Sing Faith Loudly by Kim Reisman
Kim Reisman
September 11, 2017
We sing and play instruments, we paint and sketch, we enact and perform, and all of these are triumphant expressions of the truth of our faith.
We sing and play instruments, we paint and sketch, we enact and perform, and all of these are triumphant expressions of the truth of our faith.
Sometimes when we read scripture we wonder, “what can this passage be saying to me in this moment? How can I understand it? What may God want me to do with this truth at this time in my life?” Sometimes it can be hard to understand, hard to deal with. And then there are other passages that are so simple they leap off the
I didn’t cry when our boys went to kindergarten. I didn’t cry when our boys went to high school. I didn’t even cry when our oldest graduated from high school. Maybe that’s why the flood of emotion that washed over me a couple days before we took our oldest to college completely caught me off guard. Even now, as we’re
Metanoia will be a place where we can hear God’s dream, see it with our own eyes, touch it and be touched by it – and then go declare it to all the world. I hope you’ll join me!
Eerie. Unnatural. Awe-inspiring. Within a short span, we went from sharing photos of uncanny eclipse shadows to videos of hungry floodwaters rising. America stood still while time turned in on itself and twilight became midday, calling out confused crickets while the sun went out and summer heat cooled. We haven’t found a way to control the moon. It’s not customizable. There’s
We must walk with people for a long time if they are to come into a life-transforming relationship with Jesus Christ.
Although we are in the midst of deep waters this week, we have also experienced a hint of heaven.
The heavens declare the glory of God.
Let’s talk about hate. In the first few verses of the Bible, we meet our God in his Trinitarian wholeness. The Father creates, the Son speaks, the Spirit hovers. This Trinitarian God partners within himself in the work of creation. You can sense the single-mindedness — the energy flowing within himself creating goodness. There is no sense of hierarchy here. In fact, a hierarchy
We share the grace of God through word, deed, and sign, whether anybody notices or not.
If it is true that many are gravitating to more historically resonant forms of worship, Methodists should know the resources within their own liturgical history…The forms of Methodist worship, when embraced with “heart, mind, soul and strength,” allow for reverent spontaneity and holy emotion. The use of liturgical forms, for Wesley, actually led to freedom in worship—a fact quickly lost
Talking about aliens was a great opportunity to teach students about the Wesleyan understanding of scripture, to delve into the logic of the two natures in Christology, and to unpack how Christians connect incarnation to salvation. I got to show the student I cared about his question, and maybe helped him learn a bit more about Christian theology.
Forty years ago, we could not have imagined paying $3 for a cup of coffee. Now, a daily Starbucks habit would cost you the price of a house over 30 years. And people pay it. Starbucks is nearly 43 years old. There are about 23,000 of them, but there are 1000 less of them this year. Starbucks is shrinking. Here’s
“Now we see dimly; then, face to face.” Not, perhaps, the most utilized portion of I Corinthians 13 at the ubiquitous summer wedding – but oddly, one of my favorite parts of the familiar chapter. It seems to distill the essence of faith: trust that we will eventually see “face to face” what we now discern only dimly, in fragments
I mean, what in the flippin’ world is happening here? Did God really just slaughter this guy for “spilling his semen on the ground”? If this story has ever interested you, then you’ll want to know why Onan the Barbarian was slain.
True generosity means extending yourself to a place of the unknown or even fearful. To do something that is so beyond your capacity and frame of reference puts you into the Realm of the King. This is Kingdom work, here folks. We get to see moments of God’s Kingdom here and now when this happens. All it takes is a
I believe that we will discover the most promising way forward through a deep retrieval of our doctrine and a comprehensive re-reception of it at every level of our church, especially in the local church since that is the most significant arena for making and growing disciples of Jesus Christ. This retrieval project will be a long and difficult one,
Have you ever noticed the similarities between Major League Baseball and the United Methodist Church? Both organizations exist throughout the country and have a brand logo which is recognizable around the world. In the case of the MLB, professional baseball is played on other continents and plenty of MLB players call another country “home.” In a similar vein, the UMC
As a grown-up, I traveled to a hospital once to visit a friend who’d had surgery. A mutual friend accompanied me. I watched his anxiety with amusement. He was anxious about how to find the elevators, anxious about reading the hospital map, anxious about the visit itself. I discovered that this otherwise rational, intelligent adult was uneasy and uncomfortable in
The church today puts a lot of focus on the need to make disciples of Jesus Christ. But do we take seriously what that work requires of us? I’m not so sure. I am very sure, on the other hand, that we’re living in a culture that does us no favors when we even begin to approach the work of
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