Category: Wesleyan Accent Blog
The Way Roads Shape Us by Elizabeth Glass Turner
June 12, 2019
How is it that the angle of a foot planted on a sidewalk can feel familiar? But it can. And the angle of the soul is similarly directed and shaped. What roads are shaping you? Roads can be sly, shifting you this way and that when you’re lulled into complacency.
In the Waiting: Prayer and Action by Jean Watson
May 29, 2019
I know the things God has promised he will do through me, but sometimes I feel like he’s not working fast enough, so I need to work harder to make things happen. Often I find myself worrying and striving because I’m not willing to wait on God.
When You Need the Strength to Stand by Michelle Bauer
May 28, 2019
Where will you go this week that you will be grateful to have God’s presence with you? What difference will it make to have God with you in that place or situation? When you are discouraged or terrified, how easy is it to make the choice to be strong and courageous?
Navigating Challenges: Trust, Act, and Expect by Otis T. McMillan
May 16, 2019
There is safety in being God-conscious at all times. Before decisions are made, seek the mind of God.
Which Story Will You Tell? by Suzanne Nicholson
May 15, 2019
And the soldiers—the protectors of civil order— decide to bury the truth. They take their bribe and the promise of protection from Pilate’s wrath, and they toe the party line. They protect the power of a broken world.But the women—the ones with little influence, the ones who are least likely to be believed—they run from the empty tomb with great joy. It is only as they are obedient to the angel’s command that Jesus himself appears to them.
Not Yet Fully Awake by Dr. Matthew Milliner
April 29, 2019
And in our gospel passage, Mary of course – like all of us on this side of death – is not yet fully awake. She makes first contact with the resurrected Jesus, and it’s about as awkward as Peter embarrassing himself by trying to pitch a tent on Mount Tabor. Mary’s problem is that she thinks Jesus is dead, and when she sees that he’s gone, she consoles herself by saying, “they have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.”
Tammie Grimm ~ Keeping the Feast and the Fast
April 25, 2019
Mary Fletcher was the first woman John Wesley permitted to preach in the 1770s. Her journals, diaries, and letters embody the largest collection of Methodist papers in existence with the sole exception of John Wesley’s papers. There are times I’ve wondered if a Lenten fast is nullified by Easter feasting. But in reading Mary Fletcher’s journals, noting the ebb and flow with which she made entries, I understood her seasons of profuse writing were not negated by the seasons of terseness.
Brian Yeich ~ What Providence Looks Like
April 24, 2019
“Providence does not mean that we have no free will. God’s providence does not rule out human freedom. Providence is not opposed to cooperation with God. Providence does not mean we are off the hook or that we have no sense of responsibility when it comes to spiritual growth. Rather, we cooperate with God as we grow in our faith by practicing spiritual disciplines or the means of grace.”
Philip Tallon ~ Make Buildings that Won’t Be Burnt Up
April 22, 2019
A wise art teacher used to say, “Make art that won’t be burnt up.” He meant, make art that will outlast the last judgment. Make art that will count as one of the “glories of the nations” brought into the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:26). Beauty attracts us, even when our reasons are unconvinced.
Edgar Bazan ~ Remember Me
April 19, 2019
In his own weakness and suffering, Jesus learned yours. He knows of your suffering; he knows of your pain; the things you can’t tell anyone else, he knows them all. Whatever is your experience right now, today, we all are offered salvation.