by Rod White, Circle of Hope, Philadelphia, PA John R. Mott died on January 31, 1955 after a long life of proclamation, pioneering, and peacemaking. He is one of the members of the church we don’t want to forget. Influential ancestors are inspiring if one remembers “comparisons are odious.” We have a great congregation of […]
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When Hope Fades
by Bonner Davis The email was an unusual prayer request from the beginning, lacking the typical details seen on the prayer chain; not unlike those vague posts one sees on Facebook from friends, #prayforme. This one was different though. It had enough info to raise questions. The email read, “Pray for the Burnham’s[1]who just lost […]
Just Jesus
by Joshua Nolt I think the best way for me to describe my understanding of a third way church is through a story. I had been preaching on two-kingdom theology throughout the 2016 election season, trying to help our congregation understand what it means to follow Jesus and live in and for his kingdom in the […]
From Anger to Hope
by Tim Diehl I woke up one morning not long ago to a Washington Post article about sexual abuse and misuse of power in a large Christian denomination (the denomination I grew up in). According to the article, a woman reported that while pursuing a degree at one of the denominational seminaries, she was raped by a […]
Tug of War
by Ryan Skove What does it look when churches in a city that are all at different points on the theological, social, and political spectrums come together at city hall in support of affordable housing for our homeless neighbors? It can be described by one word: powerful. This is what occurred on March 13, 2018 […]
Love, Peace, Hope and Justice
by Julie Weatherford Four words are prominently displayed on walls of my church’s main meeting hall: LOVE, PEACE, HOPE and JUSTICE. On a recent Sunday, a relatively new sister in our church family said to me, “I know why LOVE, PEACE AND HOPE are there. But why JUSTICE?” I stumbled through a brief explanation of […]
Fourteen Favorite Ways to Twist the Gospel
“Fourteen Favorite Ways to Twist the Gospel” by Howard Snyder provides a balanced approach to understand the Gospel from both an Anabaptist and Wesleyan perspective. One of the reasons I appreciate Snyder is that he is a Wesleyan scholar who was deeply influenced by the Anabaptist tradition. You will see how these traditions comes together […]
The Logic of Holiness
by Andrew Thompson “The Logic of Holiness” by Andrew Thompson provides a brief synopsis of Wesleyan holiness, salvation that I find compelling. For Wesley salvation was heart and life, inward and outward, personal and social and always in that order, never the other way around. Today, most theological traditions emphasize one or the other. For example, […]
We Value It All
by Kurt Willems Reprinted from the Summer 2017 edition of Shalom! DO WE REALLY mean that? As Brethren in Christ folks, we have this value—pursuing peace—that our world most desperately needs to see in real life. When applied consistently, it confounds the ideologies of any political party. This value pushes us to take the “all” with utter seriousness. […]
From Man of War to Man of Peace
by Ron Kramer Reprinted from the Summer 2017 edition of Shalom! I WAS BORN to be a soldier. Unknowingly trained from birth by my dysfunctional family, I adapted to conflict, chaos, and pain. To protect myself, I ignored and stuffed painful emotions. The benefits were that I appreciated order, functioned well in crisis, and became very resourceful at accomplishing […]