Follow Jesus. Lead the church. Change the world.
Psalm 95 is an interesting psalm. It only has 11 verses. The first seven verses are filled with great statements about praising God … Come, let’s sing out loud to the Lord! Let’s raise a joyful shout to the rock of our salvation! Let’s come before him with thanks! Let’s shout songs of joy to … Read more
The Church needs to be a people of action! I’m writing a series of prayers for the Church, offering a prayer on a different topic each week. So far, I’ve prayed for awakening, transformational leaders, urgency, hope, health, and compassion. Scripture makes clear that faith and action go hand in hand. One example is James … Read more
One of the highlights of the Bishop’s Retreat, which ended yesterday in Lancaster, PA, was the kids getting to meet Bishop Jeremiah Park, and his wife, Lisa, who are both from Korea. We took a photo with the Parks after the closing communion service. Unfortunately, we had to crop the right side of the picture … Read more
On Monday evening at the Bishop’s Retreat, Randy led a time of prayer and reflection, looking at 1 Kings 19.1-9a. He asked “What are you running from?” and “What are you running to?” On Tuesday evening, I concluded our look at Elijah with 1 Kings 19.9b-15a, which begins with Elijah in a cave where he … Read more
Today, Rev. Adam Hamilton, pastor of The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, delivered the sermon at the Inaugural prayer Service at the National Cathedral in Washington D.C. President Barack Obama, and other national leaders, gathered in this traditional service that dates back to George Washington. You can read the transcript of … Read more
Last night, at the end of the first session of our Bishop’s Retreat, I led our clergy family in a time of prayer and reflection. Here’s the gist of what I said. Leadership and ministry often involves a lot of running. Unfortunately, too much running makes it hard to have a healthy soul! And, a … Read more
Bishop William Willimon is coming to the Susquehanna Conference next week as a guest speaker at the Bishop’s Retreat for our clergy family. Bishop Willimon recently retired from serving as bishop of the North Alabama Conference. He has since returned to Duke, where he taught for twenty years before being elected bishop in 2004. He … Read more
The church needs compassion! I’m writing a series of prayers for the Church, offering a prayer on a different topic each week. So far, I’ve prayed for awakening, transformational leaders, urgency, hope, and health. Yesterday, I wrote, God, Break Our Hearts! Asking God to break our hearts for what breaks God’s heart is a prayer … Read more
I’ve always loved the description of Jesus’ ministry in Matthew 9.35-38 … 35 Jesus traveled among all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, announcing the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness. 36 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he had compassion for them because they were troubled … Read more
Life isn’t easy. We need a guide, a compass, a way to live. Last summer, I was reading through the Psalms, and a verse from Psalm 86 jumped out at me. Teach me your way, Lord, so that I can walk in your truth. Make my heart focused only on honoring your name. (Psalm 86.11, … Read more