The Limits Of Leadership: Integrity And Incarnation by Andy Stoddard

One of my great hesitancies when I first entered the ministry concerned leadership.  I was afraid to lead.  I had too many doubts.  What if I choose wrong?  What if I lead my people poorly?  What if I make a mistake and it all falls apart?    As I was going through ordination in the United Methodist Church, my mentor suggested I read In the Name of

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Loneliness And Friendship In Ministry by Carrie Carter

Sometimes there are questions that simply do not have clear solutions.  As my husband and I neared the end of our first ministry assignment, a woman said to me, “I think if you hadn’t have been in your position of leadership, we could have been good friends.” Even in my late twenties, I didn’t completely comprehend what she was saying. It stung,

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Excuses, Excuses: Common Sense, Morality, And The Divine Revelation of God by Elizabeth Glass Turner

Humans are expert excuse-makers.   “Well, GOD, the woman you gave me tempted me, so…that’s why I didn’t listen to you when you told me not to eat anything from that tree.”  “I know I’m not supposed to cut my hair, but…I mean, have you seen Delilah? I’m only human.”  “I’d love to follow you, Jesus, but I have family obligations and an urgent to-do list first.

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My Mind Stayed On Jesus by Andy Stoddard

Every morning I start off with the Morning Office. It’s an online version of the morning and evening prayer service found in the Book of Common Prayer. The service has scripture readings, prayers, and other useful tools for focusing on God. Each day’s reading starts off with a hymn. And while I usually focus on one of the scripture readings,

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A Flame Of Love: Celtic Christianity Within Reach by Tammie Grimm

On a cold winter’s evening, whether to toast marshmallows, chat with friends or curl up and read a book, many of us might enjoy the opportunity to cozy up to a brightly burning fire in the hearth. But how many of us depend upon a fireplace—excepting in dire emergencies—to heat up our homes? The reality is, despite whatever scouting skills

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On Bridges And Barriers by Kim Reisman

It may just be that we don’t make connections between our experience of being in relationship with Jesus Christ and the experience of the rest of the world through massive efforts and structures. It may just be that it’s about the intimacy of crossing a footbridge to meet another in the middle.

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The Strong But Gentle by Kim Reisman

We are called to be “strong but gentle,” called to “strive to make the right prevail,” through the light of God who is with us, who does not abandon us midday, whose purpose will not fail or crumble, who trains us to serve “a higher will.”

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The Trinity: A Woven Mystery of Beauty by Tammie Grimm

For my shield this day A mighty power: The Holy Trinity! Affirming threeness, Confessing oneness, In the making of all Through love… The breastplate of St. Patrick features this refrain at both the beginning and the end of its poem. St. Patrick’s invocation of the Trinitarian Godhead—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—is emblematic of Celtic Christianity. St. Patrick may be famously

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Valuing Our Global Family by Kim Reisman

Politicians have interests from which Christians may be joyously free. Our faith family is not contained by state lines or party lines, by skin color or culture, by language or ethnicity.

We are free to love each other. And we are free to love others.

What a gift.

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Celtic Christianity And The Coloring Craze by Tammie Grimm

Chances are, you or someone you know gave or received a coloring book for adults in the last year. With titles as catchy as “Color Me Stress Free” or “The Art of Relaxation,” the coloring craze has swept the nation. Whether the book contains images of floral gardens, mandalas or other graphic patterns, the idea behind coloring therapy is to

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Is Sin Necessary To Know Jesus? Why It Matters by Elizabeth Glass Turner

“Jesus has a body but the Father and Spirit do not. Discuss.” One of my acquaintances posted this on social networking recently, provoking a number of responses. One person wondered if Christ had always had physical form. The discussion spun and doubled back, spiraled and swung. And, as it happens, it matters. Frequently theology – especially Trinitarian theology – is

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Suicide And The Enemy Of Our Souls by Carolyn Moore

Yet another acquaintance lost his life to depression over the holidays. Such loss leaves everyone devastated on multiple levels. When devastations like suicide drop into our lives, we’re left with far more questions than answers, not to mention the guilt and so often, such a sense of powerlessness. Stretching to make sense of a tragic event, we tend to grab

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