July 2016

Q&A: General Assembly

How important is it for the global church family to gather, such as at a general assembly? Is it worth the expense?

Kitty Voges: It’s priceless. My first general assembly experience was an eye-opener on the church. You don’t realize, until you attend, how people come from all over the globe.

Loreal Higgins: It’s always good to know that you’re part of a bigger family, a greater body, and to see the diversity. At a general assembly you get to experience it, and that’s what’s amazing.

GOD, the SEED-PLANTER

I have the uttermost respect for farmers. I am privileged to have some great farmer friends in North Dakota and they are among the most incredible people I know. The dedication and love they put into what they do, their outstanding work ethics, and their ability to fix machinery as big as a two-story house cause me to feel deep admiration for them.

Hallowed Be Your Name

In ancient Hebrew culture, a person’s name was synonymous with his or her nature. To know the name was to understand the individual's personality. The nation of Israel believed this was also true of God. They held one name for God that was deemed so sacred that it was spoken only once a year by the High Priest in the Holy of Holies. When they wrote the name of God, they did not use any vowels, only consonants, out of reverence to The Name (YHWH).

I Don’t Agree

Christian believers belonging to the Church of the Nazarene do many things well. We respond quickly to people in need through such ministries as local compassion centers and Nazarene Compassionate Ministries. We educate more than 50,000 college and university students annually through our 52 higher education institutions.

We share the gospel effectively through local evangelism efforts and via our missionaries serving in 159 world areas.

Q&A: Catechism

Q: I hear our pastor talking about beginning a catechism class. What is catechism anyway? Isn’t it for Catholics? I thought we were more interested as a denomination in getting people sanctified, not just memorizing cold facts about religion. ?

Interview with Rachel Crocker

Where were you born and where did you grow up? I was born in Guatemala. When I was a year old we moved to El Paso, Texas. Dad pastored there until we moved to the West Coast. When I was around 12, Dad wanted us to return to Guatemala to be closer to our family and our roots.

What Is Authentic Community?

Have you noticed how hard it is to be open and honest with others? I’m not talking about social-media open. It’s easy to repost an article on Twitter or to leave a comment on Facebook. If you dislike someone's opinion, you can unfollow them. If you offend someone they can just "block" you. But it’s not that easy in real life, is it?

Bringing the Story to Life

My kids got their good taste in music from me. They’re a little obsessive about it, though. Every time we get in the van, they want to listen to one particular bluegrass album over and over and over: Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder’s Live at the Charleston Music Hall.

One song, “A Simple Life,” proclaims, “My favorite book was wrote about a man that died to save my soul.” Whether he realizes it or not, Skaggs makes a profound claim with this simple lyric: the Bible is story.

Selfishness in the Church

Which is more important:

  1. Arriving at your vacation spot on time, or
  2. Making sure someone gets the treatment they need for a medical emergency?

Don’t ask the woman who spit in the security guard’s face as she was escorted off the plane.