I have long admired the great evangelist, Charles Spurgeon. I often wonder what it would have been like to hear him preach, He is high on any list of renowned preachers. People had to stand in line to get into worship in his church in London. The crowds were so great that sometimes he would urge the membership of his
In his introductory comment to Wesley’s sermon “Christian Perfection,” Albert Outler wrote, “If, for Wesley, salvation was the total restoration of the deformed image of God in us, and if its fullness was the recovery of our negative power not to sin and our positive power to love God supremely, this denotes that furthest reach of grace and its triumphs
In my last article, I sought to make the case that the Christian faith is all about salvation. John Wesley summarized the goal of Christian religion: The end is, in one word, salvation. The British Methodist historian, William B. Fitzgerald, summarized Wesley’s theology of salvation with this fourfold dictum: All people need to be saved from sin, all people may
Statistics show that by 2034, many of the mainline denominations may cease to exist. The Presbyterian Church USA, Episcopal Church, Lutheran Church, and United Methodist Church have been in a kind of “free fall” in membership. It is obvious; the Day of the mainline expression of Christianity in North America is coming to a close. It is clear, maybe condemningly
Singing is one of our greatest expressions in the Christian faith and way, especially in the Wesleyan Methodist tradition. We sing our faith. One of the hymns we sing often is Blessed Assurance. The hymn is emotionally overwhelming when we know about the author, Fanny Crosby. From six weeks of age until her death shortly before her 95th birthday… Fanny
In the questions Jesus was often asked, two stand out. A young man of great wealth asked him, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” (Matthew 19:16). In another setting an expert of the law questioned, “Teacher, which one was the greatest commandment in the Law?” The first question, often phrased “What must I do to
In my last article I reflected on Paul’s emotional struggle as he wrote his letter to the Ephesians. He was filled with emotion as he thought of these new Christians, and in his mind, probably rehearsing his own Damascus Road experience. How could he say what he was feeling and thinking? What did he need to say? All he had
Join me in your imagination. We are a part of a Christian congregation in Ephesus. At one of our gatherings, a fellow member reads a letter written by the great apostle, Paul. He is seeking to shepherd the new emerging Christian movement and he is praying for us. Hear him, now. I kneel in prayer to the Father, from whom
Two-thirds of the world’s population now lives in countries where the birth rate has dropped to or below 2.1 babies per woman, the number needed to keep the population constant. When I first read that I was shocked by the language: 2.1 babies per woman. However, it was the concern that really got my attention. Experts are concerned that the
In my last article I focused on the notion of mission as “making disciples who make disciples.” I introduced the term “discipleship evangelism”, as the essence of evangelism. I hinted at the claim that there is “no great commission without the great commandment”. We must nurture and cherish the bond between word and deed, ideas and consequences, beliefs and actions. Good
My friend, George (Chuck) Hunter, has told a thrilling story – one of those lively vignettes of Methodist history that gives us our vision for now and the future. A great Methodist leader named C. C. McCabe was the leader of new church extension for the Methodist Episcopal Church in about 1881. He was a prodigious planner, strategist, fund-raiser, and
I read T. S. Eliot’s poetry, even though I have to struggle to read and understand it. I keep reminding myself that what he expresses is worth the arduous effort and energy I might exert in reading him. One of his geniuses is his creation of power-packed phrases and images. Here is one of them: “For most of us, there
We have been pondering the way Jesus’s resurrection can crack through our worry. An important perspective on hearing Jesus’ word, “Don’t be anxious,” is to know that he is certainly saying Don’t borrow the trouble of worrying about your ability to live the Christian life. This is something most of us have thought little or nothing about. Yet, I think
There have been a few occasions in my life when, almost immediately after meeting and greeting a person, they asked, “What are you worried about?” Persons often wear themselves on their faces. In my last article I reflected on Tennessee Williams’ image, violets cracking rocks. In his teaching, Jesus used an equally powerful image: “Consider the lilies… how they grow;
Easter is the punctuation mark of the Christian Faith: the death and resurrection of Jesus, God’s Son as his gift of salvation for all who will receive it. Easter stirs an image in my mind: violets cracking rocks. The image was connected with the work of Tennessee Williams, one of America’s greatest dramatists. In their commentary about his life and
It is gathered up in Wesley’s popular saying, “The world is my parish.” That word captures the style of the Methodist movement—a concern for all humankind, a spending of ourselves and our resources that all the world might be brought to Christ. Most of what I share here and much I have shared about other marks are from my book,
The Methodist movement was born in England and soon began to burn with a fire of love across the land, in large part, because of two big problems in the Established Church. One was spiritual apathy. Deism had flavored the intellectual and religious climate. God had become a benevolent ruler of the universe, removed from personal experience. In the arrogant
In my last article I made the claim that Methodists have a distinct style. As Christians, our style defines us as much, maybe more, than anything else. I have the privilege of observing that more than most. My wife and I live in a life cafe. We have lived here for seven years, and plan to make this our “earthly
Circumstances sometimes call us to do strange things – things we would not otherwise do. Circumstances also cause us to do things we should have done but never got around to before. Two out-of-town visitors were walking along a street in New York City late one night. One of the pair, wary of the reputation of city streets at night,
My files are flowing over with magazine and newspaper articles, cartoons, and photos. Unfortunately, I have not found a good “keeping” and “retrieval” system that is not too time costly for the reflections I prize. Yet, I saw it and I can’t forget it…a cartoon that depicted an older couple, obviously rich and retired, sitting in their posh living room.
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