This coming week we will celebrate Thanksgiving. Some of us will be with family; and some will not given the increase threat of Covid 19. The virus is but one of the challenges of 2020 which has been full of disappointment and tragic events. I have heard many say they can’t wait until this year is over. But before this year is over, Thanksgiving comes around. I looked up the history and found that the idea of giving thanks nationally goes back to the early days of our country. During our Revolution, days of thanks were proclaimed by the Continental […]
Today is Memorial Day and unofficially it begins the summer season. More importantly, it is a day to remember those who have died while serving in the U.S. military to protect our country and its values. Recently a supporter of Renew called and shared with me the incredible story of a Methodist Pastor and his family who have been serving the Lord since the early Twentieth Century. This pastor, Rev. Bert Jones Sr. and his wife Ruth Caye Jones along with their five children were familiar faces at revivals and camp meetings for years leading up to World War […]
Jesus’ words in Matthew 6: “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink … but seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Each day as we handle the crisis of the Covid19 virus, new advisories are coming out of the CDC and the White House. We are being told that it is imperative to dramatically restrict our social activity; we are being warned that the […]
“Behold I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.” Isaiah 43:19 Much of Isaiah unfolds God’s grand scheme for the restoration of His people. The prophet announced that something new was going to happen. God’s vast divine plan, made before the foundation of the world, was going to take a new turn. The long awaited Messiah was going to be born. For the Israelites, life leading up to the birth of the Christ Child […]
Dear Renew Network, Ongoing Aftermath of General Conference 2019 A month after the 2019 General Conference in St Louis, where the work of the Commission on a Way Forward was received and the Traditional Plan was passed, the United Methodist Women’s annual Program Advisory Group and Board of Director’s met in Nashville, TN. I attended the meetings as a press representative. At the opening plenary of the Program Advisory Group, Bishop William McAlilly preached from his personal experience, which has given him compassion for the marginalized LGTBQ+ community. He told the women that UMW was needed more now than they […]
