For Us and For Our Salvation

    A pastor who has been at it for a while knows that the main event every December is the Christmas Eve Service of Worship. In that service, Isaiah 9:2-7 is stirringly read; and Luke 2:1-20, on the birth of Jesus, joyfully declared. Then the Word is preached. And Holy...
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Attorney General Garland: Ideals without Accountability

  On September 12, 2024, United States Attorney General [AG] Merrick Garland addressed the closing session of the 85th Annual US Attorneys Conference at the Department of Justice in Washington, DC.  DOJ employees were invited to attend this event, held in the department’s...
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A Long Prayer for the Whole Church

  The following prayer was written by Rev. Timothy Whitaker (1948-2024), who served as bishop of The Florida Area of The United Methodist Church. In 2001, Bishop Whitaker published this prayer in The District Beam (newsletter, January/February) while he was the Norfolk (VA)...
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Addressing Abortion in the Sanctuary

    Most pastors and most priests seldom speak about abortion from the pulpit during the weekly worship service.  Why are pastors and priests so reluctant to talk about this matter in the sanctuary?  Fear.  We are afraid that if we address abortion a woman of whatever age...
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Six Political Principles

    This pastoral reflection was outlined on May 31. Ninety years before that day, on May 31, 1934, The Barmen Declaration was adopted by the votes of more than one hundred Protestants—both clergy (pastors and professors) and laity who were assembled at a church in...
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A PASTOR’S LETTER TO A CHURCH MEMBER WHO IS TEMPTED BY ABORTION

  The following letter involves fictional characters and circumstances. It is written to encourage, that is, to bolster the courage of those tempted by abortion—including their pastors. (PTS)  __________________________ Dear Karin: God’s grace and peace to you and yours. I...
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President Biden on Abortion: Time for Church Discipline?

  Before President Joe Biden delivered the 2024 State of the Union address, the question on the minds of most was, Will the president have the get-up-and-go to complete the speech without a disastrous stumble? His delivery made clear that he indeed had the energy, but...
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Preach the Gospel, Heal the Church  

    Preach the word, be urgent in season and out of season, convince, rebuke, and exhort, be unfailing in patience and in teaching. 2 Timothy 4:2 (RSV) Hundreds of thousands of abortions occur each year in the United States. Many of the women (and men) involved in these...
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HE WAS BORN IN A BETHLEHEM BARN FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS

           “For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven, was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became truly human…. “We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins….” –The Nicene Creed (In 2025, the 1,700th...
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Breaking Free from the Pro-choice Captivity of a Church

    In that infamous year 1968, the Evangelical United Brethren Church and the Methodist Church entered into a union to form The United Methodist Church. The new denomination boasted a membership of more than eleven million members, took its place among the “mainline”...
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