Dear Church Family, It seems as though we are living days where each new day spins further out of control than the last. It is easy to feel like society is fraying at the seams. So many of us are afraid. Angry. Unsure of the future. Worried for our kids, our grandkids, our nation, everything. It is so easy to
Then justice will dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness abide in the fruitful field. The effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever. – Isaiah 32:16-17 The word righteousness isn’t one you see popping up on your Facebook and Twitter feed much these days. Most people in North America would hear “righteous” and immediately translate
A Note From The Editor: With the Wesleyan mantra, “the world is our parish,” it’s not only pastors and long-term career missionaries who engage in missions in the 21st century, when international travel is available and common. Recently Wesleyan Accent spoke with Sarah Jane Bearss, a case manager and special needs childcare worker who chose to live and work in
“Whate’er his Spirit speaks in me, must with the written Word agree.” – Charles Wesley Many of the more contentious arguments in the church today are over social issues. That has certainly been the case for the United Methodist Church — the church I call home. Nowhere have the UMC’s internal debates over such issues been on clearer display than
The other day I was using Google maps and realized that when I dragged the map ahead on my route, this “re-center” button popped up! How handy! Maybe this is a new feature from the most recent software update, or maybe I’m just that slow and haven’t noticed it until now, but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve
So it is with evangelism and discipleship. If we are engaged in both well, they become a seamless movement and we cross the threshold between one and the other without even realizing.
Father, you have made all in your image…you love all. Help me to love all, even in the midst of such fear, hatred and strife, may I reflect you and your love. May I be a beacon of hope and life in a world spinning out of control with chaos.
Much of the time, officers do exactly what they are supposed to do, and for this we can be grateful.
But they are armed. And the weapons they carry can easily kill people. This means that police officers must be trained to be extraordinarily disciplined in their perceptions of situations and people, and extraordinarily restrained in their use of
I am writing this while “on mission with Jesus in Ecuador,”* serving together with seventeen genuinely kind and faithful people from two churches in Georgia and the United Methodist seminary of Venezuela. We are being hosted by Sharon and Graham Nichols, who serve Christ through The Mission Society. Back in the day, church folk took suitcases of shoes, toys or
Always a lover of history, currently I’m partway through Ron Chernow’s excellent biography of American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton – the book, incidentally, which son of Puerto Rican immigrants Lin-Manuel Miranda turned into the hit Broadway musical. With a decent dose of Scot in my blood, I can get into any story of a struggle for freedom easily. Why else
Think of a time when you went through a significant transition to something wonderful and new. Maybe it was moving away from home for the first time and getting your own place. Maybe it was starting a new job and moving to a new city. Maybe it was getting married and beginning a new life together. We can celebrate the
We’ve entered the season of Advent, that time of preparation for the birth of Jesus Christ. Because Advent is the beginning of the Church year, I find it interesting that the Gospel readings for the first Sunday always begin with the end – the return of Christ. In my mind those are the kind of passages that should come at
We are excited to announce that João Paulo Lopes has accepted the role of Coordinator for Emerging Leadership at World Methodist Evangelism. Identifying and nurturing emerging leaders has been a significant part of World Methodist Evangelism’s mission and ministry. Since our first gathering in 1980, WME’s Metanoia (ICYCE) young adult conferences have provided significant opportunities for deepening faith and discovering
When our daughter Hannah first began teaching, she taught kindergarten. At one point during that year she was on the playground with her class. It was midday and the children were caught up in their play when one of them noticed the moon, visible despite the daylight. What is that? he asked Hannah. The moon, she answered. The moon?! His
A few years ago, I ran into a friend who was going through some tough family times. I asked him if there was anything I could do; his response caught me off-guard. He said, “I am struggling to have faith, and I just need other people to have faith for me.” I confess that before this, I didn’t really consider
Perhaps this is the real significance of Christ the King Sunday. It is an opportunity to look at what has been ruling over us in every aspect of our lives. It is an opportunity to dethrone the Caesars of today, allowing Christ the King to reign in their stead.
How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity! –Psalm 133:1 I have heard many people share with me recently their concern over a lack of unity in our world. Nations are deeply divided over politics, the appropriate response to COVID-19, racial and ethnic justice, and many other issues. Not even the church is a safe
In 2,000 years of church history, you will find an ebb and flow of opportunities seized and opportunities lost. While church history is often a study in fracture – who split from whom, when, and why – nevertheless, it remains remarkable that community is found even today among drastically different people. An illustrative moment comes to mind: a few years
In many churches around the world, we marked All Saints Day this past Sunday, taking the time to honor the clouds of witnesses that have gone before us – all those people who have shaped, challenged, and carried us forward on our spiritual journey. As I contemplate the saints in my own life, I’m reminded of two interrelated and intriguing
We’re inclined to activity, to busyness. Quiet contemplation and active listening are challenging endeavors. We may feel that this challenge comes as a by-product of our modern twenty-first century world, but it’s actually the human condition. Peter pursued that inclination as well. In Matthew 17, Jesus takes Peter, James, and John with him to a mountain top where they have
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