“A divide of the United Methodist Church, which has 12 million members worldwide, appears imminent. Some pastors and bishops in the United States are already talking about leaving the denomination and possibly creating a new alliance for gay-friendly churches.” This is without question good news. The United Methodists are now the lone hold-out among the... Continue Reading

People are drawn by God to the gospel, they go to a local church where they hear the Word of God faithfully preached, they see other disciples living faithful lives, and they see faithful church leaders watching over the church. People have their gifts and callings verified and are presented with opportunities for service. Some... Continue Reading

Nationalism. Privilege. Ancestry. Gender. Politics. All these cultural discussions have an element of identity at their core. Now, like never before, we seem to be asking that question not just about others, but about ourselves. “Who am I?” we ask. “To what do I belong?”   The question of identity is a simple one. You... Continue Reading

In this chapter, I want to examine a pair of biblical texts that I have preached on many times. However, I do not apologize for having made the point I wish to make before, for these are things we need to examine over and over again. The Bible says that “the LORD your God is... Continue Reading

Like most African Americans I knew there was a battle taking place within me as I struggled with being both black and American. Yet, at the same time, the views I had of myself were also influenced by the perceptions white Americans held about black Americans. As these two opposing views struggled for dominance I... Continue Reading

We can say that Paul, by asserting the centrality of love in a Christian’s life, is consistent with the teachings of Jesus. Jesus famously said that the entire body of God’s law can be summed up by love─love for God and love for neighbors (Matthew 22:37-40)─and instructed his followers to be defined by love (John... Continue Reading

The anchor reminded Christians that their hope was secure in something that transcended this world. It pointed them away from themselves to someone strong and stable that they could be confident in. This is supported by the anchor imagery found in one of the earliest sermons we have, the letter to the Hebrews, dating sometime... Continue Reading

Many churches and Christians focus almost exclusively on loving their neighbour, giving very little time to loving God. They set up all sorts of projects to help people – foodbanks, homeless projects, clean water projects, education projects and so on. These are all excellent things, but of themselves, they’re not particularly Christian things and sometimes... Continue Reading

Having left their homes to follow Jesus and His teaching, the crowds already know that He preaches like no other rabbi and that He can handle adversity with insight and authority. They have seen Him perform miracles that defy explanation and point to deeper truths about His identity and purpose.   As an anthology, the... Continue Reading

Rothman is not denying that certain groups have experienced injustice. On the contrary, he argues that certain classes of people have in fact experienced historic oppression and that their plight demands justice. His contention, however, is that so-called “social justice” has devolved into recriminations between identitarian movements on both the right and the left. He... Continue Reading