On Wednesday my third child came home from our evening children's ministry at the church with an upset stomach. When she finally threw up that night, we blamed it on the Pizza Hut they were given at the church. But then she puked again, and diarrhea followed. She suffered for two days and then came out of it. Then the toddler got it. I was up most of the night with him before worship on Saturday night. He still has a fever and is needing his mother. Meanwhile, my fourth child started complaining about her stomach this evening. I slept with her in the guest bedroom and, what do you know, 30 minutes in this girl yaks. She has needed me a couple of times so far. It's 3:00 AM and I got maybe 30 minutes of sleep.
Anyway, I know I won't be good for much this morning, so let's just plan on the live stream tomorrow instead. I signed up for this. I don't feel sorry for myself. Just my poor kids. Odds are this won't stop spreading through the household, so it might be a rough week!
I'm publishing this here first to convey my thanks to those of you who have supported my work. Thank you.
Episode 1 takes up marriage, divorce and remarriage. Going into Johannesburg, our Book of Doctrines and Discipline told the world who could marry and never once used the word "divorce." On the last morning of General Conference, in about fifty minutes of floor debate, that changed. I walk Petition 1020 through its whole life: the language we inherited, Jonathan Lee's petition, the committee's 35–1 vote, and Saturday on the floor. That meant Rich Hoffman's amendment, Matt O'Reilly's rewrite, a motion to send the whole thing away for six years, and a final vote of 329–41.
Then we open Matthew 19 and 1 Corinthians 7 and ask what the church said, and what it chose not to say. I land somewhere between grateful and uneasy, and I want to hear where you land. The free discussion guide sets the old and new texts side by side, gives both sides in the delegates' own words, and has ...
I don't know why the live stream didn't work today. Here is what I did:
Update: I know I said I would start back up this week. I could easily start the morning live stream back up, but I have been feeling like I need to do some wrap-up on General Conference. It just took me some time get clear on what I would feel good about doing. And I finally got some really good thoughts together after a lot of percolation. Early next week, I should be publishing some very decent work on explaining some of the more impactful developments in Johannesburg. For right now, I'm aiming at eleven episodes dealing with:
1. Marriage, Divorce and Remarriage: how the church put words about divorce into our Book of Doctrines and Discipline on the final morning
2. Sex and Gender Identity: the rewriting of ¶302.8
3. Protecting the Unborn and the Mother: our new language on abortion
4. The Racial Theology Resolution: Resolution 1466, adopted and then defeated on a revote
5. The Articles of Faith: a new doctrinal standard for the Global Methodist Church
6. Restrictive Rules and the ...
