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Doing the practical work Jesus gave up
by Robin Russell
Sara Miles had a midlife conversion that took her from being an atheist to becoming a Jesus-loving activist feeding thousands of hungry people each week. She is the founder and director of The Food Pantry ( thefoodpantry.org) and is director of ministry at St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church in San Francisco. More>>>
Creativity at the crossroads
By James L. Killen Jr. Special Contributor
As Methodism seeks to revitalize itself, we must be careful to invest our resources and our creativity in the places where we have strength. But there is one place that is in danger of being overlooked. More>>>
GAO ZHISHENG HELD HOSTAGE BY CHINESE GOVERNMENT
Help Free a Christian who is doing God's work when he was forcibly removed from a home of a relative. Sign the petition now...
Christian Conversation
AGING WELL: The family table
by Missy Buchanan
A couple of years ago, my husband and I built a smaller home to mark the beginning of a new season in our lives. Our youngest child had completed college and had accepted a job in New York. We were real empty nesters, not just the part-time kind where kids occasionally come home to raid the pantry. More>>>
Keeping our college graduates connected to the larger church
By Jan Rivero Special Contributor
For many students, campus ministry becomes a community of friends, a home away from home, a kind of extended family. It is a body of believers with whom students grow and play, worship and serve.
Short Heart Warming Story
Letting Go
To "let go" does not mean to stop caring. It means I can't do it for someone else.
To "let go" is not to cut myself off. It's the realization that I can't control another.
To "let go" is to admit powerlessness, which means the outcome is not in my hands, but in God's. More>>>
The Lord's Prayer
Our Father which art in heaven ..."
"Yes?"
"Don't interrupt me. I'm praying."
"But you called Me."
Contemporary Christian Music: Misunderstood Melodies
By ITW Staff
by Deral Carson
For centuries, contemporary Christian music has been the subject of controversy. It's referred to as anything from mind control to the Devil's own music. From traditional chants, psalms, and hymns to the Christian rock, metal, and rap styles of today, forefront Christian music has and always will bring on some form of discord. Yet today, modern Christian music styles have proven popularity and positive effectiveness.More>>>
REFLECTIONS: As did early Methodists, take time to tend the soul in quiet season of Lent
Bishop Woodie W. White
“How is it with your soul?” is the way some early Methodists greeted each other. It was not a perfunctory greeting, but one filled with genuine caring and concern. The condition of one’s soul was a primary concern of religion of another era.
Some Bible Stories
These come from a Catholic elementary school. Kids were asked about the Old and New Testaments. The following statements about the Bible were written by children. They have not been retouched or corrected (i.e., incorrect spelling has been left in.) More>>>
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You can help the Haiti survivors
UMCOR’s two relief supply warehouses are asking United Methodists to provide health kits that can be sent to earthquake-devastated Haiti. “For people who are feeling powerless in being able to help those in Haiti, providing health kits is a tangible way they can make an immediate difference,” said Kathy Kraiza, director of UMCOR’s relief supplies. More>>>
Hey Kids! Welcome to your very own place on Praize.
UMCOR joins on-the-ground relief for Haiti
By Linda Bloom United Methodist News Service
PHOTO COURTESY OF PAUL JEFFREY/ACT ALLIANCE
The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) and a host of other faith-based groups are on the ground in Haiti as they determine how to help earthquake survivors.
With more than $2 million in donations received by Jan. 20, UMCOR already has provided emergency grants for immediate needs to the Methodist Church of Haiti and GlobalMedic, a Canadian relief agency.
I Believe by Kathy Yoder
You have to drive the nails home
They were always part of my life, like breathing or smiling or drinking lemonade on a lazy-hot summer's afternoon. Picking them up off my Grandpa's garage floor, sometimes the sun would shine in a small window and illuminate them. In the soft, warm dirt floor, the nails shined like jewels from an exotic land.
God's Will
Knowing God's Will
Do you want to know the will of our Lord and Savior? What does He want you to do and focus on in your Life? Do you see His will as Hidden? Mysterious? Undeterminable? If so we are here to help you unravel His call for your life!
WESLEYAN WISDOM: Creatively rethinking the smaller-membership church
By Donald W. Haynes UMR Columnist
Bishop Larry Goodpaster, president-elect of the United Methodist Council of Bishops, has shared with his cabinet a concern we are feeling across this beloved connection. The bottom line: It now takes 150 in average attendance for a local church to be what we called a “station” appointment. Should this be translated into appointment-making, thousands of local churches and pastoral appointments would be dramatically affected.
Child’s mission statement hits target
Andy Bryan
One recent Sunday morning, I was preaching on God’s mission as Jesus describes it in Luke 4:18-19.
I talked about how when we are younger we feel like we can change the world, but as we age we gradually lose that feeling. And I said that the church needs to reclaim the idea that we can make the world a better place, more like the way God wants it to be.
The Apostles Creed is a brief summary of the Trinity and the person and work of Jesus Christ, not an exhaustive statement of faith. It originated in the Western Church as a last-minute examination of baptismal candidates. It probably existed as early as the third century, but it didn’t take its modern form until the eighth century. Notice that the creed is in three parts, which are the answers to the following three questions:
More>>>
The Apostles Creed
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth;
I believe in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord; He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, and born of the Virgin Mary, He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day He rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. AMEN. |