Empathy is generally seen as a universal good. Similar to love, we imagine it to be universally virtuous. Dr. Joe Rigney has recently published a book that questions this presupposition, arguing that empathy can be and has been used to co-opt and destroy institutions. In a recent development at Wheaton College, a rather innocent social media post resulted in a full blown crisis among the alumni. Rigney went viral on X when he was able to explain the mechanics of how this “steer” worked.

Joe was kind enough to visit with me about the substance of his new book in reference to my former tribe, The United Methodist Church, which was effectively overtaken by those who use empathy as a wedge. I seek his insight about how it is that institutions can be wise to such weakness, and how it is that we can guard ourselves against future incursion by these spiritual forces.

While Dr. Rigney represents a different strand of the Reformed tradition than I do, I found his contributions to this larger social question to be timely and helpful. How do we navigate a world of competing subjective interests without reacting towards sociopathy? How do we find a healthy and stable place in between the extremes offered? What does the ideal spiritual leadership look like? I hope you enjoy thinking through these questions with us, and that you might find helpful answers!

Links:

“Anatomy of a Steer” X Thread - https://x.com/joe_rigney/status/1888349456493404330

Dr. Rigney’s Faculty Page - https://nsa.edu/contributors/joe-rigney

Order The Sin of Empathy - https://canonpress.com/products/the-sin-of-empathy

Anyone who has ever tried to help the poor knows that it is more difficult than it seems it should be. It becomes clear that many of our assumptions about problems and solutions do not really fit with reality. Many become discouraged and continue to apply bandaids to bullet wounds. Even worse, some give up altogether.

James Whitford started a nonprofit a few years ago aimed at helping churches and other entities to care for the poor in a way that is both faithful and effective. In this segment, we talk about what True Charity does to equip churches, while also discussing at length the nature of the problems and solutions at hand. Anyone aimed at practicing biblical obedience to the poor is going to enjoy this conversation.

True Charity Website - https://www.truecharity.us James' Book "The Crisis of Dependency" - https://www.truecharity.us/crisis/

Last week we talked about what is currently wrong and in need of correction. Today we will talk about what is right. When we are talking about scriptural holiness, what are we referring to? Does it involve a specific scriptural interpretive framework, or is there a lot of latitude in the interpretation of our Bible? What did scriptural holiness look like in the first generation of Methodism, and how much does that translate to today?

Join us as we ask big questions and hopefully offer some helpful answers for local churches that are trying to get back to the main thing.

It is clear that holiness is the nature of the church, but it is not altogether clear at this moment what that needs to look like. What has been lost? What needs to be regained, reclaimed, revamped?

Join Rev. Dr. Pete Bellini and Jeffrey Rickman as we attempt to lay a groundwork for reclaiming scriptural holiness in modern Methodism, and in Christianity more broadly. We will integrate audience questions and feedback while mining Dr. Bellini for his wisdom, having labored in this field for many decades.

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If you would like to join my Locals community, where I give a full morning briefing (where this came from), go to plainspoken.locals.com and become a supporter!

If you would like to subscribe to my pastoral Substack, where I publish articles on topics pertaining to pastoral ministry and Methodism, you can go to jeffreyrickman.substack.com.

If you would like to subscribe to the PlainSpoken Podcast Substack, where I publish articles, video, and audio pertaining to Methodism and the culture war, you can go to plainspokenpod.substack.com.

If you're not interested in any of that stuff, but you want to give directly to my church, you can go to https://tithe.ly/give?c=2198808 and make a donation there. Thanks!

St. Paul Methodist Church of Amarillo is not too far from West Texas A&M University in Canyon (Texas). Well, it's about a 20-minute drive. There are many churches that are closer. Yet a significant amount are not only making the drive to worship, but are actually integrating into the life and work of the church alongside folks of all ages. Young men and women are meeting and being married here as they learn to do adult things like assume responsibility like their own spiritual lives while managing money and starting families. In the midst of this, the church is being reinvigorated and growing in generosity.

In this conversation, Bill talks about the prophetic words spoken over him and how they have come to fruition. The Lord brought Will to this church alongside many other peers who have been trained to lead within the body of Christ in the last few years. The Lord has endowed Will with a transformative ministry, partnering with The Wesley at West Texas A&M. In the process, he is learning a lot about what it is that the faith of Jesus Christ has to offer, or rather how it speaks, to young men and women.

