Articles Archives | World Methodist Evangelism

Transformative Mission: When The Church Malfunctions by Edgar Bazan

Edgar Bazan March 21, 2018

In A Public Faith: How Followers of Christ Should Serve the Common Good, Miroslav Volf cautions against the errors the church falls into that hinders it accomplishing what it was constituted to be. He calls it malfunction. He describes this malfunctioning as a poisoned well when he says, In the course of Christianity’s long history—full of remarkable achievements by its saints

Lent: Interview with Bishop Debra Wallace-Padgett

Debbie Wallace-Padgett March 19, 2018

Wesleyan Accent shares the opportunity to explore the Lenten season with Bishop Debra Wallace-Padgett, who serves the Birmingham Episcopal Area of the Southeastern Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church in the United States. Wesleyan Accent: Growing up, Ash Wednesday was something vaguely Catholic-ish printed on the calendar; I didn’t observe it until later in life. What role has Ash Wednesday played

When Jesus Gets Angry by Carolyn Moore

Carolyn Moore March 15, 2018

Find Mark 1:41 in your Bible. How does that line read in your version? How did Jesus feel about this leper who asked for healing? Some versions say Jesus was filled with compassion for the leper who came to him for healing. My version (NIV) and a few other versions say Jesus was indignant. By my experience, there is a

Bucking the System by Jeff Rudy

Jeff Rudy March 14, 2018

Why didn’t Jesus take up the sword? Why isn’t that the means by which to overcome evil? Walter Wink says something quite remarkable about Jesus’ point here: “Violent revolution fails because it is not revolutionary enough. It changes the rulers but not the rules, the ends but not the means.”

Dying Well by Faith Parry

Faith Parry March 12, 2018

The early Methodists were known as people who died well. They had grace and assurance of God’s love and forgiveness for them, so they did not fear death. Furthermore, Wesley made it a point to share the stories of those who died and went on to glory.

Why Pilgrimage Is Part Of Discipleship: Discovering Lindisfarne by Tammie Grimm

Tammie Grimm March 8, 2018

Northumbria. Nether Springs. Lindisfarne. Holy Island. For years I casually entertained the hopes I might visit the Northumbrian Community that produced Celtic Daily Prayer. Inquiries to the community recommended a minimum stay of two nights and three days. Required trips to the United Kingdom for PhD residency never quite afforded the wiggle room on either end to steal away for

The Problem With Praying For Open Doors by Elizabeth Glass Turner

elizabeth.turner March 5, 2018

One of the prayers I heard a lot growing up was a simple if loaded take on, “thy will be done.” Praying, “thy will be done,” is not only biblical, Jesus himself prayed it in the Garden of Gethsemane, which is a pretty compelling model to follow. The prayer I heard repeatedly was this: “open and close doors as You

Lent with a Wesleyan Accent by Matt Sigler

Matthew Sigler March 1, 2018

A celebration of Easter without a prior descent into the grave is dishonest and naïve, just as observing Lent without the uncompromising proclamation of the Resurrection is hopeless.

Real Prayers For Real People by Carolyn Moore

Carolyn Moore February 26, 2018

I didn’t immediately fall in love with the Psalms. I found them to be hard to understand and a little dusty. Then some hard things happened in my life and I landed on a few Psalms that became prayers when I didn’t know what to pray. When my mother died, Psalm 42 became my lifeline. Psalm 116 was my testimony in a season when

Scripture You Forgot You Knew by Elizabeth Glass Turner

elizabeth.turner February 21, 2018

It happens to all of us. An old song or movie comes on, and somewhere, out of the depths of your dusty brain, a reflex kicks in. Before you know it, you’re singing words you didn’t know you remembered, or you’re quoting a line right before the actor says it. It’s like muscle memory, hidden deep beneath years of doctor

The Unreached Object by Elizabeth Glass Turner

elizabeth.turner September 19, 2016

Protestantism has hit a snag. Catholics have their challenges, but it’s a very different set. The Orthodox church in its various forms has its disputes but remains largely unchanged. North American Protestants have hit hard times, like an ecclesial version of the 2008 economic meltdown. We’ve printed Bible verses on magnets, screen printed t-shirts, run food pantries and epic VBS

A Peace at Odds by Jeff Rudy

Jeff Rudy September 17, 2016

Peace or division? Which is your mission, Jesus? Which is your kingdom about?

When Your Faith Creates Problems by Andy Stoddard

Andy Stoddard September 15, 2016

In 1 John 3: 11-24, we see two truths that are really, really hard to hold together. We will not always be liked. But we must always love. Listen to what we are told today: For this is the message you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. We must not be like Cain who was

Money, Money, Money by James Petticrew

James Petticrew September 14, 2016

The danger of our silence is that if we ignore the subject of money, both the mission of the Kingdom of God and the spirituality of God’s people will ultimately be impoverished.

The Gospel in Jamaica: Where Are the Men? by Kimberly Reisman

Kim Reisman September 14, 2016

If we really believe that in Christ there is no male or female, it should trouble us deeply that so many men are missing from our midst.

Helicopter Pilots or Farmers? by Cole Bodkin

Cole Bodkin September 12, 2016

Hypermobility. Transience. Individualism. Consumerism. Nationalism. Add to those descriptors the second half of the great commandment: Love your neighbor as yourself. And what do you get? Helicopter love. Helicopter Love* A helicopter love, or lifestyle, is one in which a person has a place to live (a safe haven), but they hop into a virtual helicopter to fly to the various

Our Story Is for All Ages by Tammie Grimm

Tammie Grimm September 10, 2016

Death is but crossing the world, as friends do the seas; they live in one another still. For they must needs be present, that love and live in that which is omnipresent. In this divine glass, they see face to face; and their converse is free, as well as pure. This is the comfort of friends, that though they may

Outsiders & Underdogs: Interview with Tom Fuerst

Tom Fuerst September 8, 2016

Advent reminds us that Christmas is not a sentimental, consumerist, family-friendly holiday, but is a season of radical political subversion, the downfall of the mighty, and an upturning of the hierarchies of the world. Seeing Christmas in fresh perspective begins with participating in the biblical narrative of God’s preferential option for the poor, forgotten, and imperfect.

Why Can’t We Just Be Humanitarians? by Elizabeth Glass Turner

elizabeth.turner September 7, 2016

The brilliance of the World Methodist Conference is still shifting through my mind, light through a suncatcher hanging on a window. The days in Houston were color, sound, faces, laughter, weeping, worship, intensity, frustration, revelation. I met people and forgot names. I met people and remembered names. I saw textiles woven with Methodist patterns, saris shimmering, archbishop caps velvety and

The Global Neighborhood: World Methodist Conference by Elizabeth Glass Turner

elizabeth.turner September 5, 2016

What neighborhood, out of all the ones you’ve lived in, has been your favorite? Was it a quiet small town street lined with tall trees? Was it a bustling corner of a large, noisy city? Was it a distant, rural farm, the air scratched with the clucking of chickens? Was it a small cottage on the edge of the windy

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