Dave Buerstetta on striving to do justice and love others while walking humbly with God
I've been trying to follow this whole debt ceiling deal as much as possible. I've tweeted (and RT'd) about it quite a bit. So, is it a good deal? Should I feel pleased about it? I have no idea. I'm no economist and the reports are conflicting to say the least. President Obama offers this …
Continue reading Making sense of this debt ceiling agreement?
This video from the National Council of Churches provides an inside look at the ongoing prayer vigil regarding the need for our country to pass a moral budget by considering first and foremost the impact the budget has on the poor and vulnerable. The video also captures some of the group arrested for praying and …
Update: Several religious leaders, including General Secretary of the Board of Church & Society, Jim Winkler, were arrested today for praying and protesting the budget proposals in the Capital rotunda. As a Bread for the World member, I was asked to participate in emailing Senators Durbin and Kirk as we continue to seek to follow …
As Bread for the World reminds us, Globally, almost 16,000 children die each day from hunger related causes. That's one child every five seconds. This week 8 Woodridge United Methodist Church college students and 3 leaders (including my wife and me) served at Feed My Starving Children in Aurora. For many of these students, it …
Yesterday I shared that I was one of over 4000 pastors who signed an open letter to President Obama and Congress regarding the current budget impass. I am also one of over 500 people from across Illinois who signed a memo to our Senators, Dick Durbin and Mark Kirk. Today, Bread for the World activists …
Ok, so this isn't exactly my ad in Politico...but I am one of the 4000+ pastors who signed on to this: Sojouners writes more about this on their God's Politics blog today. They also list the ad signers by state. Sojo invited me to write "2-3 sentences" about my support for this movement which they …
I never quite know how to encapsulate all that happens on one of our mission trips. There is just so much that happens: tine in the vehicles there and back, staying at churches on the road there and back, inside jokes, inside disputes, conversations that cannot be reconstructed let alone shared, insights shared in confidence, …
Continue reading Mingo County mission trip: reflecting back, looking forward
A few weeks ago I wrote about the new UMC resource, Ministry With* the Poor I hope you’ve checked that out by now and at least watched the introductory video. If not, I encourage you to do so now. One of the fascinating things about Ministry With* the Poor is the collaborative effort bringing it …
Continue reading Guest blogger: Pastor Jim responds to Ministry With
I am an American Baptist. I grew up attending an American Baptist church and I am ordained by the American Baptist Churches USA. However (and oddly), I’ve spent the last 15+ years serving as one of the pastors of the Woodridge United Methodist Church. As The United Methodist Church is about ten times bigger than …
Saturday, May 14 is the United Methodist Church’s second annual Change the World Day, how will you participate? Not every detail is chiseled in stone yet, but here’s how the church at which I serve, Woodridge UMC, will join the effort and be counted: Free T-shirts! Yep, that’s right, all Change the World participants will …
All That I Can't Leave Unsaid 