In 1940, Sergei Prokofiev shook the world with his ballet adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Prokofiev, an accomplished composer and artist, brought many new elements to his rendition of Romeo and Juliet. However, he stirred a great deal of controversy when he gave this well-known tragedy a happy ending. Audiences were appalled at the idea. Since 1597 people
Some things you only discover over the long course of years. This frustrates an economy of optimization, hyper-fixated on immediate improvement and benefit. Wisdom can’t be reduced to “insights” gleaned by data, metrics, or analytics though, even if they’re useful from a strategic point of view. The season of Advent stubbornly persists in forcing the door open for the hard-to-quantify
Scripture focus: Show me the path where I should walk, O Lord; point out the right road for me to follow. Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in you. (Psalm 25:4-5, NLT) Our Christmas nativity scenes often include the magi who patiently
My wife and I currently live in Switzerland, very close to the French border, so we regularly travel between the two countries. Despite French being spoken in our Swiss canton, there are lots of differences between France and Switzerland. (The Swiss – rather sniffily – would claim the standard of driving and condition of the roads are among the most
Scripture Focus: The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14 (NIV) The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory,
The biopsy was on Wednesday. The results would not arrive until Friday. In the meantime, I existed in a space where I could be healthy or sick. Many have heard of “Schrödinger’s cat” – an illustration of a quantum mechanics concept. The hypothetical image was of a cat in a chamber with a radioactive substance and poison. Schrödinger painted such
2021 has been a milestone year for World Methodist Evangelism! We have marked the 50th anniversary of WME, the 25th anniversary of the Order of the FLAME, and the 25th anniversary of the original publication of the Faith-Sharing New Testament with the Psalms. It has indeed been a wonderful year of celebration! Our most recent gathering in honor of the
Note from the Editor: The sudden news of Dr. William Abraham’s death sent Methodists around the globe reeling. Immediately, a flood a tributes began to pour forth in a kind of spontaneous online wake. Before Covid, wakes were still common in Ireland and also in Northern Ireland, Billy Abraham’s childhood home. In the remembrances that follow, four unique voices give
Many traditions and cultures in and through which the Church has found its liveliness – growing tree-like in different climates and biomes – celebrate the glory of God through praise, liturgy, proclamation, and testimony. All glory, we say or preach or sing, belongs to God. And we affirm that along with the Church across time and space; or beyond time
“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” –Jesus, Revelation 3:20 When I was a boy, my grandmother had a picture of Jesus standing outside a door. He was knocking gently, as if asking politely to
Somewhere I read that Darwin kept a notebook to jot down the contradictions that he came across, contradictions against his theories. He knew that if he didn’t jot those contradictions down, he was so committed to his theories that he would forget them. It’s so easy to forget. It’s easy to lose touch with the source of life… how we
One of our big failures as Christians is our continual refusal to discipline ourselves in living with the word of God. We need to study the Bible. It is the shaping source of our Christian faith and way. In it we find the revelation of God which God provided through God’s Son, Jesus. It is food for our souls, direction
“Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval. Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires? Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in
This is the sixth and final article in a series of articles Maxie is writing about the beliefs behind our views of evangelism. Check out the prior articles on Wesleyan Accent (first, second, third, fourth, and fifth). Natalie Sleeth has given us one of the most popular hymns written during the past fifty years, “Hymn of Promise.” The last two
I live in an area that is susceptible to hurricanes and other tropical weather. Frequently, when my neighbors and I talk about these big storms, you will hear the phrase, “Not if but when the storm comes…” Throughout the year we prepare our homes, our churches, and our businesses to face the wrath of the storms that will eventually come
In a previous blog, we considered the nature of grace. Grace was a core issue in Wesley’s theology. He sounded the note of grace strongly in opposition to a doctrine of predestination. The doctrine of predestination has as its center an understanding of grace being limited. For Wesley, grace is not limited – it is universal. It is “free in
Scripture Focus: “The Israelite cry for help has come to me, and I’ve seen for myself how cruelly they’re being treated by the Egyptians. It’s time for you to go back: I’m sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the People of Israel, out of Egypt.” Moses answered God, “But why me? What makes you think that I could
This is the fourth article in a series of articles Maxie is writing about the beliefs behind our views of evangelism. Click here for the first article, here for the second, and here for the third. In my reflection on evangelism I have made three bold claims. What you think about Christ determines what you do about evangelism. If we
It could happen to you today. It could happen in a coffee shop, in the car, in the gym, on the phone, at work, or at church. Someone may ask you a question that takes your breath away. The question might come from a colleague, a new friend, or a family member. “Why are you a Christian? You seem like
This is the third article in a series of articles Maxie is writing about the beliefs behind our views of evangelism. Click here for the first article and here for the second. In a previous article we focused on the uniqueness of Christ, insisting that ideas have consequences. What we think about Christ determines what we do about evangelism. If
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