Author Archives: Steve Harper

About Steve Harper

Retired seminary professor, who taught for 32 years in the disciplines of Spiritual Formation and Wesley Studies. Author and co-author of 42 books. Also a retired Elder in The Florida Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church.

Love: Benedict’s Rule

Posted on March 18, 2020 by Steve Harper

​Written in the sixth century a.d., the Rule of St. Benedict soon became the guide for cenobitic (communal) monasticism, and I write about it today because the Rule continues to direct the common life of many communities to this day.  … Continue reading →

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Love: Abba/Amma Love

Posted on March 17, 2020 by Steve Harper

The early Christian spiritual guides were called abbas and ammas, people who incarnated Trinitarian (”Abbba/Amma”) love.  Their central teaching was perfection (completion) in love in keeping with Jesus’ teaching of it in Matthew 5:48. The context for their theology of … Continue reading →

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Love: The Didaché

Posted on March 11, 2020 by Steve Harper

​The Didaché is the oldest surviving catechism, likely written between 90-110 a.d. The centrality of love is seen at the beginning, where the “two ways”—life and death—are described.  Concerning life, it says,  ”Now the path of life is this — … Continue reading →

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In-Sight: Collision Course

Posted on March 6, 2020 by Steve Harper

​Lent is the season in the Christian year when we take a prolonged look at ourselves in relation to Christ.  It is a time for remembering the radical nature of the Gospel, and an opportunity to recommit ourselves to it. … Continue reading →

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Along the Way: At the Bottom of “The Slippery Slope”

Posted on March 5, 2020 by Steve Harper

When I wrote ‘For the Sake of the Bride’ in 2014, I received immediate pushback and censure from colleagues at Asbury Theological Seminary, and from the larger conservative Wesleyan world.  One parachurch group described me as “the latest evangelical to … Continue reading →

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Love: New Testament Style

Posted on March 3, 2020 by Steve Harper

​Our first step into love in Christian history occurs before we leave the Bible itself.  It happens in the New Testament.  In this post I will illustrate love from three vantage points found in the New Testament. First, the priority … Continue reading →

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Love: Eager to Love

Posted on February 25, 2020 by Steve Harper

​Far from being an abstract concept, the Trinity is what makes us us eager to love.  We are motivated to love because we are made like God, Who is Love. We love, as John put it, because God first loved … Continue reading →

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Along The Way: Tending the Flock

Posted on February 24, 2020 by Steve Harper

​“Tend the flock of God among you” (1Peter 5:2) During the course of my thirty two years as a seminary professor, I taught courses in United Methodist history, theology, and polity in two theological schools and one Course of Study … Continue reading →

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Along the Way: Real Love

Posted on February 21, 2020 by Steve Harper

​It’s not even noon, and my email box, facebook page, and related social media have presented a host of people and groups, all espousing love as being at the heart of what they are saying and doing.  And not surprisingly, … Continue reading →

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Love: Spirit Love

Posted on February 18, 2020 by Steve Harper

​Galatians 5:22 is an awkward sentence: “The fruit of the Spirit is…” and then we read nine words.  At first glance, it seems that the sentence should read, “The fruits of the Spirit are…” but it doesn’t.  The reason is … Continue reading →

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Shepherd’s Care: The Jesus Pattern–The One We Need

Posted on February 17, 2020 by Steve Harper

Jesus had a clear pattern for his life and ministry.  Luke described it in 5:15-16, “Huge crowds gathered to listen and to be healed of their illnesses.  But Jesus would withdraw to deserted places for prayer.” His pattern was a … Continue reading →

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Love: Son Love (Jesus)

Posted on February 11, 2020 by Steve Harper

​Two great thoughts bring the love of God the Father into the love of God that we see in Jesus: the Word was God…and…the Word became flesh (John 1:1, 14).  In Jesus we see the incarnation of love.  Reading the … Continue reading →

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Along The Way: Our New Friendship

Posted on February 10, 2020 by Steve Harper

​On the night of his betrayal, Jesus gathered with his disciples.  John records it in chapters 15-17.  The evening was filled with one treasure after another, which we can read and re-read for our edification. One gem was Jesus’ definition … Continue reading →

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Love: Son Love (Christ)

Posted on February 4, 2020 by Steve Harper

​To see the love of God in the second person of the Trinity, we must explore the love of the universal Christ and the incarnate Jesus.  We look at the universal Christ today and the incarnate Jesus next week. [1] … Continue reading →

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In-Sight: We Never Get There First

Posted on January 31, 2020 by Steve Harper

​Paul’s visit to Athens (Acts 17:16-34) is insightful with respect to evangelism and missiology.  Today, I want to highlight only one insight—that we never get there first.  God is always ahead of us, present in people and places before we … Continue reading →

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Love: Parent Love

Posted on January 28, 2020 by Steve Harper

I am comfortable with using “Father” in describing the first person of the Trinity, and that’s because I had a great dad.  But I recognize many are not comfortable with “father” language, and I respect that.  Some are uncomfortable because … Continue reading →

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Along the Way: Mastery or Mystery?

