Taking Discipleship Personally by Paulo Lopes
Paulo Lopes
July 3, 2017
You see, we must realize that organizations, and in this case the body of Christ, can only reflect the sum of the people who are part of them.
You see, we must realize that organizations, and in this case the body of Christ, can only reflect the sum of the people who are part of them.
The disciples were transformed into messengers by the presence of Jesus in real time, through the power of the Holy Spirit.
If your church is sending youth to summer camp this year, how can you continue foster the lessons of their pilgrimage?
When Wesley spoke of the possibility of perfection in love, he didn’t mean that we are capable of this on our own power or merit, but rather he meant to challenge anyone daring to say that God can’t do it in us.
It’s dangerous to live your life with a past focus, with a two-dimensional Jesus, because you may end up following a tradition instead of following Jesus, God’s living Word.
Recently Wesleyan Accent Editor Elizabeth Glass Turner chatted with Rev. Zach Szmara, the founder of one of the first immigration legal clinics within a church building, about sanctuary, immigration law, and cross-cultural ministry at home. Rev. Szmara is the Lead Pastor of The Bridge in Logansport, Indiana, a congregation within The Wesleyan Church. He is the National Director of Immigrant Connection – a growing
Jesus wasn’t about hanging out on the “healthy” side of the river, the side of the “haves.”
It’s happened again and again. Do they give out “Webby Awards” for“Best Social Networking Campaign Aimed at Disenfranchised Young Men Searching for Meaning and Manhood in a Post-Religious Context”? In the 90’s, radicalization looked like bored, angry, white, oddball suburban teenagers shooting up their classmates as they latched onto whatever Nihilistic philosophy made sense of their bullied, middle-class ennui. Now
It is better to stop worrying about the results of our evangelizing and instead worry about whether we have truly made the gospel known in our relationships with others.
Deep and authentic faith is meaningful; but can be costly, challenging, even frightening.
Core Team (Left to Right) Arpit Charan, Augustine Frederick, Nikul Masih, Vijay Bannet (not pictured – Anosh Charan, Amber Massey) One of the joys of my work with World Methodist Evangelism is to be able to see the dramatic way God works in the lives of young people. Surprisingly, the current pandemic has highlighted this joy, reminding me that even
Our Wesleyan tradition holds a rich heritage of understanding the way the whole of our created being functions. We share a long history of encouraging one another to health and wholeness in every way, just as our God designed. We believe that we are responsible for the well-being of not just our souls, but our bodies and our minds as
One of the wonderful things we do at World Methodist Evangelism is training leaders all over the world to show and share the love of Jesus. Pre-pandemic, we have done this through in-person gatherings as well as virtual gatherings. A few years ago, I was in Kenya teaching about Embrace, our faith sharing material that focuses on six essential values
Leaders around the world are feeling the effects of our global crisis on many fronts. Yet, the current situation does not need to be debilitating. Innovative leaders see a crisis as a catalyst, not a cause for despair. Crises are critical junctures that can provide unique opportunities for needed change. This is especially so for the church today. Experts tell
I have found Psalm 1 to be a guiding principle in my life and ministry; it speaks to my theology and character as a pastor. In Psalm 1, we learn that God wants to bless us and to make us fruitful, but it is up to us to make choices that will lead us to God’s blessings. By choosing the
In our particular cultural moment, have you noticed a longing for values or traits that may seem absent in public life? Warren Bennis famously outlined key leadership characteristics, identifying vision, inspiration, empathy, and trustworthiness as essential leadership characteristics. We long for leaders who model them; this longing seems innate in us. In Scripture we quickly see that Jesus modeled these
I am horrible at waiting. I don’t always hate waiting itself, but I have expectations. When something is not done in the timeframe I expect, I get an attitude — and keep waiting. Right now, we are all waiting for the pandemic to pass. Social distancing, quarantining, and staying home are taking a toll on many of us. How do
One of the wonderful things we do at WME is to train leaders all over the world to show and share the love of Jesus. We do this through in-person gatherings as well as through virtual gatherings. A few years ago, I was in Kenya teaching about Embrace, an understanding of faith sharing that focuses on six essential values –
Our 2019-2020 RIM resident, Eliza Edge, has returned to the US after placement in Auckland, NZ. The Residency In Mission (RIM) program provides opportunities for host ministries to strengthen the work in their local contexts, while offering Residents an environment in which to grow in their ministry service. In partnership with ministries in the host church, this program helps aspiring residents
When it comes to sharing the love of Christ with the world, the connection between what we say we believe and how we live out those beliefs is crucial. Our integrity is directly related to the strength of that connection. If there is a gap between what we say we believe and the way we live our lives, we lose
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