Best of the Methoblogosphere!

Allan Bevere has the latest Methodist Blogs Weekly Roundup in place. Thanks for your ministry, Allan!

He's very good at picking up the best items from the week.

Mitchell Lewis expounded that God is not only capable of anger, but it is essential for his loving and just character:

The Mothers against Drunk Driving see what is happening to their children as a result of drunk driving, and say “Something has to be done about this.” Their concern for their children says to the offender, “You will have to change, or we will not tolerate you.” It says to the politician and to the judge, “You will have to change, or we will sweep you out of office.” It says to business, “You will have to start being responsible, or it will hurt you financially.” Their love for their children makes their safety the highest priority. Everything else, however important, is secondary. Their anger, their relentless pursuit of justice, is a result of their love for their children.

God’s anger, just like theirs, is a result of his love. Because God loves, he has sworn that he will eliminate everything evil from the face of the earth. The things that hurt and destroy people will not be allowed to remain.

I can imagine God looking into your home and mine, and seeing the thousand different things that scar our souls, wound our hearts, and rob us of joy and love, and saying, “Something has to be done about this.” I can see him looking down on sickness and hunger, slavery and death, hatred and despair, and saying, “Something has got to be done about this.”

Beth Quick wrote about the odd nature of calling in ministry. Being an ordained minister (well, any Christian, really) means having great ambition, but not personal ambition. Yet personal ambition is part of human nature:

I respond this way because people are constantly teasing me about becoming bishop or DS or General Secretary or something equally thrilling. But, truth be told, if I was asked by my bishop and the DS to take an appointment at a three-point charge like the itty-bitty one I grew up in, with average attendance of 25 or less, in a town that makes Oneida, NY look like a mega-city, I would have a very, very hard time getting excited about things. Do I think I'm actually called to something else than this scenario in my ministry? Yes. But also, my personal ambitions wouldn't fit well there either.