Editor’s note: This is the third in a five-part series on the Social Principles of The United Methodist Church and how they intersect current issues. Money, money, money, money. Everybody needs it, and some get a lot more than…
How Southwestern Seminary is bouncing back from financial catastrophe
Over the past six years, we have spilt buckets of digital ink here bringing you the saga of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. I’m writing today not in the format of a news story but in the…
‘Think of your entire financial picture as a giant love letter to God’
The church is bursting at the seams with a fresh vigor for aligning our faith with how we use money — especially how we invest money. New organizations are springing up and thriving, many books are being written, podcasts are…
The 3 temptations of Christ are similar to Trump’s temptations to evangelicals
Many distractions in this life take a person off of their true path. Even as I put these words together, I think about everything unrelated to my writing. I am thinking about my career and need to find work that gets me…
Monarchy redux: Follow the money
Who’d a thought that just prior to commemorating our overthrow of a king, the U.S. Supreme Court would reinstate monarchy? That might be an exaggeration, but only a teeny-weeny one. With today’s Supreme Court ruling, presidents of the U.S. have…
From Scrooge McDuck to Zacchaeus to 21st century wealth inequality
It’s hard to believe a full month has passed since Christmas. Technically, there is more daylight in January than in December. The sun is slowly but surely rising sooner and setting later. Yet, the world feels darker now that Christmas…
The day the camel slipped through the eye of a needle … and the church did not
You may have read the remarkable story about the life of Charles Feeney, who recently died at 92 after having given away almost all of his $8 billion to the causes he believed in. At some point in his life,…
Untold numbers of churches have unclaimed funds sitting in state treasuries
Hundreds of thousands of dollars, perhaps millions, due to churches across the land are sitting in unclaimed property accounts with government agencies. It’s all part of the millions upon millions of dollars in cash that belongs to individuals, companies, nonprofits…
In South Africa; money marks churches, mosques as soft targets for armed robbery
It’s a shameless new trend, faith leaders say. It was not usual for armed criminals to storm faith services, rob churches and mosques in South Africa — until now. “There is no holy cow anymore,” said Pastor Drewmore Sikhosana, a…
Acts 29 ups the ante by offering church planters $50,000 apiece
In yet another sign of how church networks are replacing denominational identity, the Acts 29 network announced Jan. 11 that it will provide up to $50,000 apiece for new churches started through its sponsorship. Leaders of Acts 29 insist it…
If we are to accept Advent’s invitation, we must talk about money
There’s a joke we tell in my line of work: “Why does the church spend so much time talking about what goes on in the bedroom? Because we’re too scared to talk about what goes on in the boardroom.” Perhaps…
Listening and learning from the SBC: Does the buck stop here?
Tom Buck, pastor of First Baptist Church in Lindale, Texas, was quoted last week after the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting as stating, “We gave more than $225,000 to the SBC, and we feel like we have no voice.” Earlier…