Ladies and gentlemen, this one’s going to be all over the place, because I’m writing it on the fly– as I’m studying scripture. Sometimes all it takes is one verse to produce a great Bible study. When I’m studying, I usually start with an entire passage, but I almost...

Theology professor Don Thorsen defines spiritual warfare as direct, supernatural conflict, whether by angels or humans, with Satan and demons, involving fervent prayer and, on some occasions, exorcism. And many of the Methodists just got really uncomfortable. I admit that I experiment when I p...

Are prayer meetings becoming a thing of the past? When I was growing up, there was a Wednesday night prayer meeting at the small rural United Methodist church where my family attended. I vividly remember showing up for another activity at 7:30 PM many Wednesdays and seeing a handful of faithful...

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 have a love-hate relationship with prayer. I feel a powerful call to explore this frequently neglected spiritual activity, and even to teach others about the things I discover. But praying is hard work sometimes. Okay, most of the time. And the best prayer times only happen when I pray before...

Call this a follow-up to my recent article, “The Bold and the Shameless” if you want. I suppose that article was arguably more about shamelessness and less about boldness, but you have to admit that it was pretty bold for Moses to try to persuade God to change his mind. And it was a...

Are you satisfied with the quality of your prayer life? I’m not talking about “goose bump” exuberance, monastic contemplation or spiritual disciplines, although those certainly have a place in Christian experience. I’m just throwing this out there: Are things changing wh...