Follow Jesus. Lead the church. Change the world.
As Pentecost Sunday comes to a close, I’ll share one more thought about life in the Spirit (I previously wrote about Dynamite and Immersion). I’ve always understood the role of the Holy Spirit to be largely about empowerment. Moments before Jesus ascended to heaven, he told his followers … … you will receive power when … Read more
Tomorrow is Pentecost Sunday. I recently reflected on the word Dynamite. I’m also thinking about the word immersion. Immersion is one of the forms or methods of water baptism (along with sprinkling or pouring). The United Methodist Church recognizes/practices all three forms. But when it comes to being baptized in the Holy Spirit, immersion is … Read more
This Sunday is Pentecost Sunday. It’s a particularly meaningful day because of the first Pentecost following the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Days earlier, Jesus informed his followers … … you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere … (Acts 1.8) I’ve … Read more
Earlier this month, on Mother’s Day actually, we announced that we are adopting again. We learned today that our paperwork was mailed to Korea yesterday. Now the wait for a referral begins (which will be our next major announcement)! Last time around, we received the referral of Ethan about two months after our paperwork went … Read more
I remember hearing someone (Leonard Sweet?) once talk about Jesus’ primary tasks. And recently, while reviewing Missional Church (which I recently wrote about), I came across this quote: … three main tasks of Jesus before his crucifixion: preaching, teaching, and healing (133). Preaching. Teaching. And healing. I view preaching as proclaiming the good news of … Read more
I have been blogging our journey at Centre Grove through the Five Practices and I’ve written a couple posts on the first of the practices that we’re discussing (Radical Hospitality 1.0 and 2.0). In the last post, I wrote that we were making strides on indoor and outdoor signs that would improve our presence in … Read more
In my last post, I described the process of becoming provisional elders in The United Methodist Church. Now I want to say more about how we got to this point. In early 1998, after a lengthy search for our place in the body of Christ, we made contact with then District Superintendent, Rev. Thomas Irwin. … Read more
Recently, I wrote Why We are United Methodists. But one thing we have not blogged is the ordination process we’ve been engaged in ever since we have been United Methodists. The process of becoming ordained pastors in the UMC has been long for us, mainly due to coming from another denomination (I’ll say more about … Read more
I have heard it said that some things are better caught than taught. We teach through what we say, but our words must match our actions. We are certainly learning this principle as parents. We use words to teach Ethan how to behave, but he picks up on our actions, too. Recently, Virgin HealthMiles replaced … Read more
Today, Joleen and I announced to our churches that we are going to adopt a second child. Once again, we are adopting an infant from Korea. We are requesting a girl. We are using the same agencies, Adoption Horizons (our local agency and caseworker) and Americans for International Aid and Adoption. We’re expecting AIAA to … Read more