In the post, Responsibility and authority, Seth Godin (picture to the right) inspired me to suggest a change in the phrasing used at the ordination of every United Methodist Elder. The post is short enough to warrant reposting: “Many people struggle at work because they want more authority. It turns out you can get a lot done […]
Tag: Religion and Spirituality
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Listen for God’s Yes and No
I want to add a postcript to my recent reflections on Calling in Your Life. My Ethics professor in seminary reminded our class: If God says yes to a particular opportunity in your life, God may say no to that same opportunity in the future. It is important to continue to listen to God – both […]
“You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they “are rebellious.” —Ezekiel 2:7 Go now to your people in exile and speak to them. Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says,’ whether they listen or fail to listen.” –Ezekiel 3:11 “But when I speak to […]
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Calling in Your Life
The article, Does a Calling Have to Be Religious?, from the Huffington Post addresses something that has shaped my life – calling. For me it has primarily been God‘s call in my life and a call. Here is an excerpt from the article, that I just couldn’t break into pieces. “In 1904, Rainer Maria Rilke, writing […]
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Resurrection Online’s Five Year Plan
I was inspired by Craig Groeschel‘s post, The Death of the Five-Year Plan. “Instead of planning for specific buildings, campuses, staff roles, and outreach, I’m planning to be prepared for opportunities that I can’t name today. We are creating margin and planning to respond quickly to ideas that we don’t yet have. Speed, agility, flexibility, […]
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My Ordination
This is a video of highlights from the 2010 Ordination and Commissioning Service at the Kansas West Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church. It has been edited to highlight my ordination. Thanks to the Kansas West Communications team for their work in producing the entire service.
Image via Wikipedia I appreciated some of the concepts presented by The Perils of ‘Wannabe Cool’ Christianity in the Wall Street Journal a few weeks ago. Here is a sample from the article: “As a twentysomething, I can say with confidence that when it comes to church, we don’t want cool as much as we want […]
I have been inspired by Kevin Watson’s series of posts about the Methodist Class Meeting. It was part of what made the Methodist movement powerful. I have hoped to use the following series of posts as a guide for leading class meetings when I am the lead pastor at a church one day. The Methodist […]
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Are Jesus’ miracles true?
It seems that this question has most to do with how one interprets the Bible. Scripture is inspired by God and paints a picture of God’s character, God’s action and God’s people. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that all God’s people may be thoroughly […]
Jesus, the one who died, lives! Belief in Jesus’ resurrection from the dead is one of the central beliefs of Christianity. Jesus resurrection is true and historical fact. Paul addresses this question in 1 Corinthians 15:12: “But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that […]
There are some things which one needs to believe to be a Christian. They are what makes Christianity distinct from other religions, systems of belief or unbelief. One of the most basic guides to the Christian faith is the Apostles’ Creed. This is a statement of faith that helps to set the guidelines or the […]
You do not have to agree with all of the beliefs and positions of The United Methodist Church to be a United Methodist. However, you do need to agree upon some of the central issues of Christian faith. The founder of Methodist movement, John Wesley, preached a sermon titled, Catholic Spirit, in which he addresses this […]
Rev. Andrew Conard 