tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-335062822009-12-07T22:48:25.098-05:00This blog covers issues of the Christian faith as they relate to Generation X and life in the Church. It is written by Andrew C. Thompson, a 33-year old United Methodist pastor.Andrew C. Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00219444874913518106andrew@mandatum.orgBlogger371125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33506282.post-28161457351412665762009-12-04T16:39:00.000-05:002009-12-04T16:39:00.338-05:00

"They will call him Immanuel, which means, God with us." The doctrine of the Incarnation is central to the Christian faith. It states that God has come into the world in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the one who did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, but instead emptied himself and took the form of a servant - being born in our likeness and suffering for us on the

Andrew C. Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00219444874913518106andrew@mandatum.org0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33506282.post-70408195733941985882009-12-01T10:53:00.003-05:002009-12-01T11:38:50.789-05:00

You should listen to Mark Driscoll, if you don't already. Here's three reasons why: First, he probably takes the Bible more seriously than you do. Second, he's willing to engage the culture in a way few pastors and theologians are. Third, he represents the way Calvinism gets preached and taught in the church when it is embraced wholeheartedly. And Wesleyans need to hear it to understand it.

Andrew C. Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00219444874913518106andrew@mandatum.org22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33506282.post-73562529119072994392009-11-29T07:09:00.008-05:002009-11-29T08:27:27.247-05:00

A Scripture passage on this first Sunday of Advent: A voice cries out: 'In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all the people shall see it

Andrew C. Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00219444874913518106andrew@mandatum.org0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33506282.post-29201077278992334022009-11-26T07:25:00.009-05:002009-11-29T08:11:59.641-05:00

O give thanks to the Lord,  for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, those he redeemed from trouble and gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south. Some wandered in desert wastes, finding no way to an inhabited town; hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them. Then they cried to the

Andrew C. Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00219444874913518106andrew@mandatum.org0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33506282.post-86981890462487651612009-11-24T09:01:00.000-05:002009-11-24T09:01:00.317-05:00

This is perhaps the most awesome photo I have ever seen. My wife gets a hug from Bill Adama, commander of the Battlestar Galactica, at a recent financial aid conference.And to think, I've never even been in the C.I.C.Or flown in a Viper.Humph.

Andrew C. Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00219444874913518106andrew@mandatum.org5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33506282.post-3751909910285075992009-11-22T07:19:00.000-05:002009-11-22T07:19:00.742-05:00

Almighty Father, who gave your Son Jesus Christ a realmwhere all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him;make us loyal followers of our living Lord,that we may always hear his word,follow his teachings, and live in his Spirit;and hasten the day when every knee shall bowand every tongue confess that he is Lord;to your eternal glory. Amen.(UM Book of Worship, 420)

Andrew C. Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00219444874913518106andrew@mandatum.org0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33506282.post-82666478412700734652009-11-20T21:04:00.001-05:002009-11-21T16:39:26.511-05:00

Concluding a series of posts from a recent trip to Colonial Williamsburg, VA...This past week was really busy, so I didn't get to finish up my posts on the recent trip to Williamsburg that Emily and I took. Let me just add this one, with a word about our visit to the Bruton Parish Church on the Sunday afternoon before we drove back to Durham.Bruton Parish (nowadays a part of the Episcopal Church)

Andrew C. Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00219444874913518106andrew@mandatum.org1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33506282.post-9017952343995990202009-11-14T07:46:00.006-05:002009-11-14T10:12:19.370-05:00

Continuing the posts from a recent trip to Colonial Williamsburg...Supper at the James Shields TavernEmily and I rounded off our full Saturday with supper at the James Shields Tavern, one of the Colonial Williamsburg eateries that is based off of an actual 18th-century establishment. Both the menu and the ambiance are designed to give diners the feel of eating in Mr. Shields' restaurant, so we

Andrew C. Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00219444874913518106andrew@mandatum.org0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33506282.post-77616540915333981792009-11-13T13:41:00.001-05:002009-11-13T15:59:27.704-05:00