Consider spending some time with us to think through modern issues of discipleship, coed indoctrination, and intergenerational ministry. This one got a little spicy, so y'all will almost certainly enjoy it!

Article About The Wesley at A&M - https://globalmethodist.org/the-wesley-at-west-texas-am-university/

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If you would like to join my Locals community, where I give a full morning briefing (where this came from), go to plainspoken.locals.com and become a supporter!

If you would like to subscribe to my pastoral Substack, where I publish articles on topics pertaining to pastoral ministry and Methodism, you can go to jeffreyrickman.substack.com.

If you're not interested in any of that stuff, but you want to give directly to my church, you can go to https://tithe.ly/give?c=2198808 and make a donation there. Thanks!

Andrew Case is one of these weird guys who just reads the Bible and then looks at the world and sees that some things are wrong. Of course, this is one of the primary functions of the scriptures. Yet most of us read the scriptures with blinders on, unable to see the ways in which we and our culture are corrected. Case is of the mind, and it turns out he isn't the only one, that the ways in which most churches today deal with money and copyrights is a real problem.

How might churches augment our behavior around money such that we aren't compromising ourselves and our faith so profoundly? I myself was moved to change my monetization practice on my YouTube channel.

Whether or not you come to share Case's conclusions, I would urge you to consider his ideas and to consult the resources he is providing (for FREE) online. The Lord doesn't need more closed-minded believers who think everything they do is basically great. The Lord requires that we judge ourselves so that on the day of Judgment we might be found faultless, covered in the blood of the Lamb.

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Andrew's Website - https://hismagnificence.com

Andrew's Spotify -

Andrew's Podcast on Bible Translation - https://workingfortheword.com/

Selling Jesus Website - https://sellingjesus.org

Selling Jesus Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/sellingjesus.org

Helpful Partner Site - https://copy.church

The Dorean Principle (book on theology of money) - https://thedoreanprinciple.org

Free Hebrew Course He & His Wife Teach - https://freehebrew.online

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If you would like to join my Locals community, where I give a full morning briefing (where this came from), go to plainspoken.locals.com and become a supporter!

If you would like to subscribe to my pastoral Substack, where I publish articles on topics pertaining to pastoral ministry and Methodism, you can go to jeffreyrickman.substack.com.

If you would like to subscribe to the PlainSpoken Podcast Substack, where I publish articles, video, and audio pertaining to Methodism and the culture war, you can go to plainspokenpod.substack.com.

If you're not interested in any of that stuff, but you want to give directly to my church, you can go to https://tithe.ly/give?c=2198808 and make a donation there. Thanks!

Rev. Dr. Lester Spencer is the Conference Superintendent of the Alabama Emerald Coast Annual Conference of the Global Methodist Church. He served as the Lead Pastor at Saint James Church in Montgomery/Pike Road, Alabama for over 25 years. Lester has also served as the Senior Pastor at Gulf Breeze UMC in Gulf Breeze, Florida and as the Associate Pastor at Auburn UMC in Auburn, Alabama. All of these churches ranked among the top 100 largest congregations in the United Methodist Church. Under his leadership, one of the churches was ranked as one of the top 25 fastest growing large United Methodist churches in America.

Lester has worked alongside his peers in the region for decades, seeking to build up disciples where he is and benefit disciples around the world. In this conversation, I learn some of his story, some of the ministries he cares about, and some of the ways that his conference is unique. My hope is that talking to him helps folks around the GMC connection to start feeling as though you know who a lot of the people in leadership are, what motivates them, and what the faith is that we hopefully all share.

Rev. Spencer is an affable man of God, aiming his life and his people at reclaiming a tradition with many treasures. You'll do well to learn from him for a bit!

Links:

- Alabama-Emerald Coast Conference Website - https://aecgmc.org

- Donation to Congo Mission - https://donorbox.org/congo-missions

- Lester's Book "Free For All" - https://a.co/d/eRPoDfR

- Compassion International (Lester's favorite charity to support) - https://www.compassion.com

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If you would like to join my Locals community, where I give a full morning briefing (where this came from), go to plainspoken.locals.com and become a supporter!

