If not the most, one of the most prevailing emphasis of the Bible is salvation. Immediately after the beautiful story of creation, including the creation of us humans, the story of “the fall” becomes central. By our deliberate act, we separated ourselves from God, and from that point on, the restoration of that relationship dominates the Biblical narrative. As John
Scripture Focus: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are
Tucked away in the Old Testament story of Joseph’s journey into Egypt is a verse packed with far more meaning than appears on the surface. It teaches an eternal truth that we’d do well to consider as we enter the New Year. Rehearse the story. Sold into slavery by his brothers, Joseph found favor with the Pharaoh and became one
In the article last week I talked about Christmas in relation to the name given to the baby born on that day, JESUS Rehearse a bit. Matthew reports that Joseph had a dream in which he was instructed to name his son, Jesus. The name means “God shall save us from our sins.” So, when the angel says, “His name
Ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for God’s people everywhere, I have not stopped thanking God for you … Ephesians 1:15-16a At World Methodist Evangelism, we are committed to helping people show and share the love of Jesus. While that may be easy to say, it is much harder
We are in the midst of the Advent season. It’s Christmas time. Let’s stay with the story…at least reflect seriously for a bit. A central figure is Joseph. He is perplexed, deeply perplexed. The woman to whom he is engaged is pregnant and he knows the baby is not his. He is wrestling with what to do. Will he expose
A minister friend told a story of a couple who had been married for twelve years when the woman was stricken with cancer. Medically, the situation seemed hopeless. But each day in the hospital the couple read together the stories of how Jesus healed so many people in his earthly ministry. As they read, their despair turned to hope, and
Prayer means that no one of us can ever say, “There is nothing I can do.” I first went to the Soviet Union in 1981 and came away frustrated and confused. I experienced pain to see beautiful churches turned into warehouses, factories, and communist meeting halls. For a long time after that, the picture I had of the Russian church
Scripture Focus: The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel. (Mark 1:15, NKJV) Over the last few months, we’ve talked about discovering our created purpose and the way we fit into God’s overall kingdom work. As we finish out this year, I want to encourage you to lock onto
Let me tell you the story of a young man whom we will call “Victor.” This story catches up with Victor in his early twenties. He had a difficult childhood, and both of his parents had passed by the time he was twenty years old. He had fallen into several destructive habits in his late teens, habits that he continued
I think the deepest appeal of Wesleyan theology is that is heartily affirms a God who is truly good and sincerely loves all persons. God does not determine, God empowers, enables, encourages. And the message that God loves us and wants to empower us to love him back, as well as each other is a message of great hope.
For example, we often describe a “sacrament” as an outward sign of an inward and spiritual grace, but then we limit ourselves by thinking of sacraments only in terms of the two which Christ established: baptism and the Eucharist. Wesley, on the other hand, prodded us to think more deeply and expansively about all the means of grace which, for
You may never know the great power that a simple word of love can have on a person, but I encourage you to share love with others. It will never leave my memory. Though a lot of time has passed through the years, the memory of a mentor’s words at a critical time in my life will never fade.
For many of us, when we read the Bible, we read it from the perspective of people who need encouragement, therapy, challenge, hope, or even love. These are all good things that we do, indeed, need. But usually these needs arise from a larger situation that involves someone or something hurting us. For example, we need encouragement because a boss
The heartbeat of the Church is Christ. We’re only here because of him; because of his love. Christ is the reason we are. Christ is all our reasons.
“For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.” – Ecclesiastes 3:1 In case you didn’t know it, fall has arrived. The earth tilts on its axis and the days shorten, the air grows crisp, leaves change from green to varying hues of red, orange, and yellow, and combines roar through fields of golden-brown corn, stirring
“I hope you’ll always remember that God loves you so much—more than I can even say—and has a wonderful plan for your life. We at the Church are here to help you discover the special life that God made you to live.”
We carry our great preachers around in the corners of our soul. They wait there to surprise us. They wait there to revive us.
Discussions about marriage, divorce and issues of human sexuality are not new. What is new is our unpreparedness for the current questions being asked.
Wisdom is not just an intelligence bomb that God drops on us one day when we get our first gray hair. It’s not an intellectual realization that hits us one day simply because we’re aged. We’ve all known older folks who are foolish. No, wisdom has less to do with gray hair and more to do with the experience of
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