In the Gospel of John, on that fateful night He was betrayed by Judas, Jesus spent a good amount of time preparing His disciples for His departure. A key aspect of that preparation was a warning that the world is going to HATE them.  I wonder what the modern progressive churches do with that warning. They seem to place the highest importance on the church’s acceptance by the culture around them. The last thing they would want to do is to cause offense.  In the coming split among Methodists, those retaining the (ironic) name of United Methodists are the more…

So yesterday I brought up a sticky question regarding Jesus’ prayer for unity among believers in John 17. It seems there are only two possibilities: 1) God granted His prayer. 2) God didn’t grant His prayer. The second option doesn’t make sense theologically. That would be God refusing His own request. But the first option – at first glance – doesn’t seem possible either. Church history is littered with splits.  Major splits.  Permanent splits. The denomination I grew up in – the United Methodist Church – is currently weathering a separation. It may take a few years for the dust…

Here’s a conundrum to chew on: What do we make of Jesus’ prayer for unity among his immediate disciples in John 17:11 (Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name … so that they may be one as we are one) …  And for all future disciples in 17:20-21 (I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you)?  This brings up two questions. The answer to the first seems obvious. The answer to the second…

I packed my suitcases, finished my to-do lists, and got to the airport on time this afternoon. But my trip to Ghana was a no-go. I missed the fine print that stipulated the Covid vaccine had to be received at least 14 days before travel. Mine was only 11 days ago. And the customs people are sticklers, apparently.  (The weird thing is that all this is self-reported. You would have to be blind to not see how easy you could forge a vaccine card. The whole system professes to be about saving lives … but it is predicated entirely on…

Tomorrow (Monday) I will be on a flight out of Indianapolis bound for New York City and then on to Accra, Ghana. By Tuesday afternoon, God willing, I will be driving to Tema with Emmanuel Akorli, Mission Resource’s man on the ground. Tonight, I am nearing packing panic mode. I have my toiletries together and I have my passport handy – the rest of it is still up in the air. None of it feels like reality yet. I will be saying goodbye to Sarah before she leaves for school in the morning, but my flight is late enough in…

I wrote a few poems while I was a student at Wabash College. Today, as I rummaged through a box full of old papers, I came across this one that I kind of liked.  For your reading pleasure: a poem that hasn’t seen the light of day for 30 years –  The Church of No Return Pews display their heavy burden –folks all clad in Sunday best.Pews distress the congregation –hardwood is averse to rest!In this church filled with empty people. Choir stands to sing an anthem,a worn-out song with lifeless beat.Choir strains to feign rejoicing;no one claps or stomps…

If I were to step back into a high school English classroom, I would make significant changes to my teaching on writing. First, my definition of strong writing would be different.  Strong writing would be clear and to the point. I would make sure students knew how to identify adverbs – so they could eliminate them from their writing.  I would teach them to give serious thought to who their audience is, knowing that their audience is less rational than they think.  (And much more emotional than they imagine.)  I would de-emphasize “academic writing” and practice more real-world writing.  I…

Since I was griping about the failings of other teachers yesterday, today it is only fair for me to confess one of the biggest mistakes I myself made as a teacher. I did this over and over again and never even realized I was wrong until after I left teaching. (I am truly embarrassed by this now. I wish I could go back and correct this failing.)  Are you curious?  Here it is:  I told my students time and again that I “knew” none of them would be going on to a career as a writer, but they should learn…

Teachers have a tough job and I am willing to give my kids’ teachers a lot of grace. But there are certain practices that I have little patience for. Here are three: (In my teaching days I was sometimes guilty of the first two, but never the third.)  As a parent I can see this more clearly than I ever did from the front of the classroom: if a child leaves your room feeling stupid and defeated, you have fundamentally failed as a teacher.  

This morning I drove to Indianapolis to get my Yellow Fever vaccination. This was another requirement for travel to Ghana.  So far, no side effects. And that’s a relief – this is a traditional vaccine and the doctor said about 1 in 8 recipients have a mild form of the disease for a couple of days, with fever, aches, and lack of energy.  I am both nervous and excited as my first opportunity to visit Ghana fast approaches. A week from now, God willing, I will be four hours ahead of you, standing shoulder to shoulder with our Ghanaian director,…