Check out the earlier articles in this series where Maxie shared about the need for personal holiness (part 1), surrender (part 2), and character (part 3). A couple of years ago I was smitten in my heart by a word I heard in the ordination service of the Free Methodist Church. It was verses 4 and 5 of Ezekiel 2:
So far in this series, I have shared how personal holiness and surrender have kept me spiritually alive throughout my ministry. Let me now make my case and offer specific notions which I pray might have at least some hints of wisdom. Spiritual, emotional, and relational growth takes time and energy. It requires discipline. It diverts us from “pastoral duties”
In my last article, I took the long way around to getting to where I really want to be in my sharing with you. Often the Holy Spirit speaks to us in some very personal way to lift us out of discouragement – but not only so, calls us to make an on-course adjustment in our pattern of life and
There are some experiences or encounters that are so solidly lodged in our memory they continue to invade our consciousness – to haunt us – to help us or to hinder our Christian walk, to call and challenge us to be more than we are. John Birkbeck is a person around whom for me a whole cluster of memories is
In my two previous articles (read part 1 here and part 2 here) we focused on two of the big truths the three wise men can teach us. One, only the wise know their wisdom is incomplete and limited. Two, the wise men not only know their wisdom is incomplete they know they can’t save themselves. Those who are wise always know that their wisdom
In my last article, I began reflecting on the Three Wise Men in the Christmas story. I began by insisting only the wise know their wisdom is incomplete and limited. These wise men had journeyed along a difficult path, looking for a king, using the very best science they knew, following a star. But somehow, along the way, their guidance
Two men were sitting together on an airplane, one an astronomer, the other a theologian. After a while each began to share his understanding of the other’s discipline. The astronomer said, “I believe that all religion can be summed up in the phrase, ‘Jesus Loves Me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.’” The theologian, somewhat miffed at this simplistic
Even with modern technology, I like the daily newspaper. I pay close attention to the front page and read the articles there that get attention. Then I turn the inner pages to see what is there. It was an inside article, but the headline caught my attention: FORMER ADDICT OFFERS HAIRCUTS TO HOMELESS PEOPLE IN LOS ANGELES. I couldn’t resist
When Nathaniel Hawthorne came home in utter despair and failure after losing his job in the Customs House, his wife responded, “Now you can write that book you have always wanted to write.” Under that kind of uplifting support, Hawthorne wrote The Scarlet Letter, one of the greatest pieces of literature the world has ever known. The truth is there
As Christians we do not emerge full-grown. Salvation is not a one -time event. To see it in its fullness, we talk about “going on to salvation.” If any doctrines within the whole compass of Christianity may be properly termed fundamental, they are doubtless these two — the doctrine of justification, and that of the new birth. The former relates
Many local churches I know have as a part of their mission statement, We need to be deliberate in our churches in “making disciples who will make disciples.” It rolls off our tongues so easily, but is demanding in actualizing. As I insisted in my last article, we must nurture and cherish the bond between word and deed, ideas and
Share the post: Georgia Harkness was once considered one of our most outstanding theologians. She was certainly a brilliant thinker and spoke prophetically to the church. Here is such a word: “We must rescue evangelism from the red-light district of the ecclesiastical community.” That’s putting it unquestionably straight. Evangelism has been prostituted for money and personal gain. That’s the reason
Share the post: This is the season in many denominations when changes take place in clergy leadership. I’m in a good bit of conversation with clergy and lay leadership about the nature of ordained ministry. I urge clergy and lay leadership to read and consider chapter 2 of Ezekiel as a part of the experience of “clergy appointment.” A
Share the post: It may not be good writing or even good grammar, but I deliberately put a question mark after the title of this article, Falling from Grace? This is a follow-up to my last article where I also put a question mark in the title Once saved always saved? Oh! Both, “falling from grace,” and “once saved always
In my last three articles I have discussed assurance and sanctification. These aspects of salvation lead us to think about what separates a Methodist understanding from those who believe in eternal security. Once saved, always saved was a theme I was asked often about in the first churches I served in rural Mississippi. We Methodist Wesleyans believe that it is
Share the post: In an earlier article, we reflected on Wesley’s insistence on perfection being an essential dimension of our going on to salvation. He came from his Aldersgate experience convinced that all could be saved, and all could be saved to the uttermost. Thus assurance and perfection became essential in his understanding of grace working for our full salvation.
Share the post: I am not trying to be overly dramatic. Throughout these three articles on the Holy Spirit (check out Part I and Part II), I have voiced my conviction that we are at a critical point. I would even describe it as a life and death point…in our church and in our nation. However, the overarching conviction is
Share the post: In my previous article I began a conversation about the Holy Spirit as someone to take the place of Jesus. Knowing the cross was coming, in one of his last conversations with his disciples, Jesus made the promise, “And I will pray to the Father, and He will give you another comforter, that He may abide with
Share the post: The Holy Spirit is certainly one of the most common and most important issues of faith and doctrine in the Church. We use the term and talk about the subject assuming that people know what we are talking about — when, at most, their understanding is limited and vague, and at best, they don’t have the faintest
Share the post: The New Testament Book of Acts tells the story of the birth of the Church. Here is an exciting part of the story. When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They
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