Catalyst Publications
Publications by Category
Jim was a dear friend. We shared our lives together; stayed in his home in the mountains, played golf together, talked about our growing up on a farm — his here in Florida, mine in Ohio. Jim died this past Saturday. It was sudden and shocki…
Dec/08/2014
The book of Psalms ends in 150:6 with the memorable exhortation: “Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.” This is an invitation to join the whole chorus of creation in the ongoing, vibrant praise and worship of God. Praise is the c…
Nov/10/2014
Biblical injunctions to be “peacemakers” (Matt 5:9) and “ambassadors for Christ” to whom “the message of reconciliation” has been entrusted (2 Cor 5:19-20) sit uneasily with events happening in the world. As I write this reflection, words l…
Nov/05/2014
If God is who we say God is, then (1) there is nothing more important than telling (and singing and blessing) God’s story, and (2) God’s story will never be God’s alone — given God’s election to bring forth and bring home a blessed creation…
Nov/03/2014
Interested in doctoral work? You may want to apply to A Foundation for Theological Education (AFTE) for financial assistance. Since 1977, each spring AFTE has awarded up to five new John Wesley Fellowships to United Methodist students. Thes…
Oct/29/2014
I sometimes ask students to write an essay in response to these questions: Who is God? How do you know? Theologians have provided different answers. Protestant scholasticism, for example, argues that we know God through a rational examinati…
Oct/22/2014
When I explored the boot camp analogy in my last essay, I appealed to both ancient and contemporary models of spiritual formation and their use of images of athletic and military training. We can also legitimately appeal to the origins of M…
Oct/20/2014
What does an evangelical theology of religions look like? As, if not more, important, what is an evangelical missiology of religions like? There are many reasons why I pose both question together. One is that, oftentimes, evangelical belief…
Oct/15/2014
We’ve all heard it: “They didn’t teach that in seminary!” It’s true, the first year or two in congregational ministry will teach you many things that you won’t learn in seminary. But this summer, I’ve been grateful for one thing I did learn…
Oct/13/2014
One of the perennial questions asked of theologians and ministers is the “why” of theodicy. Interestingly, when a significant tragedy or crisis occurs, people are often inclined to raise what seems to be on first blush a theological questio…
Oct/08/2014
A few weeks ago, one of my clergy buddies posted his list of 10 "books that have stayed with him," that "have shaped his life." It was an intriguing idea, which prompted me to make my own list of 12 books, in addition to the Bible, that hav…
Oct/06/2014
One of the besetting sins of the modern era is “presentism,” by which I refer not only to an unreflective devotion to present-day sensibilities but especially to the troubled assumption that present-day sensibilities are distinct from and s…
Oct/01/2014
Getting Involved
News & Events
-
A Foundation for Theological Education (AFTE) John Wesley Fellowships have been awarded to three doctoral stud…
-
Announcing that 2026 John Wesley Fellowship Scholarship Applications are now being accepted. Please see the at…
-
JWF and Friends of AFTE, we look forward to you joining us Thursday-Sunday, January 15-18, 2026, for the AFTE …
-
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."