Month: September 2025

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Everlasting Life in Resurrected Bodies

For a long, long time, I’ve been trying to make the point that the promise of everlasting life is a gift from God in the form of resurrected bodies, not a natural result of our having immortal souls. The first has firms foundations in the biblical faith, the second was imported into Christian thought from pagan philosophers. Theologian Frederick Buechner has made the same point. I encourage you to follow the link below and see what he has to say.

Link: https://www.frederickbuechner.com/quote-of-the-day/2025/9/2/immortality-nbsp-nbsp

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Homework, If You Want It

I’m going to share a bibleproject.org video on Justice in my sermon tomorrow on Amos 5:18-24. I’ll play it during the sermon; you don’t have to watch it now. But there’s a lot packed into this video, and I’m glad I watched it more than once.

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Eternal Life, Here And Now

The folks over at bibleproject.org have another video that helps better explain things I’ve been trying to say for years. This video is about eternal life here and now and resurrected life in the new creation that is to come. I would invite you to watch, but know that you may get to rewatch it in a future sermon.

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Book Study This Wednesday

The first meeting of this year’s Wednesday night book study will be on September 17, 2025, at 7:00 p.m. in the parlor. We’ll be covering “Words of Welcome” and chapter 1 of Being United Methodist Christians: Living a Life of Grace and Hope.

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I Won’t Be Endorsing Politicians

While I was on leave, the IRS announced that churches could not endorse political candidates without endangering their tax-exempt status. It’s not entirely clear how far churches can go in doing so, but it seems clear that ministers can endorse candidates from the pulpit. I have no intention of doing so. The separation of church and state is essential for the spiritual health of the church and the proclamation of the gospel. The official position of the UMC is:

“While we do not believe churches should affiliate with particular political parties, we do encourage churches to speak out boldly on social issues from a gospel perspective.” [1]

I’ve gotten into trouble for speaking out boldly on social issues from a gospel perspective. [2] That’s good trouble, and I have no intention of stopping. However, I will not bind my call and vocation to any political candidate.

[1] www.umcjustice.org

[2] Actually, I don’t even have to speak boldly to get in trouble. I was once accused of meddling in politics when I gave a sermon on the book of Ruth, where I argued for the importance of loving kindness. I do not regret that sermon.

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Wesley K-State Sunday

This Sunday will be a special one, as we’ll be joined by a full contingent of K-State Wesley Students, three of whom will be helping lead worship. Two of those students, Jonathan and Maddie, will be sharing their witness, and the other, Zander, will be serving as worship leader.