Lord, please GPS me through 2012!

Two cell phones ago, I was introduced to my first Global Positioning System. Amazing stuff!  I can enter my destination and, within seconds, a disembodied voice literally tells me where to go. From a car to a star, information from afar!  My Android connects with a satellite in a far-flung corner of the heavens and pinpoints my exact spot in the vast universe. It not only tells me where I am, it tells me where I am going. My GPS has a generic female voice that sends me forward. She even recalculates if I decide to flex my independence and follow a different road.    

Living up to the Sacred Trust

The Safe Sanctuaries ministry in each of our congregations is one important expression of how we order our lives so nothing will interfere with the transmission of the faith and the spiritual growth of any person under the care of our ministry.

Events in the South Georgia Conference - 1/20/2012 Edition

Beginner, novice, apprentice and then...

Most congregations and spiritual leaders have the first stage of offering instruction down to a science.  We proclaim the gospel through word, song, visual image, PowerPoint, DVDs, and repeated explanation.  We offer this instruction in classrooms, in sanctuaries, in fellowship halls, in homes, on the Internet, and in just about any place a person can receive it.

Trinity UMC takes an advent journey

Just as Mary and Joseph took a journey more than 2,000 years ago, last month members of Trinity United Methodist Church in Warner Robins took their own Advent journey.

South Georgia United Methodists shed pounds, focus on health

In early 2010, Rev. Ashley Randall was at his heaviest. What had once been an easy activity – taking a quick walk around the block with his wife – had become a struggle.  His wife, Laine, had her own health issues, and began to look at their diet for possible solutions.

Epworth's Winter Camp Meeting to study "The Greatest Story Ever Told"

Churches of all denominations from the Golden Isles and across the state are cordially invited to attend Winter Camp Meeting at Epworth By The Sea, St. Simons Island, January 29 through February 1.  Outstanding preachers, Bible teachers and area choirs and musicians will examine the theme “The Greatest Story Ever Told” in new and creative ways.

Lesson 1: Out of Egypt

Time brings changes to a society and these changes affect people politically, socially and economically.  So it was with the Hebrew people in Egypt when there was a pharaoh “who knew not Joseph.”

Lesson 2: Justified by Faith in Christ

Paul’s journey of faith is necessary before the student can accept uncritically Paul’s affirmation that the gospel the Galatians must accept is the one HE preached! (1:6-9). He wanted his readers to know the gospel he preached was not “learned” from others, but came by direct revelation in his personal encounter with Christ.  He establishes his credentials as a zealous and learned Jew – zealous to the extent of persecuting Christians.  Following his encounter with Christ, a long period of time (three years!) elapsed while his conversion touched every aspect of his heart and mind. He rethought everything and came to the inevitable conclusion that the Law of Moses could not enable a person to have a right relationship with God.