Friday’s Catch: “The Mark of a Christian” And More
We live in a day of deeply contentious disagreement on any number of things, but most of it is political in nature or over things that, while not overtly political, have been politicized. When we disagree with each other, we have two choices: We can maintain the ultimate mark of the Christian, or we can abandon and betray it.
Lessons for today from the Salem Witch Trials
At Salem a – once-dominant – group felt increasingly disempowered in the face of social change. The trials there illustrate the dangers inherent in a community that was deeply imbued with a sense of its own righteousness; where high levels of mutual policing combined with hunting out imagined “others,” alongside the uncritical acceptance of claimed spiritual insights; while normal standards of legality were suspended. What can we learn from this in the twenty-first century?
5 Facts About Innovation All Leaders Should Know
On May 19, 2018, Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash named Sergio Romo the team’s starting pitcher for its game against the Los Angeles Angels. Normally this would not be newsworthy but this decision forever changed the game of baseball and has profound lessons on the subject of innovation for anyone in leadership.
5 Steps to Create New Bible Study Groups and Integrate More People
Adding new groups helps our churches remain open to new people and helps people more easily navigate being involved in a group.
A distinct majority of those who pray (87%) said they believed they’d received an answer to their prayers in the last 12 months.
How to Have the Mind of Christ
It is all very well to say that being “worthy of the gospel of Christ” means being restored to the image of God so that we begin to reflect the character of the Lord Jesus. But what does that mean?
It Only Takes a Spark
This Pentecost season, God wants to set your tongue on fire for the Gospel.
Their church is leaving the UMC fold. They found refuge in a nearby ‘Lighthouse.’
The United Methodist Church is turning its attention to taking care of those who want to remain and rebuilding and fortifying its ranks.
As churches disaffiliate from the United Methodist Church, a number of conferences are reaching out to church members who wish to remain United Methodist. I don’t recall anything like this happening when churches began to leave the Episcopal Church earlier this century or in the last decade of the twentieth century.
PCUSA lost over 100 churches, 53,000 members in 2022: report
Presbyterian Church (USA) lost more than 100 congregations and over 53,000 members in 2022, reflecting the yearslong trend of decline for the mainline Protestant denomination. The PCUSA Office of the General Assembly released its annual statistics for 2022 this week, which found that the denomination dropped from having approximately 1.193 million members to approximately 1.140 million members.
Are a Quarter of Young Americans Actually LGBTQ (etc.)? Don’t Bet on It
In this article Wilfred Reilly explains why he believes the surge in LGBT identity deserves a closer look.