Posted on January 27, 2020 by Steve Harper

​The longer I explore a theology of human sexuality, the more I realize that the differences we hold regarding it are produced by something larger than the topic itself.  With respect to anything, we are directed to a great extent … Continue reading →

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Along the Way: On Point

Posted on January 25, 2020 by Steve Harper

​If I were a pastor, I would make youth ministry the cutting edge of my church’s mission.  There are a number of reasons why I would do this.  I write today only about one, and it is a reason fueled … Continue reading →

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Love: Trinitarian Love

Posted on January 21, 2020 by Steve Harper

​For much of my Christian life, the Holy Trinity has been simultaneously a central doctrine and a marginal attraction.  I would never hesitate to say, “I believe in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit” but either out loud or to … Continue reading →

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Along the Way: Dreaming

Posted on January 20, 2020 by Steve Harper

​For the first time in our nation’s history, Martin Luther King Jr. Day falls in the midst of a presidential impeachment/trial process. [1]. The juxtaposition of these two things shapes my thinking as we observe MLK Jr Day today. On … Continue reading →

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Love: Amazing Love

Posted on January 14, 2020 by Steve Harper

Every language has a word or words for love.  The biblical languages of Hebrew and Greek are no exception. The two main words are hesed and agapé.  [1]  In both words, love reaches its apex as “love for the sake … Continue reading →

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Along the Way: What’s Going On?

Posted on January 10, 2020 by Steve Harper

We are living through an intense time of polarization, with resulting fragmentations of all sorts and sizes.  Every day adds new impetus for asking, “What’s going on?”  The depth and breadth of our conflicts makes a blanket answer impossible.  I … Continue reading →

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Love: God is Love

Posted on January 7, 2020 by Steve Harper

Three words sum up the essence of everything: God is love.  They not only tell us who God is, but also who we are, and who/what everyone and everything else is.  At the creation level of cosmos and cells, love … Continue reading →

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In-Sight: Incarnation

Posted on January 4, 2020 by Steve Harper

​Having recently celebrated Christmas, the Incarnation has been front-and-center in our faith.  In the birth of Jesus, the Word became flesh, and lived a while on the earth full of grace and truth (John 1:14).  The coming of the pre-incarnate, … Continue reading →

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Love: Introduction

Posted on December 31, 2019 by Steve Harper

​Decades ago, a popular song said  “Love is a many splendored thing.”  Indeed it is, and I have been blessed to know this throughout my lifetime.  This coming April, Jeannie and I celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary, and every year … Continue reading →

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Christmas: Descent Into Oneness

Posted on December 24, 2019 by Steve Harper

​Christmas is the time for experiencing the formative work of descent.  We sing, “Love came down at Christmas.”  It is the hymnodic way of declaring with John that “the Word became flesh” (John 1:14).  Christ’s “coming down” was a descent … Continue reading →

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Oboedire 2020

Posted on December 18, 2019 by Steve Harper

Except for a meditation on Christmas day, I’m taking a break from Oboedire until January 1st. But here’s what’s in store for 2020–a continuation of some themes and the beginning of some new ones… (1) 2020 Theme: “Love.”–Each Wednesday we … Continue reading →

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Holy Love: A Final Word

Posted on December 15, 2019 by Steve Harper

​I hope your reading of ‘Holy Love’ and these related posts has been helpful.  In the book, I include two additional writings: a word to LGBTQ+ people (“You  Are Loved”) and a word to those who disagree with me (”A … Continue reading →

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Holy Love: The Life

Posted on December 8, 2019 by Steve Harper

In the final chapter of ‘Holy Love’ I hope to turn theory into practice, beliefs into behaviors—what John Wesley called “practical divinity.”  He believed that faith had to be practiced, not just professed.  He called it “living faith”—in the spirit … Continue reading →

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In-Sight: Immanuel

Posted on December 6, 2019 by Steve Harper

​Michael Card has been one of my favorite musicians for a long time, recognized by many as a musical theologian, not just a performer.  His composition, “Immanuel,” is the song Jeannie and I turn to every Advent. We are still … Continue reading →

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Holy Love: Passages #4

Posted on December 1, 2019 by Steve Harper

Romans 1:18-32 There’s no doubt that this passage is the focal text for interpreting human sexuality in general and LGBTQ+ sexuality in particular.  Romans links in spirit and substance with Leviticus.  Just as Israel was entering a new land, so … Continue reading →

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Here and Now: Resting

Posted on November 27, 2019 by Steve Harper

​Our journey this year through the lens of “Here and Now” has taken us in many directions.  As we conclude the series, we must remember that here-and-now living brings us into a deep rest.  We live from the rest of … Continue reading →

