Catalyst Publications
Publications by Category
The story we tell of early Christianity tends to focus almost exclusively on the church fathers and their contributions leading to major developments in Christian theology. Women’s contributions are often seen as ancillary to the developmen…
Feb/20/2019
The promise of change and transformation is captivating to the human spirit. For followers of Jesus, transformation is supposed to occur as a result of Christian faith and living. Revelation 21:5 echoes the declaration in Isaiah, “Behold, I…
Feb/18/2019
Although older, two of the most valuable commentaries on Philippians are those of Gordon D. Fee (New International Commentary on the New Testament [NICNT]; Eerdmans, 1995) and Markus Bockmuehl (Black’s New Testament Commentary [BNTC]; Hendr…
Feb/13/2019
Over lunch recently, a ministerial colleague and I were discussing the various ways local churches seek to use social media to promote their ministry. He and I have served in a variety of contexts, and we observed that similar conversations…
Feb/11/2019
John Wesley, like all Protestants, believed we are saved by grace alone. But what is grace? The common definition in both standard English and theological dictionaries is something like the unmerited favor of God.
The first point in the …
Feb/06/2019
United Methodists might be surprised to learn that our denomination has a constitutional mandate committing us to unity in the body of Christ “at all levels of church life” (The Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church 2016, Articl…
Feb/04/2019
For those interested in using the early Christians as guides for their interpretive practices, a good place to start is with the methodological reflections of Origen (c. 185–253) and Augustine (354–430). While they do not speak for all, the…
Jan/28/2019
There has been no shortage of books and articles on the Holy Spirit by scholars in recent decades. It is surprising to discover, however, that this scholarship has yet to trickle down to the rank and file within the churches. I have been te…
Jan/21/2019
My last piece was a meditation on Victor Hugo’s description of the bishop in Les Miserables: “He did not study God; he was dazzled by Him.” There I explored how our study, done well, leads us to dazzlement. I don’t want to leave the idea th…
Jan/14/2019
My second favorite line from Les Miserables is something Hugo writes about the bishop in the first fifty pages: “He did not study God; he was dazzled by him.” Great advice for all seminarians, theologians, and human beings.
In my experie…
Jan/07/2019
This fall I assigned sermons to read for several weeks of my Foundations in Systematic Theology course, a tactic I learned from the great Geoffrey Wainwright. Karl Barth argued that doctrine and proclamation belong together, always, but pre…
Dec/17/2018
We live in a culture that wants to move faster and faster still. But, is faster always better? There are some things about going slow that you cannot get when you are moving fast.
When I was serving as a youth minister, I took the youth …
Dec/10/2018
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A Foundation for Theological Education (AFTE) John Wesley Fellowships have been awarded to three doctoral stud…
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Announcing that 2026 John Wesley Fellowship Scholarship Applications are now being accepted. Please see the at…
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JWF and Friends of AFTE, we look forward to you joining us Thursday-Sunday, January 15-18, 2026, for the AFTE …
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Twenty John Wesley Fellows, spouses, and friends were able to experience a trip of a lifetime. The travel itin…
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