Featured
Jun, 22, 2011 0
John Ngombe is a lay pastor at the Nelspruit Church of the Nazarene in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa. That church was started in March 2004 by John, his wife, Betty, and three other families including then missionaries Daniel and Annette Jones. Ezra Maziya, superintendent of the Sunrise…
Jun, 22, 2011 0
Q: What was your childhood like?
A: I had a very difficult childhood. I was very poor, and at the age of seven I lost my mother. I often went without food or warm clothes.
In the sixth grade my friend invited me to a small Nazarene church. I attended it only two or three times, and then went to…
Jun, 22, 2011 0
After 36 years of pastoral ministry I find myself perplexed by some trends that are unlike anything I have ever experienced. I wondered if my experience was normal or if only our church was living with some new realities. In response to my inner turmoil, I began a conversation with Tom Nees, Dennis…
Jun, 20, 2011 0
Q: I sometimes hear church people and even pastors speak derogatively towards other denominations, and towards anyone who believes differently than they believe. How can they do this while claiming to live holy lives? It doesn?t seem very Christlike.
One young pastor had a few people attending his…
Jun, 20, 2011 0
Recently a friend remarked, "I'm glad you can laugh! We need to laugh!"
Agreed! I grew up in a family where we laughed a lot. Considering we were eight children plus two parents in small parsonages, it was probably our way of coping with too much togetherness. Laughter and laughing are a part of…
Jun, 19, 2011 0
Q: Why can't I know what happens in my local church? What happens behind closed doors at church board meetings, with clergy and lay leadership, is important to me. How can my local church be more transparent?
Perception is as important as reality. The church and its leaders need to appear…
Jun, 19, 2011 0
We stood together in a circle in an abandoned lot for the street church service that Sunday afternoon. The many homeless men, women, and families participated together in singing, in offering prayer requests, and in listening to the sermon which was an abbreviated version of the one we had heard at…
Jun, 16, 2011 0
For the past 15 years I have had the privilege and challenge of living, working, and worshiping with human beings between the ages of 17 and 24 - university students. I have lived in what I call "incarnational tension;" tension between my elders, peers, and students. Missiologically, "incarnational…
Jun, 15, 2011 0
Olga Robles is superintendent of the Puerto Rico East District Church of the Nazarene and represents the Mesoamerica Region as a member of the denomination's General Board. For 11 years she pastored Rio Grande Church of the Nazarene in Puerto Rico. Prior to that, she engaged in a career teaching…
Jun, 15, 2011 0
Resetting your inner compass is something everyone can do. Many voices are calling out to harried, time-deprived people. Following are some suggestions for resetting:
Turn off the computer.
Go to bed earlier and get more sleep.
Experience the anxiety of cell phone deprivation.
Turn off the TV…