If you would like to subscribe to my pastoral Substack, where I publish articles on topics pertaining to pastoral ministry and Methodism, you can go to jeffreyrickman.substack.com.

If you would like to subscribe to the PlainSpoken Podcast Substack, where I publish articles, video, and audio pertaining to Methodism and the culture war, you can go to plainspokenpod.substack.com.

If you're not interested in any of that stuff, but you want to give directly to my church, you can go to https://tithe.ly/give?c=2198808 and make a donation there. Thanks!

I believe there is much to learn from other Christian traditions. From where I stand, the Methodist tradition has lost much of what once made us great and effective. I recently noticed a church that is strong where many churches are weak: singing, family ministry, men, and children. I wanted to learn from these folks about how to effectively facilitate such a dynamic in my own tribe.

This is a conversation with two men who have seen the power of the scriptures to plant a countercultural community within San Diego. They lead a high standards community, with a quality membership covenant, a shared sense of identity, and a culture of happy warriors for Jesus. They do not conform to the big box evangelical squishy churches. They, rather, model zeal and integrity for the Lord. We would do well to consider their witness.

To learn more about the ministry and ethos of San Diego Reformed Church, visit https://sdreformed.com/.

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If you would like to join my Locals community, where I give a full morning briefing (where this came from), go to plainspoken.locals.com and become a supporter!

If you would like to subscribe to my pastoral Substack, where I publish articles on topics pertaining to pastoral ministry and Methodism, you can go to jeffreyrickman.substack.com.

If you would like to subscribe to the PlainSpoken Podcast Substack, where I publish articles, video, and audio pertaining to Methodism and the culture war, you can go to plainspokenpod.substack.com.

If you're not interested in any of that stuff, but you want to give directly to my church, you can go to https://tithe.ly/give?c=2198808 and make a donation there. Thanks!

When one believes that the church of Jesus Christ is global and multiethnic in nature, the one is eventually moved to try to understand and love cultures around the world. An immature faith imagines one's own culture and nation to be the center of God's story. A mature Christian comes to understand our equal standing among the cultures of the earth. We are all fallen and in need of a Savior.

Stephen Bachmeier answered the call to invite a people group other than his own into a salvific relationship with Jesus. He is currently deployed in Shunan, Japan. In this conversation, we talk about the particular gifts and challenges of his mission field. What unfolds is largely an exercise in Christian discernment. How does the gospel speak to this particular culture. How is it similar to American culture? How is it different?

By learning about others, we learn about ourselves. Christ died for all of us. All of us are called to respond in faith. Stephen has only been in Japan for five months. He wanted me to make sure to say here that Japan has been in flux, and it is continuing to slowly change. Be charitable in your interpretation of Japan, as well as the words of these imperfect conversation partners.

If you want to support Stephen in his work, you can contribute to his mission here: https://www.christar.org/worker/738

If you would like to join my Locals community, where I give a full morning briefing (where this came from), go to plainspoken.locals.com and become a supporter!

If you would like to subscribe to my pastoral Substack, where I publish articles on topics pertaining to pastoral ministry and Methodism, you can go to jeffreyrickman.substack.com.

If you would like to subscribe to the PlainSpoken Podcast Substack, where I publish articles, video, and audio pertaining to Methodism and the culture war, you can go to plainspokenpod.substack.com.

If you're not interested in any of that stuff, but you want to give directly to my church, you can go to https://tithe.ly/give?c=2198808 and make a donation there. Thanks!

Many local United Methodist churches have found themselves in a position to either abandon the buildings and assets that they have stewarded for years or to litigate. Many churches, like Fifth Avenue UMC, have chosen to make their appeal in court.

The lawyer representing them is Gavin Parsons. He took some time today to help me to understand a recent decision of an appeals court to compel a trial court to hear their case.

They had previously been dismissed, but the dismissal was odds, given the particulars of the case. We cover those particulars, as well as the implications for other local churches wanting out, in this conversation.

For the recent appeals court decision and rationale: https://law.justia.com/cases/north-carolina/court-of-appeals/2024/23-1013.html