E. Stanley Jones contrasts eros and agape

You fortunate ones with easy access to Kittel's Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, help out an independent scholar.  Below is a table with a side-by-side comparison of E. Stanley Jones' definitions of eros and agape.  I'd like to know if this is a scholarly conclusion or a preacherly convention.  Thanks for the assist!  (I specify Kittel because it's the only lexical aid I don't have access to.)

The effect of private prayer

ACTS prayer

I was taught a version of the ACTS prayer as a college student.  Many years have passed since then, but I have not outgrown this form of prayer.  I still find it a useful framework for organizing my prayer.  The acronym stands for:
A-Adoration
C-Confession
T-Thanksgiving
S-Supplication
Below are some examples of these different ways of praying.

When the missional priorities of the Church and the organizational expectations of the congregation collide.

Talked to the pastors of the Missouri River District, Nebraska Annual Conference, UMC about wesleyan spirituality.

Drop in life expectancy of rural Nebraska women

This chart comes from a report published in the journal Health Affairs.  Those of you who minister in the counties with worsening mortality rates among women, does this reflect your experience?  Have you noticed a decline in the health of women in your community?  Have you had more funerals for women in their sixties (or even younger) than in the past?  This is a map of our mission field, and it is evidence of the social changes that are impacting United Methodist congregations in rural US counties.

Missouri River District 2013 Fall Update

I will be using the definition of clergy effectiveness shown below when I present at the 2013 Fall Update for the UM pastors of the Missouri River District, Nebraska Annual Conference.  The definition comes out of the research of Dr. Richard P. DeShon, Professor of Organizational Psychology at Michigan State University and GBHEM consultant.

More on DeShon's research can be found at this link and this link.

The option of Non-Violent Resistance

Wesleyan Stages of Faith

Same chart but this time I used Facebook to post to the blog

Degrees of Faith chart animation option two

This version is getting closer to what I had in mind when I first tried to create a chart to diagram Wesley's teachings regarding the maturation of faith in degrees. I made it using powerpoint.  Unfortunately the resolution is not the best.  The labels on each section of the cylinder read (in order) Asleep, Almost, Awake, Abiding, Altogether.  Maybe this could go in the ebook version of Form and Power?