I’ve been involved in theological education and leadership training for two decades – first, in the formation of VLI (Vineyard Leadership Institute), and now, as a board member of Vineyard Institute. Vineyard Institute (VI) is an entirely new international training school which equips people to be better disciples, lay leaders, church planters, pastors, and missionaries. VI has a course that will fit your level of church involvement and your budget.
On June 26, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that our Constitution guarantees the right for same-sex couples to marry in all 50 states. Justice Anthony Kennedy stated in his majority opinion: “The Court, in this decision, holds same-sex couples may exercise the fundamental right to marry in all States.”
This summer Vineyard Columbus has the privilege of hosting the first international gathering of Vineyard leaders in 20 years. Many folks who attend Vineyard Columbus don't realize that we are not an independent local church, but are part of an enormous global family called the Vineyard that has 600 churches in the United States and about 2000 more churches in 75 different countries. And, of course, the Vineyard global movement is part of the much greater body of Christ that includes people from every denomination and every continent - Australia, Asia, Africa, Europe and North America. Not only so, but we are part of a family that contains members who sit on thrones and others who sit in wheelchairs; some who sleep on silken sheets and others who sleep on dirt floors; some who are in their mothers' wombs and others who have spent more than a century outside the womb. Our global family contains those who are presently alive, and also the saints who have gone to God stretching back before the Day of Pentecost to prophets like Daniel, Isaiah, and Huldah, and leaders like Joshua and Esther.
To My Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Today, the hearts of every Christian, and indeed every person of good will, are broken by the tragic murders of 9 worshippers at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, SC. As I prayed for the victims’ families, friends and for the Charleston community this morning, I felt the grief of the Lord’s Spirit joining me in my prayers.
Near the end of the second century, a bishop named Irenaeus wrote a classic Christian book from Lyons, a city in France. The book was called “Against Heresies.” In it Irenaeus uttered this wonderful phrase, “The glory of God is man fully alive.”
In America we have been taught from the time we are small that what comes out of someone’s mouth is really no big deal. We’ve all heard the old nursery rhyme, “Sticks and stones will break my bones, but names will never hurt me.”I often wonder who the foolish person was who came up with that nursery rhyme because I would like to throw a few sticks and stones their way.
The other night at the small group that I attend, the leader of our group taught on Jesus’ calling of his first disciples. In this story from Matthew 4, Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee when he saw two brothers, Simon, called Peter, and his brother, Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake because they were fishermen. Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” At once they left their nets and followed Jesus (Matthew 4:18-20).
There is almost no adult living in America today who can’t distinctly remember where they were when terrorists flew two commercial airliners into the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers killing nearly 3,000 people. I was in Maine and watched the fall of the towers in complete shock and horror. Our nation’s grief was compounded two years ago when a young gunman entered the Sandy Hook Elementary School and murdered 20 children.
Adam Grant is a professor at the Wharton School of Business. At age 31, Grant is the youngest-tenured and highest-rated professor at Wharton. He is also one of the most prolific scholars in his field, Organizational Psychology, which is the study of workplace dynamics. In the seven years since he got his Ph.D., Grant has published more papers in his field’s top-tier journals than some of the highest achieving professors have written in a lifetime.
Many of us like to dream about what we would do, if only… we had more money or more time, or we weren’t so tired from all the demands of work and family.