Wesleyan Accent is World Methodist Evangelism’s online magazine of practical resources in the area of discipleship, evangelism, leadership and theology. Through articles, book reviews, and interviews, WME features leading and emerging voices of the Wesleyan Methodist world.
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Isaiah directs the reader to “Come to Me with your ears wide open. Listen for the life of your soul is at stake.” Listening for the voice of the Lord must become a serious lifestyle imperative for us all. We cannot afford to do any less than to continually come to Him with our ears wide open, because our never-dying
This is the second article in a series on the Christian Pattern. Read the first article here. What Is Your Life Really About? I have been a pastor for over thirty-five years. In that time I have sat across from a lot of people in a lot of conversations — in hospital rooms, in counseling sessions, in coffee shops, in
Note: For several years, I have heard about the amazing things God is doing in the Methodist Church in Cuba. I have sought to see these firsthand on several occasions. However, for various reasons, those doors kept closing until this February. I took a group of four from our young church along with me as I taught at WME’s Unity
Check out the earlier articles in this series where Maxie shared about the need for personal holiness (part 1), surrender (part 2), character (part 3), faithfulness (part 4), the wisdom of the saints (part 5), discipline and obedience (part 6). Two more characteristics of the saints I want us to explore as we wrestle with the question, “Will I finish well?”
I was nineteen years old when I wandered into the First Methodist Church of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and fell in love with John Wesley. I didn’t know much about him at first. But the more I read, the more I was captivated — by the way God had raised him up, by his faltering journey to faith, by his struggles with
Check out the earlier articles in this series where Maxie shared about the need for personal holiness (part 1), surrender (part 2), character (part 3), faithfulness (part 4), and the wisdom of the saints (part 5). If we want to finish well in our ministry, we do well to look to those who have walked before us. In my studies and
In our world today, there are many groups of people who have instantaneous access to so much information. With little time to discern its truth, we witness competing philosophies and differing opinions filling the media landscape. The sheer volume of differing views causes some to feel that the Gospel is outdated, too complicated, or worse, irrelevant, for our world today.
Check out the earlier articles in this series where Maxie shared about the need for personal holiness (part 1), surrender (part 2), character (part 3), and faithfulness (part 4). It is not enough to recognize that the fruit and progress that result from our leadership are based on strong character. We must practice the disciplines that build that character and make
Note from the author: Somewhere along the way, I was told that a good Methodist preacher should always have a sermon and a prayer ready. Wanting to be faithful in that calling, I keep a few in reserve for those times I am asked to preach in different places. This one has become a favorite. I have preached it in
The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel. Jesus, Mark 1:15 ESV “Gospel” is a word that we hear quite a bit in church circles. However, what exactly is “the gospel?” In many settings, at least in churches in the West, it runs the risk of being reduced to
Christians talk about HEAVEN as the place where they will live for eternity. ETERNAL LIFE is the life that is a gift of God which comes to those who accept Christ as God’s gift of salvation. Paul uses the phrase eternal life to describe the goal of the process of salvation. We normally think of eternal life as what happens
Back in January of this year, media channels were flooded with accounts and commentary regarding the immigration enforcement actions taken in Minneapolis by the current presidential administration. Everyone agrees that two people were killed by federal officers. There are videos of each incident. What is striking about the videos, however, is that they do not seem to have changed anyone’s
Many news outlets have picked up the story of the decline of the church. Many strategies have been crafted to counterbalance this dataset. What if there has always been a way to not only prevent the decline but to engage the world around us well? How to Respond to Church Decline in a Changing Culture In Love Goes F1rst, Andrew
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:
The following article has been reposted with permission from Beth Felker Jones. Check out the original post at her Substack: Church Blogmatics. Understanding the Mystery of the Holy Trinity We should not be surprised to discover that God, being God, goes beyond human categories and assumptions, and we should be suspicious if we find our theologies supposing themselves capable of
I like to do projects around the house and the garage. It may be a small chore like changing a light fixture or a large job repairing the car. I like to be part of the solution. Over the years I have learned that one key to doing the job well is having the right tool for the job. You
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”
I’m not what you’d call an outdoorsy person. In fact, the only exercise I typically get is jumping to conclusions. So when I found myself at the bottom of a very steep hill in the Peak District of Derbyshire, legs already burning, lungs already protesting, I had a moment of serious doubt about my life choices. But I’m getting ahead
In March of 2020, as many of us were coming to terms with the COVID-19 pandemic, I became close friends with a neighbor. Our kids are close in age, and we defiantly kept a similar “open-door policy” with our neighbors and their kids in a season when many were understandably afraid of contagion (or peer-judgment). Because of our likeminded attitude
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
When you look closely at the first few verses of Philippians, something quite unique stands out fairly quickly:
Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,
To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons.
