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Equipping World-Changing Disciples
November 2024
All Saints Sunday, Year B - Lectionary Planning Notes
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November 10, 2024
Truth Telling Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Pentecost, Year B
November 17, 2024
Truth Telling Twenty-Sixth Sunday after Pentecost, Year B
Home Blog
March 2011
Mar
They're coming. And in some places, they're already here. Dashboards. Dashboards have been used in industry and some time-critical service businesses for a decade or so now to prov...
This is part 2 of a seven part miniseries. Part 1, introducing this miniseries, is here....
“You become what you love.” This phrase is at the heart of James Smith’s powerful book, Desiring the Kingdom. In it he makes the convincing argument that the mainline, Protestant c...
This is part 1 of a seven part miniseries....
Lent is traditionally a period the church set aside to prepare persons for baptism. For the baptized it is a time to remember and reaffirm the baptismal covenant. During the forty ...
Companions, This is the wilderness in Judea. Or at least part of it. It's a barren wasteland. Survival out here depends on discipline. One has to find safe sources of water. One ha...
Collect for Ash Wednesday Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent: Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, ...
February 2011
Feb
Several years ago I saw a movie titled “Shadowland.” It is the story of the British writer, C.S. Lewis, and his relationship with the American poet, Joy Gresham. The two meet, fall...
Program-itis is a made-up word that I use to describe a condition that diminishes the church and inhibits its mission. It is the dependence upon programs that are produced by denom...
"Part of the problem for may Christians in our pluralistic world is that they have never seriously inhabited the 'culture' of Christianity and learned its faith language. Consequen...
"Our society's device paradigm trains us in the habits of seeking quick-fix solutions to our problems. When this pattern invades churches, two especially negative effects ensue. Fi...
January 2011
Jan
Many United Methodist congregations are familiar with the “Covenant Prayer in the Wesleyan Tradition.” It is #607 in The United Methodist Hymnal. If this prayer is used at all it i...
Ask a Protestant clergyperson whether she or he prefers conducting funerals or weddings, and the answer may surprise you. Most in my circles over the years have said funerals, hand...
Sawasdee from Chiang Mai, Thailand! And Sabaidee from sisters and brothers in Christ here from United Methodist mission churches in Laos. I'm here from GBOD as part of a multi-agen...
December 2010
Dec
Actually, not coming. It's already arrived in Grapevine, TX and will apparently be available in Coral Springs, FL in time for Christmas services there as well. You can read more ab...
Snow. Lovely when it's falling, especially as it settles on trees, but a serious hazard to drive in unless your community has the equipment to keep the roads relatively passable. A...
“Christian leadership is defined, formed, and shaped by, as well as rooted and deployed in accordance with, who God is, where God is, what God is doing, and what God would have ind...
Companions, Just watched this video-- recommended by @pastopher on Twitter. Watch this first, then let's talk....
Gavin Richardson is a United Methodist with years of experience in working with youth and young adults in Tennessee, a founding member of the Nashville Emergent Cohort, and a contr...
Claudio Carvalhaes is a colleague in the Office of Theology and Worship with The Presbyterian Church, USA.His blog is a source of many fine resources and conversations in his churc...
Develop a Discipleship System
