By Mike Coyner It seems almost every day as I read, watch, or hear the morning news, there is news of another shooting. Some of those have been “mass shootings” in Orlando or other cities, some have been shootings here in Indianapolis, and some have been “officer-involved” shootings in cities where we have actual video of cops shooting citizens. While not wanting to jump to conclusions without all of the evidence in hand, and while trying to maintain our constitutional... Read more
People are called to work, not just to provide for themselves, but to help the world flourish, says the collaborator on Timothy Keller’s book “Every Good Endeavor.” This post originally appeared at Faith & Leadership. People work for a variety of reasons: money, security, power, success. But work — at least, from the perspective of the gospel — is not about accruing benefits for ourselves, says Katherine Leary Alsdorf, the founder and director emeritus of the Center for Faith &... Read more
By Jordan Dillon I didn’t know that I thought I was invincible until the moment I realized that I wasn’t. It’s an assumption that I’d carried around until the age of 24. It was more than assumption though; it was an expectation. It was part of me. One brief moment separated that expectation from me. As amateur weekend craftsmen, Brad and I would throw ourselves head first into projects that were hilariously, at times, above our skill level. I’ll never... Read more
For some reason this song is stuck in my head this Fourth of July, even though it was written by a British guy. The Psalter Hymnal Handbook says it’s appropriate for occasions when we want to emphasize “the public task or kingdom work of Christians in the world.” May it be so. 1 God is working his purpose out as year succeeds to year: God is working his purpose out, and the time is drawing near; nearer and nearer draws... Read more
A month or so ago, I got an email from my doctoral advisor (who has some idea which way my life path has gone) saying that I ought to review a book called The Blessings of Business by Darren Grem. In conjunction, he said, with Timothy Gloege’s Guaranteed Pure, a scholarly history of Moody Bible Institute. The Blessings of Business had, at that point, not been released; but Guaranteed Pure had, and so I dutifully got it from the library... Read more
By Mike Coyner I was home last Wednesday waiting for some repairmen to arrive at our house, so I watched some of the celebration in Cleveland. They deserved a time to celebrate after all of those years of frustration. Finally, their beloved NBA team, the Cavaliers, had won a world championship and ended their long drought. Over those years many times they had been close with football, basement, and basketball – but now finally they had a chance to celebrate... Read more
I found out about #Brexit yesterday morning under less than ideal circumstances: my husband and I got up at 4:30 am to take our preschooler in for a tonsillectomy. While idly waiting around to get in the car, I checked Facebook. I had gone to bed the previous night instead of staying up for the referendum returns because, darn it, I had to get up at 4:30 am. But, just as when you go to bed even though your favorite... Read more
I’ve now been through the opening banquet and one full day of Acton University, and I have thoughts. Boy, do I ever have thoughts. I’ll try to get some of them into this post. What I’ve done so far: Plenary, Magatte Wade: Wade, a Sufi Muslim and the founder of several businesses, made a passionate plea for Westerners not taking colonial, paternalistic attitudes towards Africans and emphasized the values of entrepreneurship and hard work. “Christ and Culture Revisited,” Hunter Baker:... Read more
So, I’m here at Acton University in beautiful downtown Grand Rapids (I’m actually not kidding; the river is really pretty and I enjoyed walking along it last night) in a room full of several thousand traditional Catholics and evangelicals all concerned with economics and politics. How exactly does a nice Episcopal priest and English major end up in a place like this? Well, my husband Edwin came last year as a blogger (you can read his reflections about the experience... Read more
Bishop Michael Coyner of the Indiana Area of the United Methodist Church, whose reflections you have read many times in this space, is retiring from being an active bishop in August and had his retirement celebrated here. In celebration I thought I’d point you back to all of his excellent columns that we’ve reprinted here. You can read a lot more of them on the Indiana United Methodist website. Jesus Reads My Email Changing Pacers Coaches, Changing Pastors, Changing Presidents... Read more
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