You’ll notice that Paul does not refer to himself as an apostle.
We have a hungry prophet (Elijah) on assignment to stretch the faith of a widow woman on welfare and to add insult to injury she has just lost her son.
I stop by to tell somebody when you are dealing with a dead situation you have to expect the unexpected, process your pain, and trust the process.
What would you give your life for? Your kids? Your spouse? Your family? Would you give your life for people you don’t know? People forced into prostitution in Bangalore, or unborn babies? Would you give your life for the Church? Paul tells us Jesus gave his life for just this thing. Jesus gave his life for the Church. More precisely, Jesus
Here’s a news flash – the word “evangelism” is emotionally, historically, and theologically charged.
Cognitive dissonance is especially challenging in evangelism. We’re tempted to find ways to reduce the divergences between the Gospel and our culture, to change our message so it’s more palatable to the society in which we live, to accommodate it to the “wisdom of the world.”
The more I read those words and reflected on Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 25 the more it struck me that the Seven Works of Corporal Mercy are not an anachronistic relic of the Medieval church but constitute a very effective evaluation tool for the contemporary church.
The history of heresy in the first few centuries of Christian faith is fascinating as the church slowly and methodically made choices about the core tenets of Christianity.
And that’s the key. It was a process of choice – hairesis.
I really do love the book of Proverbs. There’s just some really good stuff within this great book: wisdom that can help us live our lives in ways that are just so powerful and so good. Ways that are just so true. Listen to what we are told today in Proverbs 21: 1-2: 1 A good name is to be chosen
United Methodists and many others followed the 2016 General Conference in Portland with fervent interest. Whether you watched live streaming (a primer in do’s and don’ts of parliamentary procedure), caught a few random comments on social networks or read daily summaries from the United Methodist News Service or the UM Reporter, by now there are a lot of perspectives on
Because as comforting as it is to know that I stand in a long line of mothers without children, ultimately their stories of temporary infertility are not helpful. I have prayed until I looked drunk. Nothing. My husband has prayed on my behalf. Still nothing.
Here we see the peril and the promise called-ones. The twelve come. They gather the stones at your feet. They heap those stones, stones of remembrance, stones your children’s children will ask about. But the names and the images of the called-ones are forgotten. They are wiped away like rough edges of stone in the bed of the Jordan. The
For me, as a Methodist, this is an important day to celebrate. It is important to tell the story of what God can do in a person’s heart, and because of that work, the world could be forever changed. As people who are walking the road of faith, let us point out particular places and stops along the way where
Orthodoxy gets a bad rap these days. At a time when distinction is seen as an evil – this or that, one or the other – orthodoxy is seen as presumptive, divisive and unwarranted. To say one thing is right or rightful is to deny the right or rightfulness of something else – an inconceivable vanity, a tired, predictable power-play
It is the season of punditry. So goes life as a U.S. citizen who belongs to The United Methodist Church. General Conference cycles match up with the presidential election cycle: every four years, we encounter heated tempers, technicolor bluster and threats to move to Canada. This year the hype in the United States is reaching near radioactive levels of intensity.
I have often said that the Methodist Wesleyan family is more than the sum of its parts. That is because when the family gathers it is a Revelation moment. People gathered around the throne of God, from every tribe and people group, every shape, size, color, and language. And God’s home is there, among the people.
Saint Paul was converted on the Road to Damascus; Al Green was made righteous off Interstate 5 near Disneyland.
The intercessory life is a pattern for our interior growth in prayer that is abiding in Christ, and the outward expression of a missional Christ life in the world. It is a dynamic balance of paying attention to our personal spiritual maturity, and the call of Christ to minister as servants in the world.
Today’s post is a compelling piece written anonymously by a successful pastor. The Ideology of a Cancer Cell I rarely have those moments I would unquestioningly call, “divine.” I’ve never been one to see the fingerprints of God on everything around me. So when something happens in my life that just seems divinely orchestrated, I have to latch on
On the day when we had the least amount of time to tend to the needs of others, we boldly said come join us.
I suspect sometimes that I live more out of a sense of obligation than awe — more aware that I’ve signed onto a system than that I am a servant of a holy God who has actually sapped the power out of death and sin. I need to be reminded that systems are not living, breathing things, but Jesus is.
