You Can’t Reason with Emotion

I belonged to a very conservative religious group in college. We devoured books that titillated us with scenes of the rapture and the world’s imminent destruction. We sang, “I Wish We’d All Been Ready,” feeling glad we were the ones who were ready and not the ones who got drunk in weekend parties. Some in …

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Have We Forgotten Who We Are?

The Wesleyan Covenant Association is a group within United Methodism advocating for the denomination’s traditional stance prohibiting same sex marriage and the ordination of self-avowed, practicing homosexuals. Earlier this year, the writer of a WCA blog counseled his readers to stay “rooted” and “grounded” in God’s Word when considering LGBTQ issues. I took that to …

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Jesus, Macro-Manager

When you read about Jesus and study his teachings, one thing becomes clear. Jesus was mostly a macro-manager. He painted in broad brush strokes upon a wide canvas. Accordingly, when his enemies set traps baited with legal minutiae, he easily stepped around them. Which (of the 613) Jewish laws are most important? Two. Love God …

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It’s About Honesty and Humility. Period.

After 40+ years in the United Methodist ministry, two things have become clear. If we’re ever going to resolve our significant differences, we’re going to have to have the honesty to admit that none of us knows what we’re talking about. Each of us sees things only through a very narrow lens. Our genes, ancestry, …

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