Seeking Salvation : Christianity, Faith, Methodism

      Some days, it is very hard to write. The words don't come easy, and the writer fights to place words on the screen. This afternoon, I asked myself the most important words I could write today, and the answer was "You Matter". You matter because God perfectly crafted you to exist in this world. No one is perfect, and we are not guaranteed all happy days. That isn't life. But at the end of the day, "You Matter." You matter because, without your existence, many things would not have happened that you have done. Little things like opening the door for someone, giving a person a hug, letting a customer know everything would be alright, fixing the kid's dinner, simple things. The Gospel is found in the simple things of life. How we live is the Gospel. The Gospel isn't going to Church, though community is critical; it isn't reading the Bible, though scripture can inspire and comfort. (remind us that we could have screwed up way worse today!) No Go...

  Pictures and poem by Carol Meile We have forgotten, and it saddens me. We have forgotten the simplicity of the Gospel message in America. We now worship wealth, power, sex, and money as gods. And the price we have paid as a society is horrible. People sleep on the streets, children hunger, the elderly are forgotten, the poor are vilified, and migrants are treated worse than common trash. We have lost our humanity and have placed ourselves before others.       People are asking theologians and pastors to reimagine the Gospel around these values of rugged individualism, personal responsibility, greed, power, and competition. This is a rubicon that many pastors will not cross. In the Gospel of Luke, the writer speaks in song of God's faithfulness from generation to generation. He writes about how the proud are scattered in their thoughts, the powerful are brought down from their thrones, and the hungry are filled with good things, while the rich are sent away. (L...