Catalyst Publications
Publications by Category
That God was perfect, simple, and Triune was the common language of the church for nearly two centuries. It was affirmed at the Council of Rheims in 1149 and the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215. It is present in some form in nearly every Pro…
Jan/11/2016
The story of Jonah scares me. By all accounts, the book of Jonah is a strange text. It’s considered one of the “Minor Prophets” of the OT even though there is only one line of prophecy in the whole book. It’s a text that is well known for t…
Jan/04/2016
In part one of my series on Critical Shifts for Embracing God’s 21st Century Mission, we discussed the need for moving From Preaching to the Choir to Communicating with Cultural Clarity. In this new installment, I want to suggest a second s…
Dec/28/2015
What student at seminary has not heard the old joke about attending “cemetery,” the place where faith goes to die? Academic study of the Bible often has been connected to a dry, dead faith. But this danger is not a new one, nor is it inesca…
Dec/21/2015
Are we sinners because we sin, or do we sin because we are sinners?
This question, torn from the pages of many an ordination exam, sharply focuses the debate around original sin. A Jewish text from the late first or early second century …
Dec/19/2015
Let me acknowledge from the onset that I am writing with a focus on The United Methodist Church today in North America. United Methodists in Africa and Asia, in my opinion, have much to teach us in the US. In future blogs I will share my th…
Dec/14/2015
My last essay on “The Musicality of Catechesis” led me to further reflections on how crucial the recognition of musicality is to teaching the faith. It brought me all the way back to my first essay on Catalyst Resources in which I appealed …
Dec/07/2015
Richard Niebuhr famously remarked that “the doctrine of original sin is the only empirically verifiable doctrine of the Christian faith” (Man’s Nature and His Communities: Essays on the Dynamics and Enigmas of Man’s Personal and Social Exis…
Nov/30/2015
Over the course of the last few semesters, I’ve been engaged in teaching a set of classes that focus on Christian practices — those practices that we engage for the purpose of being formed into the people of God. There are practices that fo…
Nov/09/2015
The term “evangelism” did not come into common use until the nineteenth century. But while Wesley and his Methodists did not use the term, they certainly practiced evangelism. This comes as no surprise to those who know even a little about …
Nov/04/2015
Question: What is God?
Answer: God is the perfectly, simple, Triune God.
This question and answer seem inappropriate. We cannot know God’s “whatness,” so why inquire after it? To answer it would be to “Master Divinity,” a ludicrous ac…
Nov/02/2015
To conclude an introductory course on the OT, I took my class to the Georgia Aquarium. No, this was not an end-of-class celebration, although some consider it so. My students were actually on assignment as they gazed in awe at the graceful …
Oct/28/2015
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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…
"The John Wesley Fellowship provides not only financial support, it is an extraordinary community of Christian scholars — and friends."