After a long chain of events, ultimately all of us are responsible for this wrenching halt in the work of God’s Kingdom through the UMC. I am responsible for this mess, and I am required to fight at my expense to see God graciously pick up the pieces and make something beautiful, whole, and useful again. Being a disciple of Jesus Christ is inherently a leadership issue. Not many are calling for repentance because we’re not living holy lives ourselves. We must repent for taking actions to protect our interests and let collapse God’s interests in preventing the imminent demise of many people.

The key action to the UMC’s victory is not teaching “our side” better, but prayer and repentance. And the key issue of repentance in this battle in not for what we are as humans, but for leaderlessness of who we are individually and corporately in Christ.

It is God’s role to strategize, and our part to stand. The current leadership landscape in the UMC is full of “traditionalist” fruitless strategizers and “progressive” faithful standers. When people stand, unified and persistent enough, in increasing numbers, they can achieve outcomes for good or evil they never thought possible, and it was always wrought by events and timing neither side predicted. Our duty is not to own the exhausting politics of wrestling for human dominion, but to each individually and together corporately stand up for the Lord’s interests as the Holy Spirit leads.

Repent, Pray, and Stand for the UMC No matter your position of influence in the United Methodist Church, your hope in Christ is needed now. Today the Wesley Covenant Association's Unashamed conference was held. As the watering hole of the fractured,...

Asking God how it is possible to “stand strong in You and in Your mighty power,” I heard Him say, “Put Me on!”

Jesus accepts you and loves you just as you are. You won’t stay the same in His presence, but He loves everyone right where they are. Read Romans 5:6. The question for the whole world riled up about LGBTQ is not whether Jesus accepts you for who you are, but whether you accept Him for who He is.

Repent, Pray, and Stand for the UMC No matter your position of influence in the United Methodist Church, your hope in Christ is needed now. There is a "conversation" about the future of the United Methodist Church - as there should be, considering the...

…I stood up and shared my agreements with the ethos of the WCA, but then asked, “Why is the WCA preparing more for the breakup of the church than for victory?… It seems that our common spiritual enemy would be very pleased to see the noisy few kick out the faithful many. But Jesus Himself said that the gates of hell cannot prevail against His church. So if the United Methodist Church is a church of Jesus Christ, why is no one preparing for victory? Is not the UMC a church of Jesus?”