Catalyst Publications
Publications by Category
Your phone rings. It is the receptionist at the front desk. She says there is a lady there who is asking for food. You glance out your office window and observe an unfamiliar car parked in the church parking lot. A man is behind the wheel. …
May/07/2014
What follows is a devotion written for my congregation the week after Easter. With some adaption, I offer it to you as both academic year (in seminary) and appointment year (in the church) come to a close. May it encourage you to bring word…
May/05/2014
For John Wesley, to faithfully follow Christ is to be dissatisfied with things as they are, especially one’s own heart and life. This dissatisfaction is fueled not only by the commands of God that we find difficult to obey but also by the p…
Apr/30/2014
The earliest reference to the twelve Minor Prophets as a group occurs in Sir 49:10, dated 2nd century BCE: “May the bones of the Twelve Prophets send forth new life from where they lie, for they comforted the people of Jacob and delivered t…
Apr/23/2014
As I write this, I’m sitting on our church bus with other members; we’re returning from a dedication of a “Director’s Home” that our church funded, the first building on the site of a new UM Children’s Home (Madison Youth Ranch). It was a g…
Apr/21/2014
Several years ago, I introduced a Festschrift in honor of Richard B. Hays, George Washington Ivey Professor of New Testament and Dean of Duke Divinity School, with these words:
Perhaps no modern biblical scholar has argued more eloquently …
Apr/16/2014
I heard that during Obama’s visit to Rome this spring, Pope Francis gave him a copy of the Apostolic Exhortation, The Joy of the Gospel. If Obama reads this document he may be surprised by two things. First, the Pope speaks a lot about econ…
Apr/14/2014
The Psalter is the largest book in our Christian Bible. Divinely inspired, these 150 psalms have been formed though human engagement with the covenant-making God as revealed in the First Testament. The poets’ achievements demand that those …
Apr/09/2014
In part one of this essay, I noted that Scripture shows little interest in tracing the origins of sin, and that the doctrine of original sin runs afoul of modern sensibilities. How are theologians formulating the doctrine today?
Revisiting…
Apr/04/2014
“Adam, What Have You Done?!”
The OT, Gen 3 in particular, does not contemplate much the etiology of sin, nor the consequences of Adam and Eve’s mistrust and disobedience in Eden. In fact, Gary A. Anderson can narrate the history of sin wit…
Apr/02/2014
This is an interim report on the state of the theology of the Holy Spirit in a contemporary pluralistic world.
First Words: In Search of a New Paradigm
I am approaching the task of attempting a state-of-the-art presentation of pneumatolog…
Mar/26/2014
John Wesley has a theology of faith only because, at a deeper level, he has a theology of grace. The reason for this is the effect of sin. Due to sin, our hearts and lives are governed by motivations and desires for things other than God. W…
Mar/19/2014
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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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