Lost Sandwiches: The Spirituality of Place

Column by Rev. Jim Burklo on May, 1 2025

Jesus told his followers that they were citizens of the kingdom of heaven.  But where was this kingdom?  Here, there, inside of them, or all of the above?  He challenged them to expand their definition of “home” to include the whole human family, the whole world, the whole cosmos.

The Medicine of Both/And

Column by Rev. Lauren Van Ham on April, 24 2025

Living heaven on Earth means leaving the ways of Empire and embracing the wisdom of Creation, the ways of Kin-dom. 

Easter 2025: Tears, Goosebumps, Smiles And the Presence of the Universe

Column by Dr. Carl Krieg on April, 10 2025

It’s always the same old story. Location and time don’t matter. The greedy, rich, and powerful always take what they can from the rest of us, be they kings, khans, industrialists, or tech bros by the name of Henry, Genghis, Stalin, Hitler, Trump, Vance, or Musk.

How Suffering Love Reveals the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53

Column by Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Frantz on March, 27 2025

Suffering love is the pinnacle value of Christianity.  It is rooted in the suffering of Jesus on the cross–a reality we can never fully fathom: the aching loneliness, the wrenching pain, the sense of total abandonment.  Suffering goes to the core of our human situation.

Such a Strange Way to Save The World

Column by Rev. Dr. Mark Sandlin on December, 19 2024

When it comes to “saving the world,” I am much more interested in the life and teachings of Jesus than I am in any divinely ordered sacrificial actions that humanity has overly burdened the stories with. Even in the stories themselves, we see signs of the importance of his life and teachings.

Politics, Religion, & You

Column by Rev. Dr. Caleb J. Lines on October, 17 2024

American Christians often wonder exactly how their faith and politics ought to intersect.  It’s an understandable confusion, especially for those who value freedom of belief and religious diversity.  I often hear that we should “keep politics out of the pulpit,” but doing so is a theological impossibility for those who take Jesus’ teachings seriously because Christianity is inherently political. 

Jesus DEI-ed For Us

Column by Rev. David M. Felten on August, 15 2024

Some conservatives think they’ve got a winning strategy in disparaging Democratic Presidential nominee Kamala Harris as a “DEI hire.” Because she’s a woman and racial minority, she can’t possibly be qualified — just like all those other non-white, non-straight, non-male people who’ve unfairly been “given” straight, white, male jobs.

The Tail That Keeps on Flopping

Column by Rev. David M. Felten on May, 16 2024

he schism the United Methodist Church has been enduring the last few years, culminating in this Spring’s General Conference in North Carolina, is also a direct result of unresolved Civil War era prejudices.

Timeless Womb

Column by Kevin G. Thew Forrester, Ph.D. on April, 11 2024

Scholars have debated for decades whether Jesus referred to himself as “the son of God.” I agree with those who conclude no. Jesus, as Walter Wink demonstrates, most likely understood and spoke of himself in the tradition of the prophet Ezekiel, as “the son of man,” or “the human one”.

Holy Week

Column by Dr. Carl Krieg on March, 21 2024

The chronology of the week is where the difficulty originates. Most Christians believe that first Jesus was crucified, and then he rose from the dead. The reality is that first came the resurrection and then the crucifixion.  This is crucial.