’t like a good wedding?) But...
View ArticlePrepared to/Willing to/Able to/Have to/Don’t Want to/Want to
The Bible contains a number of covenants and commandments. We are most familiar with the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:3-17). You know them whether you are aware or not; lying, murder, adultery and...
View ArticleEvery Church Can Multiply
As individual followers of Jesus, we are called to multiply by making disciples of those around us, helping people — wherever they are in their spiritual journey — move closer and closer to Jesus...
View ArticleStewardship and Church Resources
What resources do you think you need for your church? What does God say you need as resources for your church? How do you know the difference? During three exciting roundtable discussions at General...
View ArticleWhat’s Next for Your Church?
I am looking forward to General Conference 2019 and an opportunity to be a part of our bishops’ initiative to equip the local church. I will be presenting Church Next Steps along with Mike McAvoy, the...
View ArticleWhat Children’s Ministry Is and Could Be
I was in Chicago’s Diamond Headache Clinic for two weeks as a patient for a migraine that wouldn’t go away, a result of meningitis. I had tried everything to break the pain cycle and nothing had worked...
View ArticleHigh School Exile
From third grade through my junior year of high school, I attended a small Christian school inside a Baptist church building. I became immersed in a fundamentalist culture that made my own Free...
View ArticleExile: Torn Away, Torn Down and Torn Up
Then and There I don’t know if you’re capable of imagining it … that everything you have is gone, even your home. You think some family members might have survived, but they’ve no phones so you’re not...
View ArticleA New Homeland
I was born and raised Free Methodist in the high mountains of the Eastern Congo known as Hauts Plateaux d’Itombwe in the province of South Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo. My country, the...
View ArticleSometimes We Forget
Sometimes the stories in the Bible become so familiar to us that it’s easy to forget the details. For example, in the story of Jonah, we remember Jonah running away and God using a storm and being...
View ArticleLearning to Live as Exiles in Two Places at Once
The flaps on the wings of the Boeing 737-800 series lifted, and the loud breaking made the toddler behind me scream. All of us wanted to scream but figured we would let the toddler do it for us. I...
View ArticleThe Land: A Thermometer of Covenantal Faithfulness
The land plays an important role in the Bible. Genesis begins with humans living in the Lord’s presence in a divinely gifted land, and Revelation ends with redeemed humans living in the Lord’s presence...
View ArticleMeet the Bishop Nominees
The Free Methodist Church – USA Board of Administration, on April 6 as part of its semiannual meeting, accepted the recommendation of the Bishop Search Committee to present five nominees for bishop to...
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