Oct 30, 2019
Since the Traditional Plan passed in the special session of the General Conference of 2019, there have been many questions as to the future of the UMC as well as our mission at Shepherd as an open and affirming congregation. In this town hall meeting, Pastor Karl lays out the history of this debate, some possible...
Oct 30, 2019
In the Bible, when the author talks of beasts and monsters, these tales are usually told during a time of political oppression. How can they possibly survive? By resisting the "beast" and leading a different kind of life, a life in Christ. What are the "beasts" we face today? Revelation 13:1-4.
Oct 28, 2019
There is no other book of the Bible quite as confusing as Revelation. There are creatures with multiple horns and heads, colored horses, plagues and wars. What if John's "revelation" is about fighting the beasts of corruption and destruction? Who can fight against that! Our choices are to have "power over" - the way of...
Oct 26, 2019
There are many odd parts of the Bible: handling poisonous snakes and not being harmed, even a talking donkey. And then there's the difficult bits, where God seems to be condoning genocide, or worse! Instead of skipping over those sections, we wrestle with them, knowing that when we want to know God, we simply seek to...
Oct 21, 2019
Biblical stories are not all rainbows and unicorns. There's killings, genocide, and other atrocities - and often the people claim God as the one who condones it all! For us, we have another model: God in Jesus, a story of a God who chose death before resorting to violence. Joshua 6:15-21.