Clever Free Methodist

There are two things within the life of the Church that seem fascinating, yet sad, to me. I wanted to write about that this week and address those two issues because I see how the two concerns fit together. The first issue (fascination): I have always wondered why the least supported and attended functions of the Church are always related to education. That is, the most dismal attendance figures always come from Sunday School, Bible studies, mentoring, counseling and topical studies offered by the Pastor/Church. Our problem should not be blank sign-up sheets, empty classrooms and the sound of crickets chirping. The second fascination is when I see groups of people, who profess to be “Christians”, seemingly “plagued” by bad things, bad luck and challenging life events on a frequent basis. For some, it appears that their mantra is “when it rains, it pours” as it seems they are inundated with trouble and/or find ways to constantly have things “go wrong” in life. This is the pa...

Why do you go to Church? I am sure there are several reasons which all give us a comfort of connection, friendships, and community. Above all the “reasons” we give for “going to Church,” I hope the ultimate passion within us is to worship God and to seek an encounter with Him. I think the book of Revelation reveals the priority of our worship. Some of you may be familiar with the song, “Revelation Song” (I like Kari Jobe’s version) and may have sung it in your Church as well. This song reflects the words of Revelation 4:8 , “….day and night they never stop saying: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.’” It is obvious that our greatest joy is to live a life filled with unceasing, resounding and reverberant praise to the Lamb of God (Jesus) and our Heavenly Father. The question facing us today is “how much time do we engage in the exercise of worship?” Not just at Church on Sunday because we can worship God every day no matter where we...

We have to admit that there are some unusual and hard to understand Scripture passages. In the Gospels, we hear that it is “easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle.” We’ve also read that we are to “hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters – and yes, even [our] own life.” These alone, are pretty deep and somewhat confusing. One, in particular, found in Matthew 5:29-30, has always generated deep discussion. It says, “If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.” If taken literally (in the English translation) one could easily misinterpret the passage and possibly take action that could cause great harm to themselves. Does the Scripture real...

As a retired military chaplain, one thing that I learned about the Islamic faith was how ingrained and intertwined it was in the lives of each Muslim and within every level of Islamic business, law, and, of course, their religion. Now, how that is accomplished and how they get people to go along with that is another story. But, the fact remains, everything about Islam centers around the faith. Nothing in their lives, community and government is absent from their faith. Their faith is the basis and final authority on every aspect of their existence. Let’s now look at the American Church and the Christian faith. I can’t say it is the same way for us. Sadly, for most, “faith” and “being a Christian” is only one, small, compartmentalized component of their overall life. In America, we seem to categorize and segregate things into individual subjects like work, school, business, leisure, hobbies, personal life, sports, and so on. For some, faith, religion, church and Scriptur...

By now, due to the maddening issues involving our Federal Government, many of us have become well versed in the use and understanding of the word “ subpoena .”  Witnesses, committees, legal teams, and various elected officials have issued and received their share of subpoenas involving the affairs of various leaders within the Federal Government. It is quite challenging to keep it all straight. As Christians, did you realize we have been  subpoenaed ? Yes! If you will just simply look throughout the book of Acts, the Lord repeatedly commands us to be His witnesses ( Acts 1:8; 2:32; 3:15; 10:39; 13:31 ). In a spiritual context, we are being subpoenaed…we are being compelled to be a witness for Jesus Christ and the Gospel! As we understand this context, I think it is appropriate to ask ourselves whether we have obeyed the Lord's command to be His witnesses and have adjusted our commitments to allow room to live out this command daily.  Hopefull...

As a member of a group, when faced with a task or project at work, a volunteer organization and even Church, we undoubtedly have formulated in our minds a way in which to go about accomplishing the mission. Whether it is due to experience, or just a thought or two we’ve established, we all can derive a plan on how we think the steps should progress towards accomplishment. This is fine when it only involves us as an individual. However, this is not always the case when it comes to working as a team, group or organization. Every team, group or organization will most assuredly have a leader or co-leaders which leave everyone else as “followers” or subordinates. They are in charge and, like you, have a picture in their mind of how to accomplish the mission. Much to our chagrin, chances are, these ideas will be much different than our own. Tensions can rise and discontent amongst colleagues can become cancerous when thoughts, feelings, and ideas differ greatly from the leader. Her...

I find it fascinating when parts of Scripture “jump out” at me and hit me in a new way. It is particularly encouraging to me when it is one of those passages that, due to the story being told, it is somewhat “hidden” or “buried” along the way and can be easily missed or glanced over. One such passage is in Acts, Chapter one and revolves around the encounter with the Disciples. They had an important decision to make. They needed to determine who they were going to choose to replace Judas (Judas had killed himself after betraying Jesus).   As the story unfolds, it isn’t too hard to figure out that there are only two men up for the election. As the event unfolds, we see in Acts 1:26 , "They then drew lots between the two men." And the one chosen was Matthias. The one who “didn’t get the job” was a man name Joseph Barsabbas . This is where it hit me….not that Matthias was chosen, but with a 50-50 chance, Joseph Barsabbas was not chosen; he was passed over. He was ...