By Keith Reeves Note: This article is the third of a three-part series on economic production and Jubilee in the Old and New Testaments. In previous articles we looked at the Jubilee in the Old Testament and why the Old and New Testaments treat wealth differently. Now we turn to Jubilee in the gospel of Luke. This gospel is famous for its deep concern with wealth and poverty, and space does not permit a full analysis of wealth in Luke... Read more
By Joanna Meyer; reprinted from the website of the Denver Institute for Faith and Work. Every Sunday, in churches across Colorado, worship leaders call attention to the needs of their communities and the world. Simply put, we pray for what we care about. Do the prayers you offer from the pulpit, in small group settings–or even in your personal prayer life–speak to the ways the members of your congregation labor every day? The staff at St. Gabriel the Archangel Episcopal Church in... Read more
This post comes to us from Duke Divinity School’s magazine Faith & Leadership, an offering of Leadership Education at Duke Divinity. Broadway United Methodist Church in Indianapolis has redefined what it means to serve its urban community. The approach is simple: See your neighbors as children of God. For an idea of how Broadway United Methodist Church is turning the model of the urban church inside out, look for a moment at its food pantry, clothing ministry and after-school program.... Read more
The first thing God did was work and build and create. The first thing He commanded us to do was to work the garden. As soon as you frame work as a sacred task, that changes everything. At that point, your work can be done as worship to God and love for your neighbor! —Chris Neal, Associate Pastor of Student Ministries at NewSong Church in San Dimas This post originally appeared at Made to Flourish. Read more
By Andrew Spencer There are only two people with permanent, personally designated parking spots on the campus of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. As you would expect, one is for the president, Dr. Danny Akin. The other spot is for Mr. Eugene Smith, the 88 year-old man who works for facilities. Mr. Eugene, as he is affectionately known, has been working at Southeastern for more than thirty-five years. He started working for the school about the age many people are thinking... Read more
This post comes to us from Duke Divinity School’s magazine Faith & Leadership, an offering of Leadership Education at Duke Divinity. By Nathan Kirkpatrick For most of the 40 of us, it was our first exam in seminary. There had been papers, certainly, quizzes too, but on that surprisingly steamy October morning, we took our seats to spend two hours demonstrating our mastery of the nuances of the first four centuries of church history. Our professor, an ascetic Roman... Read more
By Byron Borger This post originally appeared at the blog Booknotes. It is from the book Serious Dreams, a collection of commencement speeches. LIVE WELL, DO GOOD, BE TRUE: AN INTRODUCTION Here is my long introduction to Serious Dreams. There was one more set of edits after this version, but this edition is handy for me to share here, with our compliments. I hope you enjoy it. It’s funny how, when somebody seems destined for great things in our culture,... Read more
This post was originally written for an audience of Methodists in Indiana but we here at M:W thought its message was well worth sharing with the rest of you…as an encouraging word, and as an excellent model of how a church can lift up the ministry of all believers. By Mike Coyner Sunday, May 24th, has been declared as “Encourage the Call Sunday” in our Indiana Conference. It is also Aldersgate Sunday – the day we remember and celebrate John... Read more
The way that we thought about the Biblical story was that God was trying to save a bunch of souls and whisk them out. And my time in seminary, really wrestling with the Biblical text, convinced me that that’s really not the story. God’s plan is the “reconciliation of all things” and this idea of “the new creation.” And once you start thinking along those lines, and realize that you can participate with God in the healing of creation, the... Read more
By Elaine Bernius An exploration of God’s calling on everyone’s life was at the center of a bold new initiative at Indiana Wesleyan University (IWU) this academic year. In fall 2014, over 750 first-time undergraduates arrived on campus nine days before classes began, significantly extending the former three-day orientation. During that extra week, incoming freshmen engaged in a First Year Experience (FYE) orientation that challenged and began to equip them to seek and accept the calling God has for them.... Read more
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