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Sometimes, when I watch my granddaughters playing with each other, I reflect on this saying of Jesus: “the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” In what sense do these two little children belong to His Kingdom? What makes our children unique? What characteristics of children fit the reality…

Though a few mainline denominations may overemphasize the sacrament of baptism, some Nazarenes today neglect this historic means of grace. For a previous generation of Nazarenes, a trip to the mourners' bench assumed a sacramental status that tended to make baptism a seldom-used organ in the…

No warning. One moment everything was fine as I traveled to work. The next second a tremendous jolt changed my life. Surely it had only been a few minutes since I'd kissed my wife Erin and two-year-old son Peyton good-bye and had left for work. I tried to think about them, think about anything but…

"Then He said to them, 'Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions'" (Luke 12:15, NIV). This passage from Luke 12 seems almost counterintuitive, but that should not surprise us since Jesus consistently finds ways to disrupt the “…

In reading the current November/December edition of Holiness Today on human sexuality, you may find yourself asking, “What has happened that caused us to be considering the issues we are facing both in society and the church?” For some, the temptation to withdraw from difficult topics of…

One Sunday morning I preached a simple sermon about the meaning and significance of baptism, saying, "Something happens in the water." Then, I invited anyone who would like to be baptized to come forward. I said, "If you have a change of heart, we have a change of clothes." Something amazing…

Justine Knight has viewed the global Church of the Nazarene from multiple perspectives. She lives in Bethany, Oklahoma with her husband, General Superintendent Emeritus John A. Knight, Sr. Q. Which historical figure interests you the most? A. Susanna Wesley, for the manner in which she reared…

A former trapeze gymnasium seems to be an unlikely location for a Church of the Nazarene. Acrobats once teetered on tightropes just above the place where a strange cross hangs on the wall. Fashioned out of chicken wire, the hollow cross is stuffed with fast-food wrappers, cigarette packets, beer…

During my teen years, I discovered that my church had a 14-page list of rules that were mainly "don'ts." No matter how I tried, I felt that I never quite made it to the state of sinless perfection I sought. Many nights grim dreams of punishment for my failures haunted my sleep. But the sum of my…

How could I choose just one? At the end of September 2001, I was sitting in front of 50 letters from various schools, orphanages, and nursing homes. Each contained the same thing - a description of a difficult situation and a plea for help. Having recently started working with Nazarene…