2025 marks a new season for Julie and me as we have now fully transitioned from over fifteen years of ministry and service to Asbury Theological Seminary and am now beginning a new chapter at Beeson Divinity School.   I now serve as the Methodist Chair of Divinity at Samford University.  My wife and I thought […]

Each year the church throughout the world keeps vigil for three days between Good Friday and Easter Sunday.  Three days of waiting in expectation.  Jonah in anticipation of that great mystery spent three days in the belly of the fish before he was resurrected to preach the gospel to the nations.  This morning marks the […]

One of the more hopeful developments in the larger wesleyan movement of our day has been the emergence of the Global Methodist Church. This new denomination has the opportunity to bring fresh winds of renewal to the wesleyan movement throughout the world. While the recovery of distinctive wesleyan theology is vital, probably the greatest blessing […]

The last century has witnessed some of the most dramatic shifts imaginable in the world Christian movement.  There are now vibrant expressions of Christianity across sub-Saharan Africa, in India, in China, throughout Latin America, and the Far East, especially in Korea. In Latin America, for example, the period between 1970 to the present witnessed the […]

Reflections on Christopher and Richard Hays’ book, The Widening of God’s Mercy Many who travel in Methodist circles will be aware of the new book by Christopher and Richard Hays entitled, The Widening of God’s Mercy (Sept. 2024).  This new book seeks to create a theological argument for the full embrace of same sex marriage […]

Lausanne 4 came to a triumphant close today.  It is difficult to describe in words to someone who has not attended an event like this, the breathtaking beauty of a Lausanne gathering with 5,200 people gathered in a single room with delegates from nearly every country on earth worshipping in joy and harmony.   There is […]

I am writing from Korea (Incheon) at the midpoint of the Lausanne 4 gathering with a few reflections so far on his historic congress.  For those who may not be familiar with the Lausanne movement, it was founded by an initiative from Billy Graham, Leighton Ford and John Stott in 1974 to accelerate and build […]

The Prosperity Gospel:  An Aberration to Watch out for Central to the task of any pastor or leader in the church is to be vigilant and attentive to various aberrations of the gospel which are common in our own day.  Some of the best theology from the New Testament and later patristic period are writings […]

Living Courageously in the World   On a January night in 1536 Jeronimus Kȁls and two of his friends were arrested in a pub for refusing to take part in a drinking game.  Their refusal raised the suspicion that they might be anabaptists, the radical wing of the Reformation.  They were arrested and put into […]

We all love champions. As a tennis fan, I have followed Novak Djokovic for years, and it was so exciting when he landed his 24th grand slam. He is a real champion. The last few years another exciting athlete has entered the big stage of NCAA women’s basketball. She is Caitlin Clark, the point guard […]