Continuing the posts of our recent trip to Williamsburg, Virginia...Governor's PalaceAfter lunch, Emily and I toured the Governor's Palace in Colonial Williamsburg. Like most of the prominent historical buildings in town, the palace is a reconstruction. But like those other reconstructions, it was rebuilt on the original foundation and using historical evidence that allowed for a very close

Andrew C. Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00219444874913518106andrew@mandatum.org0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33506282.post-21581885965200476772009-11-10T07:33:00.001-05:002009-11-10T09:39:24.711-05:00

Continuing the posts on my family's recent trip to Williamsburg, VA ...We got up on Saturday morning and made the 8-minute walk from our room at the Autumn Leaves B&B to the Merchants' Square area of Colonial Williamsburg. After buying tickets - expensive, but worth it - we went on a stroll down the Duke of Gloucester Street and took in some of the sites.Our first stop was at the Capitol, which

Andrew C. Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00219444874913518106andrew@mandatum.org0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33506282.post-61291071102051425722009-11-09T13:28:00.000-05:002009-11-09T15:20:42.662-05:00

... was just what Emily and I needed this past weekend.My congregation had been telling me we needed to take a Sunday off, so we did! We drove 190 miles up the road to Williamsburg, which was the colonial capital of Virginia for about 100 years before it was moved to Richmond during the Revolutionary War. I went to Williamsburg with my family as a child, but I didn't remember a lot about it. In

Andrew C. Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00219444874913518106andrew@mandatum.org0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33506282.post-87290322677835710362009-11-07T08:27:00.002-05:002009-11-07T18:14:55.510-05:00

Katherine Smith e-mailed me this week to say that the applications for the 2010 session of the Duke Youth Academy are now available online.There are applications for both students and staff members. You can access either by going to this link. Applications can be downloaded as a PDF, or they can be filled out and submitted online.Katherine Smith and Fred Edie are the Director and Faculty Advisor

Andrew C. Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00219444874913518106andrew@mandatum.org4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33506282.post-79458182842985362792009-11-05T08:07:00.003-05:002009-11-06T07:55:31.943-05:00

This is Lulu, who is one of the most awesome felines ever to walk on four legs. She's also a very gentle critter, unless you happen to be a chipmunk or a mole or some other small rodent who lives in our neighborhood. She's got just enough of her predator instinct to be bad news for those guys. But hey, we live in a fallen world.If you haven't ever done so, check out John Wesley's sermon, "The

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I'm on a sabbatical from writing for the United Methodist Reporter right now, as I'm getting ready for some big exams coming up in the month of December.There has been a lot of good content in the Reporter of late, though. Allow me to point you toward some of it, gentle reader.My friend and colleague Eric Van Meter, a campus minister at the Wesley Foundation at Arkansas State University, has a

Andrew C. Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00219444874913518106andrew@mandatum.org0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33506282.post-35061856950961272722009-11-01T07:02:00.004-05:002009-11-01T07:52:23.535-05:00

We bless your holy name, O God,for all your servants who,having finished their course,now rest from their labors.Give us grace to follow the exampleof their steadfastness and faithfulness,to your honor and glory;through Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.(UM Book of Worship, 415)----------------------------------For all the saints, who from their labors rest,who thee by faith before the world confessed,

Andrew C. Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00219444874913518106andrew@mandatum.org0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33506282.post-67196994126104836352009-10-31T08:37:00.001-04:002009-10-31T14:55:01.455-04:00

How often should we celebrate the Lord's Supper?Wesley Report's Shane Raynor recently wrote that he has received real spiritual benefit from weekly participation in Holy Communion. At my church, we celebrate monthly. But moving to that level of frequency after I arrived as pastor a year-and-a-half ago was a big change for my congregation. Previously, the church celebrated very infrequently.At our

Andrew C. Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00219444874913518106andrew@mandatum.org0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33506282.post-45056531272048219782009-10-29T07:50:00.004-04:002009-10-29T08:42:54.973-04:00

Robin Russell, my editor at the United Methodist Reporter, was in Durham this week for a conference of Christian publishers hosted by Leadership Education at Duke Divinity (LEADD). It gave Robin and me the chance to sit down for lunch and have a conversation - a rare treat, considering she lives in Dallas, Texas, and I live here in Bull City.There are changes afoot at the Reporter these days.

