Dear Belmont Friends, Last week, after 52 years of language incompatible with God’s boundless grace and love, our United Methodist Church General Conference removed the harmful language from our Book of Discipline. We no longer name some of God’s beloved children as incompatible. The UMC no longer bars churches or pastors from celebrating same sex […]
Tag Archives: christianity
Last weekend, I joined our confirmation retreat along with 14 seventh and eighth graders. Our teens asked great questions like “why is our denomination splitting up?” I felt drawn to the whiteboard and with help from Faith Friend Dr. Michael Stephens I drew a timeline of church splits: Christianity from Judaism 45AD, Roman Catholic […]
Last Tuesday, after what we church workers call Easter Monday, I looked at my sermon text and I wondered why I laid out a sermon series rooted in First John. Unlike most of the Bible, First John does not tell a story, at least not in a traditional sense with a storyline, plot, and characters. […]
Three acts into the 28 scenes of the Acts of The Apostles, Peter and John land in jail just like Jesus. They were arrested, jailed overnight, and dragged before the same court that crucified Jesus. I don’t know about you, but I grew up hearing that preachers should avoid politics, stay away from trouble and […]
If you had the hubris to write a book filled with everything people need to know about God, how might you organize it? Would you open such a Bible with a chapter of definitions and terms? Would you organize your chapters with titles like “how worship feeds our souls” or “dealing with oppression, evil […]
“Now, I don’t know how long this Saturday in the state of Tennessee will last, but I’ve got Good News: Sunday always comes, resurrection always comes. Resurrection is a promise and a prophecy! We are still here and we will never quit.” Rep. Justin Pearson
After receiving the Ten Commandments, Moses says to the nation: “I set before you blessings and curses, Life and death. Now choose life, so that you and your descendants might live”. (Duet 30) Life emerges (as a blessing) when we as individuals and together in community adhere to the covenant. We do not enter the […]
“A new king came to power in Egypt who didn’t know Joseph.” Do you remember Joseph, the dreaming youngest child of Jacob and Rachel? Jacob lavished Joseph with fancy gifts like a multi colored dinner jacket. Every now and again Jacob sent Joseph to check on his older brothers as they camped out in the […]
I want to invite you to imagine that the Bible simply ended with Jesus’ Ascension. Jesus ascends and sits down in heaven. Imagine: that forty days after Easter, the disciples gather atop Matthew’s mountain. The Risen Christ speaks “peace be with you” and shows them the wounds in his hands and side. Jesus shares a […]
I loved church camp for memories like when we collected a bounty of unwanted cubed carrots and constructed a vegetable castle, catapulting it with field soggy peas. Or on Talent night, when a camp staffer did not spot our middle school sacracaism and implored the entire assembly to imitate my youth groups’ very enthusiastic applause. […]
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