Is our faith a blessing or a burden? Are the practices of prayer, worship, fasting, giving, serving and studying gifts or obligations? The way a person answers these questions is very telling as to the role and value of faith in her or his life. It is continuously fascinating to […]
What, precisely, are we looking forward to? We live in a culture of immediate gratification, and we already know how the story turns out. We’ve been here dozens of times before — after all, it happens every year. We have managed to layer cultural crust over the sacred celebration to […]
There are times when Christians drive me absolutely nuts. One way this happens is when I hear well-meaning and sincere Christians confuse faith and superstition, relying on prayer as a magical talisman or incantation. I listened to a United Methodist colleague share recently that he no longer prays because it […]
I attended a session a few year’s ago at a Christian Educator’s Fellowship meeting where the leader talked about the importance of “good content, good topics, and good technique.” She delivered a very compelling vision of the task of teaching — organized, exacting, and precise. I went to another workshop […]
Growing up in the Midwest in the 1960s, we had a term for people too stupid to live — prayer stupid. The not-all-too-sensitive meaning was that prayer was all that was left for these folks — they had no other options. Their guardian angels were beaten, tattered, and torn — […]
Funny thing. Writing about stewardship all this week resulted in a 30% drop-off in my readership. I’ve gotten a handful of emails this week expressing sentiments like “I expect better from you,” and “you’re as bad as my local church,” and “why are you marching out this tired old song,” […]
What responsibility does the individual have for her or his own spiritual growth and development? At least 70% of people leaving The United Methodist Church give “spiritual needs not met” as one of the reasons for their departure. (Based on 429 “exit” interviews, 2002-2003) But what do they mean when […]
When did “evangelism” become “marketing?” At what point did the church rise up and say, “You know? Evangelism doesn’t have to be personal. We can phone (email, billboard, television, webcast) it in!” The shift from relational evangelism to representational evangelism is almost complete in some areas. At the School of […]
Various recent studies and articles note an upswing in the practice of prayer in American culture. Must be a good thing, right? More prayer, more devotion to God? More prayer, more kindness and compassion in the world? More prayer, more attention to God’s will? Not so much. The increase in prayer […]
For the past fifteen years I have had opportunities to meet with a wide variety of congregational, conference, and agency leadership teams to look at their processes and practices. Generally, I am there by invitation to offer insights and suggestions for improvement. One of my most frequent suggestions often meets […]
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