As a member of Generation X, I often warn my baby boom generation colleagues against using sentimental language around “family” to describe the church. The baby boomers were the first to...

The Bible rarely asserts its authority self-referentially. When it does, we should pay attention. Second Timothy promises that “all scripture is inspired by God.” The scripture Timothy refers to—the only scripture...

My teenager recently lost a tooth. He’s long past the age where he believes a tooth fairy will appear with money in exchange for his dental offerings, but he still put...

Jesus restores ten lepers to life and community. From their forced separation because of their disease, he gives them access again to their families. Only one, a Samaritan, a foreigner to...

Last fall I traveled with a group of colleagues from the Mayo Clinic to Rome and Assisi in Italy. Since an order of Franciscan sisters along with the Mayo brothers co-founded...

What does it mean to “remember Jesus Christ” in this letter to Timothy? For the writer of the epistle, it means that though he may be held captive, the word of...

How do God’s people maintain faith and hope when confronted with divisions in their denominations and in congregations? Well-meaning Christians, purporting to defend the faith and the Giver of faith, draw...

United Methodist annual conferences often open with a hymn that asks whether the gathered have survived another year. Voices echo throughout auditoriums as clergy and laity affirm that the God who...

Few of us have been exiled to a foreign country, but we are surrounded by people who have. I previously lived in Minnesota, home to the largest Somali refugee population in...

Jeremiah writes to the leaders of a community in exile in Babylon. Though he is left behind, many others—religious and political leaders, artisans, and metal workers—are made to dwell in the...