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"When you're on the mission field, do you do anything besides travel around and eat?" The question surprised me. I was in the United States on home assignment, traveling to churches and telling people about the work of missions in the former Soviet Union. On these occasions, I usually pulled out…

The denomination's Centennial Celebration that took place October 5 included 18,000 Nazarene churches in all 24 time zones. In many churches, celebratory events spanned the days and weeks before and after October 5. Preparations for the day began in 2004 with the writing and translation of…

The six people sitting across from me were so powerful that it was illegal for them to be in the same room. They had to get special permission from the government to meet. And yet, here they were in a Warner Brothers board room, six of the most influential people in television: the network vice…

We often teach that the “Reformation period” ended in the late 1700’s, as the separation of church and state became viewed as a powerful and preferred ideal within Western political imaginations and structures. Interestingly, however, there are some who include the Reformation as merely the first…

Woman's place. Those two words can flare up intense controversy whenever they are uttered. The 20th century began and ended with intense debates on the topic. The polarization continues. Has our denomination reflected on the question of the 'official' place of women, both lay and clergy?…

Anyone familiar with music can attest to the chaos that ensues when there are problems with tempo. This is especially true when singing together, as in Sunday morning worship. When a song is too fast to sing all the words or too slow to capture the intended energy, something feels “off.” Even…

Is church healthy for you? What a question for Holiness Today readers! Since most of us attend vibrant, healthy, loving churches we easily say with the psalmist "I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the LORD" (Psalm 122:1, KJV). Most of us easily find God in the presence…

Is church healthy for you? What a question for Holiness Today readers! Since most of us attend vibrant, healthy, loving churches we easily say with the psalmist "I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the LORD" (Psalm 122:1, KJV). Most of us easily find God in the presence…

In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Juliet claims that Romeo’s family name should not matter, even though her family and Romeo’s family are feuding. To her, such a small thing is not as important as the love they share. However, both of these star-crossed lovers soon learn that names do have…

In my last pastorate at Nashville, Les Parrott Sr. was a parishioner. One Sunday he said to me, "Bill, every time you preach you emphasize some truth of the gospel!" Les had it right. From the beginning of my ministry my endeavor has been to proclaim some aspect of the gospel, which in 1935…