Andrew C. Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00219444874913518106andrew@mandatum.org0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33506282.post-86916906100376290882009-10-26T19:12:00.003-04:002009-10-26T19:32:07.548-04:00

In the midst of the blogging I've been doing around the issue of vocation, I came across a wonderful piece of counsel in Thomas a Kempis' Imitation of Christ. It speaks of the great honor and joy, as well as the freedom, to be found in serving God:"It is a great honor, a great glory to serve You and to despise all things for Your sake. They who give themselves gladly to Your most holy service

Andrew C. Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00219444874913518106andrew@mandatum.org0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33506282.post-51961628269142301652009-10-24T13:17:00.008-04:002009-10-24T15:28:38.622-04:00

Do you have a calling? Have you thought about your daily work and tasks not just as your job or your hobby, but as your vocation?This is a question that has been on my mind a lot lately. And for some reason, I find myself in a lot of conversations about it as well.The English word vocation comes from the Latin verb vocare, which means to call, to summon, or to name. Thinking about what we do in

Andrew C. Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00219444874913518106andrew@mandatum.org2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33506282.post-84636125365355282472009-10-20T12:11:00.000-04:002009-10-20T12:11:27.663-04:00

I was filling out a 'profile' statement this morning, and I found myself wanting to name my sense of calling in a few short sentences. For me, that calling is both to academic research & writing and practical ministry. And the substance of the calling is the same in both areas, even if it gets expressed in somewhat different ways given the different contexts of university classroom and local

Andrew C. Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00219444874913518106andrew@mandatum.org0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33506282.post-78935170777065676822009-10-17T19:15:00.001-04:002009-10-17T19:15:34.293-04:00

I've been reading The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis, a book that was important to John Wesley. As a part of that, I've been sharing some of Kempis' thoughts and reflections that are particularly striking to me. (For previous posts, check out here and here and here.)Check out Kempis' thoughts on the Way of the Cross from the Imitation of Christ, Book II, Chapter 12:"In the cross is

Andrew C. Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00219444874913518106andrew@mandatum.org0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33506282.post-84618081763805368982009-10-15T14:56:00.005-04:002009-10-15T15:50:05.309-04:00

It's taking me a bit longer than I expected to try and catch up here in Durham after my recent mission trip to Chincha, Peru. I think that's a result of the time of year, both with respect to church life and university life.I'm going to write more about our time in Peru in the coming days, but until then, I wanted to let you know about a new feature piece in the United Methodist Reporter, in

Andrew C. Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00219444874913518106andrew@mandatum.org4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33506282.post-3583146658412798852009-10-10T20:50:00.003-04:002009-10-10T23:34:04.783-04:00

Got home from Peru about noontime today. Wow. What a wonderful week. The group I was with from churches here in North Carolina saw God's hand at work in many ways: in ministry with children; in worship through preaching, testimony, singing, and sacrament; and in missional outreach in new and challenging areas around the city of Chincha Alta.It'll take a few days to get caught up on things here in

Andrew C. Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00219444874913518106andrew@mandatum.org1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33506282.post-58367903630451746612009-10-06T08:07:00.005-04:002009-10-07T09:10:38.439-04:00

I'm in Peru this week, working with the Iglesia Metodista here in the area of Chincha (about three hours south of Lima on the Pacific coast). I feel like Peru is a second home to me - this is my seventh trip since 2001, and every time I leave here I leave a little more of my heart behind. My last visit here was in May 2008. If you want to read a little about that, check out my posts on "A

Andrew C. Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00219444874913518106andrew@mandatum.org0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33506282.post-90430841505109915322009-09-29T07:41:00.000-04:002009-09-29T07:41:00.404-04:00

Came across this in my research yesterday and wanted to share it:A woman named Mrs. Bennis wrote to John Wesley in March of 1766 to ask about her religious experience and to seek advice. Wesley wrote back in a letter dated March 29th, with encouragement to share her experience with others. He also included some advice about Christian perfection.One of the things most characteristic about Wesley's

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