John Louk

General Conference , The United Methodist Church’s top legislative body, has begun meeting in Tampa, Florida. Nearly a thousand delegates from around the world set policy and direction for the church, as well as handle other business. General Conference is the only entity that speaks officially for The United Methodist Church. As always, there are many issues discussed and voted upon such as sexuality (the subject of homosexuality has been debated at every General Conference since 1972), abortion, church membership, immigration, war and peace, financial reform, and the environment. In the midst of this, the Council of Bishops and the Commission on the General Conference are calling for peace and sharing what God expects of us in our Holy Conferencing ( Colossians 3:12-16a, 17 ). I think three issues this year have the potential truly to change The United Methodist Church. STRUCTURE Much research (the Call to Action ) has been done and it says the majority of United Methodist ...

The Kingdom of God is like a farmer who scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, while he’s asleep or awake, the seed sprouts and grows, but he does not understand how it happens. (Mark 4:26-27 NLT) Why do some people respond positively to God’s word while others do not? In the Gospels Jesus tells the parable of the sower ( Matthew 13 , Mark 4 , Luke 8 ). It’s a story about a farmer planting seed. Probably Jesus’ listeners immediately knew he was talking about teaching or preaching. Sowing was a stock metaphor. Jesus says that some seed fell on the path and birds came and ate it. Other seed fell on rocky ground. It sprouted immediately but died because of a lack of roots. Some seed fell among thorns that choked the seeds. Other seed fell into good soil and grew and the harvest was a hundredfold or sixty or even thirty. A first century Galilean farmer would be very excited with a tenfold harvest, taking in ten bushels for every one bushel of seed planted. About seven bushels wou...