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Holy Love: Passages #3

Posted on November 24, 2019 by Steve Harper

​1 Corinthians 16:9-10 and 1 Timothy 1:10 Paul’s missionary journeys had taken him to Corinth and Cyprus before he made it to Rome.  So, I decided to treat these two passages before Romans 1.  What he experienced with respect to … Continue reading →

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Here and Now: Engagement

Posted on November 20, 2019 by Steve Harper

​When we are  present to life here and now, we become engaged with life itself.  Communion, celebration, and compassion connect us to life in the present moment in ways that are life-giving to us and to others.  We see this … Continue reading →

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Holy Love: Passages #2

Posted on November 18, 2019 by Steve Harper

Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 Honestly, I was not prepared for the complexity regarding these two passages.  Far from being cut-and-dried as a one-sentence, straightforward condemnation of male homosexual activity, the passages are in relation to a cultural and religious context … Continue reading →

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The Soul of Impeachment

Posted on November 14, 2019 by Steve Harper

​As the public phase of the impeachment process begins, nothing is more certain than this: it will occur in a whirlwind of confusion, fueled to a great degree by political partisanship that will seek to frame the matter along party … Continue reading →

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Here and Now: Community

Posted on November 13, 2019 by Steve Harper

Being reconciled to one another in Christ here and now, we can move to establish community.  It is community based on grace, nothing else.  We do not have to be alike.  We do not have agree.  Our community is not … Continue reading →

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Holy Love: The Passages #1

Posted on November 11, 2019 by Steve Harper

Introduction  I have not counted the total number of passages in the Bible that refer to human sexuality in general or sexual behavior in particular.  There are many, hundreds I would assume.  What I do know is that only a … Continue reading →

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Here and Now: Reconciliation

Posted on November 6, 2019 by Steve Harper

​When our life in the present moment brings us to the point of seeing that everything belongs, it also reveals that God has given us a ministry–the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18).  From that moment on, we know why … Continue reading →

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Holy Love: Consummation

Posted on November 4, 2019 by Steve Harper

​When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we say “thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”  The previous facets  of the hermeneutic of love have helped us see love “on earth.” When we turn … Continue reading →

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In-Sight: What a Wonderful World

Posted on November 2, 2019 by Steve Harper

Jeannie and I have just returned  from a great visit with our family in Kentucky.  The trip included several opportunities to experience the wonder and beauty of nature as fall settles in.  It really is a spectacular season. Seeing the … Continue reading →

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Here and Now: Inclusion

Posted on October 30, 2019 by Steve Harper

​When we live in the present moment with the fullness of our true personhood in play, we experience inclusion and offer it to others.  We are included in everything, and everything is included in us.  As Richard Rohr has put … Continue reading →

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Holy Love: Church

Posted on October 27, 2019 by Steve Harper

Expanding on the hermeneutic of love in the Church beyond what I write in the book means enlarging the idea of the Church as the Body of Christ.  I write some about it this in the book, but today I … Continue reading →

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Here and Now: True Personhood

Posted on October 23, 2019 by Steve Harper

​Living here-and-now makes all of life formative, and it evokes the emergence of our true personhood.  By not being tethered by the past (e.g.”What I should have been or might have been”) and by not being pulled into the future … Continue reading →

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Holy Love: Christ

Posted on October 21, 2019 by Steve Harper

​The fourth vantage point for seeing the hermeneutic of holy love is Christ, the one who reveals the creator (“whoever has seen me has seen the Father,” John 14:9), the one who made the creation (“ everything came into being … Continue reading →

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Here and Now: Suffering

Posted on October 16, 2019 by Steve Harper

​There are other positive things we could note about living here and now.  But it would be a mistake to think that the blessings of present-moment living are limited to them.  We must include suffering as a portal for our … Continue reading →

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Holy Love: Covenant

Posted on October 14, 2019 by Steve Harper

The third vantage point for seeing the hermeneutic of holy love is the Covenant.  When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we say “thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”  This is the creator/creation … Continue reading →

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Here and Now: Gratitude

Posted on October 9, 2019 by Steve Harper

​David Steindl-Rast introduced me to gratitude as a sign that we are living in the present moment. He wrote, “Our eyes are opened to the surprise character of the world around us the moment we wake up from taking things … Continue reading →

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Holy Love: Creation

Posted on October 7, 2019 by Steve Harper

Creation is the second vantage point for seeing the hermeneutic of holy love. We live in a God-made world (Genesis 1:1).  It is reasonable to assume that there would be congruence between who God is and what God has made.  … Continue reading →

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In-Sight: Surprised into Transformatiom

Posted on October 5, 2019 by Steve Harper

​A writing project I am engaged in has taken me back into the books of E. Stanley Jones.  I have spent large amounts of time re-reading them. I have been reminded why he is the overall major influence in my faith … Continue reading →

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