I prefer plain English Bible translations because I have a conviction that the Word of God should be in the language people really speak. I do use the New Revised Standard Version for study but that’s mostly because so many Methodist resources use it (e.g. the Wesley Study Bible). When I&#...

If you want to be a radical Methodist, reading from the Bible should become one of your daily habits. Covering a lot of scripture each day isn’t necessary. For me, even the One Year Bible is too much, because I prefer quality over quantity. Sure, there’s some value in reading throug...

I heard about an interdenominational event where a preacher asked the Baptists in the crowd to raise their hands. He then told them to open their Bibles. At that point he asked the Methodists to raise their hands and said “Methodists can follow along with the Baptists.” Ouch. But the...

Some of us really like categories and lists. The problem is that when we categorize topics with bullet points (Schnase’s five practices, Wesley’s three simple rules, Warren’s five purposes), we sometimes forget that the individual items are usually connected with each other an...

I had the privilege today of interviewing United Methodist Bishop William H. Willimon of the North Alabama Conference. He and Dr. Joel Green served as general editors of the Wesley Study Bible, a landmark new release from Abingdon Press. Bishop Willimon is the author of Who Will Be Saved?, als...

Occasionally someone asks me what I think of the “inclusive language” debate. Usually they’re talking about either referring to God with gender-specific pronouns or translating the Bible in an allegedly “inclusive” or “exclusive” way. Here are my thought...