Just back from Seattle and the Wesleyan Theological Society Meeting. (And the most important event comes at the end of this post).
Great fellowship and stimulating presentations, including Walter Brueggemman, Bruce Marshall, Mike Lodahl, Daniella Augustine, and Thomas Dozeman. Hats off to Jason Vickers for a strong theme and great program. Kudos to SPU (President Dan Martin and Dean Doug Strawn) for impeccable hospitality.
Wesley’s written prayer for families for Thursday Morning. John wrote morning and evening prayers for families, I am offering paraphrases to my Family Ministry class
Dear Lord, the God of our salvation, you are the hope for everything across the ends of the earth. All eyes wait on You, for You give life, and even breath, to everything. You always watch over us for our well-being, and You renew within us both life and love. You give us assurance in what You promise; that should we commit our daily activities to you and acknowledge you in everything, then You will direct our daily walk.
Lord, we seek to remain under Your gracious plan and Fatherly protection. We ask the guidance and help of Your good Holy Spirit. Please choose our legacy for us and encourage us to glorify Your name in everything that concerns our lives.
People often tease me that my Facebook page is usually populated with a number of “boring” meeting pictures. Just how many creative ways can you capture people sitting around tables with open laptops, power point projections, and presentation pages? Okay, so I am not that creative ( but at least most of the time I am “behind” the camera instead of in front of it). 
However, often these meetings reflect the passion and wisdom of friends and colleagues whose work means a great deal for the future of faith formation and education.
One good example is the Religious Education Association board retreat. I have attended such retreats for seven years now. We have met in retreat centers and hotels across the country. Sometimes the settings were quite sterile, surrounded by hotel walls.
Other settings (like this year) include a lovely retreat center nestled in the back country just outside Atlanta.
Wesley’s written prayer for families for Wednesday Evening. John wrote morning and evening prayers for families, I am offering paraphrases to my Family Ministry class
Lord, how great is Your workmanship, with wisdom You made everything. Day and Night are Yours as You prepared the light and sun. We give You thanks for all the benefits you give to the whole world; and especially to us who received knowledge of the grace of Jesus Christ. You have loved us with a marvelous love. Not everyone knows either the depths of that love, nor knows all the great and precious promises that You provide.
Loving Father, we ask you accept our good commitments, ones that You inspired through the Holy Spirit. Strengthen our resolve, we ask, by your grace. Let no sudden desires, powerful inclinations, poor purposes and half-way actions lead us into a false opinion of ourselves. Instead, may we really, consistently, demonstrate the fruits of righteous living, given by Jesus.
One of the real joys this past year was being part of a panel discussion sponsored by Sunday School & Discipleship Ministries International and Grace & Peace Magazine. The honor was primarily being with so many passionate and classy people discussing a mutual interest in discipleship that proved invigorating. This very real conversation on discipleship reminded me why I pursued this vocation in the first place, and I am thankful that God graciously opened doors to live it. Occasionally Larry Morris stuck me with a question, here is an example:
Wesley’s written prayer for families for Wednesday Morning. John wrote morning and evening prayers for families, I am offering paraphrases to my Family Ministry class
Dear God, who is blessed forever, we thank and praise You for the good things of this life, and our hope for everlasting salvation in the life to come. We hope to have a vibrant sense of Your love always in our hearts. We pray this love compels us to love You, obey You, trust You, and to remain content in the way You love us, and even rejoice in the middle of the troubles that come our way in this life.
You gave Your own Son for us all. With Jesus now by Your side, will You not also freely give us the things we need? We depend on You especially for the gift of Your Holy Spirit. May we constantly feel the Spirit’s presence by the strength of our holy faith. May the Holy Spirit keep us above all of those temptations that attack us, and keep us free from the stain of worldly influences. May we hold close to You in righteousness, humility, a pure heart, and with our entire minds set upon Christ.
I am sitting in four days of board meetings for the International Board of Education and the Global Committee for Global Education and Clergy Development.
At the same time Kansas City is quickly being buried under around a foot of snow that has already closed the airport.
However, there seems to be a lot of “flying” going on in the meeting. What I mean is that often we are reporting and deliberating on efforts around the 
globe with a vantage point that seems, at times, like we are cruising at 35000 feet trying to listen intently to efforts around our church to educate and shape particularly ministers within our denomination.
To give you some idea, 
Education Commissioner, Dr. Dan Copp, reported that the Church of the Nazarene has 53 seminaries, colleges, universities that serve 117 world regions across 6 continents with 52, 439 students. You might call that the “satellite” view of global education.
Professor of Practical Theology and Christian Discipleship, Nazarene Theological Seminary
Discipleship Commons 